Overview
The Northwest Territories Protected Areas Strategy (NWT PAS) was created to help NWT communities protect special areas of land for the long term. The NWT PAS envisions a future that safeguards special natural and cultural areas while keeping resource development options open.

The goals of the NWT PAS are to protect:

• special natural and cultural areas; and
• core representative areas within each NWT ecoregion.

The NWT PAS was developed by regional Aboriginal organizations, the federal and territorial governments, environmental nongovernmental organizations and industry. Representatives from these organizations continue to oversee the PAS process through their participation on the NWT PAS Steering Committee.

Mackenzie Valley Five-Year Action Plan
The Mackenzie Valley Five-Year (2005-2010) Action Plan is part of the NWT PAS. The focus of the Action Plan is to work with communities to identify, review, establish interim protection, and evaluate a network of protected areas in the Mackenzie Valley. The Action Plan was developed to identify and protect areas in advance of, or concurrently with, the development of the proposed Mackenzie Gas Project.

The Action Plan is now into its second year of implementation. By working to increase capacity in Mackenzie Valley communities, the Action Plan is supporting long-term conservation goals such as those identified in community conservation plans, land use plans, and interim measures and land claims agreements.

Key Area Updates
There are currently 20 areas identified by communities and regional organizations at various stages of the NWT PAS. The majority of these areas are located within the Mackenzie Valley.

Edéhzhíe (Horn Plateau)
This plateau located in the Mackenzie Valley is a cultural and spiritual gathering place for the Tłįcho and Dehcho First Nations. Edéhzhíe, the second area of interest to attain interim protection through the NWT PAS, is currently in the final stages of Step 5. This initiative is supported by both First Nations, and the Canadian Wildlife Service is sponsoring this area. Most assessments of the area have been completed and the Edéhzhíe Working Group expects to make its final recommendations on establishment, management and boundaries later in 2008.

Sambaa K’e (Trout Lake)
This area is an important cultural and spiritual place for the community of Trout Lake, as well as an area important for birds. In 2006, the Canadian Wildlife Service agreed to sponsor this area and is now in the beginning stages of Step 5. A multi-stakeholder Working Group has been established to guide and direct the evaluation of studies and consultations, as well as make recommendations on boundaries and management objectives. Most of this area is withdrawn from disposal through the Dehcho Interim Measures Agreement.

Ts’ude’hliline-Tuyetah (Ramparts River/Wetlands)
This is a critical wetland area that has been an important hunting, trapping and fishing area for residents of Fort Good Hope for generations. Currently at Step 4 in the process, the Canadian Wildlife Service is sponsoring this area and has requested an interim land withdrawal from the federal government.

Edéhzhíe, Sambaa K’e, and several other areas in the early stages of the PAS process, including Pehdzeh Ki Ndeh, Buffalo Lake and Buffalo River and K’agee Tu, fall within the area covered by ongoing land, resource and governance negotiations involving the Dehcho First Nations and the governments of Canada and the NWT. The PAS process will be taken into account in these negotiations.

For more information on these and other PAS initiatives, or the PAS in general, visit www.nwtpas.ca or contact the PAS Secretariat at (867) 920-3179.

Parks Canada Agency (PCA) continues to work on the expansion of Nahanni National Park Reserve of Canada. Benefits of a larger park will include enhanced protection of its ecological integrity, better representation of the Mackenzie Mountains Natural Region of the National Parks System, and improved opportunities for visitors and the regional economic benefits that may flow from increased tourism.

The area of interest is the Greater Nahanni Ecosystem (GNE) as defined in the park management plan. The GNE includes the entire watershed of the South Nahanni River and the Nahanni North Karst. While most of this area lies within the Dehcho, the headwaters of the South Nahanni River are in the Sahtu Settlement Area.

Between 2004 and 2006, numerous research projects relating to natural conservation were undertaken. These included studies of grizzly bears, woodland caribou, Dall’s sheep, bull trout, Karst landscape features, glaciers, and land cover mapping and classifi cation. Geologists from Natural Resources Canada completed two years of fieldwork on a Mineral and Energy Resource Assessment, which is expected to be released in 2007. Information on all the research is available upon request.

Within the Dehcho, the Nahanni Expansion Working Group, created in 2004, continues to guide the implementation of the Memorandum of Understanding between PCA and the Dehcho First Nations (DFN) to expand the Park. This Working Group consists of two members appointed by DFN and two by PCA. Public consultations were carried out in several NWT communities in the summer of 2006. Preparations are now underway for a second phase of consultations with First Nations and Métis, local residents, stakeholders, government, industry and the general public with respect to boundary options for an expanded park. Once these public consultations are complete, the Working Group will consider all feedback and present its recommendations to DFN and PCA. Following this, DFN and the Government of Canada will negotiate a final boundary within the Dehcho as part of the Dehcho Process.

In the Sahtu Settlement Area, work to establish a national park got underway early in 2007. The 2007 Sahtu Draft Land Use Plan calls for the protection of these headwaters, which are also known as Bégádeh. The Sahtu Final Agreement requires that an Impact and Benefit Plan be concluded, and these negotiations are expected to take two years. Parks Canada is working with the three Aboriginal land corporations that have jurisdiction in this area, and the Chief of the Tulita Dene Band has been invited to participate. The parties will have to ratify the Impact and Benefit Plan before a national park can be created by Parliament.

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