Sask. Metis people laying ground work for land preservation near Île-à-la-Crosse

Peter Durocher with Nature Canada staff October 2021 in Pine River Valley. (Submited: Sakitawak IPCA)

A Metis led project has completed the first phase of studies to protect 22,000 square kilometers of boreal forest in Northern Saskatchewan.

“Because we’re Metis we don’t have treaty land entitlement so we are using our trapping block that was established by the government as a boundary that we are working to protect,” said Sakitawak IPCA Manager Peter Durocher.

Durocher says the goal of the Sakitawak Indigenous Protected and Conserver Areas (IPCA) group is to preserve the N14 Fur Block from industry and development.

Like many people in Île-à-la-Crosse, Durocher is a trapper who hunts and fishes in the area for food for his family.

“Just being able to feed my family, fish once in a while, some ducks once in a while and if I’m lucky enough I’ll get a moose,” said Durocher. “Whatever you use to feed your family, that’s living off the land.”

He says Sakitawak IPCA wants to protect habitats of vulnerable species such as woodland caribou, moose, old growth pine, migratory birds and various fish species. The goal is to also preserve the land for sustainable hunting, trapping, fishing, berry picking and traditional medicine harvesting.

The next step for the group is to use all the information collected over the last two years to create a conservation management plan to share with the province. The provincial government has the authority to grant areas protection for reasons such as conservation management.

Funding for the project’s preliminary studies is coming from Environment and Climate Change Canada under the Target I Challenge to conserve 25 per cent of land across Canada by 2025.

The program aims to meet climate change targets in a United Nations agreement.

IPCA is partnering with organizations such as Nature Canada, Ducks Unlimited Canada, and Prairie Adaptation Research Collaborative (PARC) at the University of Regina to conduct studies.

“We’re collecting numbers and data to complement what they already know about this forest,” said professor & Director of PARC David Sauchyn.

PARC traveled to Île-à-la-Crosse in July 2021 to conduct research and interview community members, elders and youth.

Core samples from trees were collected and used to determine past climate history of the area in relation to precipitation levels.

IPCA research shows the total organic carbon stores by wetlands and uplands in the N14 Fur Block is approximately 823 million tonnes; equivalent to the total annual CO2 emissions from an estimated 179 million cars.

“According to Ducks Unlimited, we've got millions of tons of carbon stored in our area, so can you imagine if we started protecting a bigger area how much of the environment we could help,” said Durocher.

Woodland Cree and Dene peoples are also part of the Sakitawak land use group. Durocher says Metis have called the area home for over 246 years.

Sakitawak is one of three IPCAs in Saskatchewan and one of four Metis projects across Canada. In Canada, there are currently 37 IPCA groups.