What we do

CPAWS has helped protect over 40 million hectares of Canada's most treasured wild places while working closely with First Nations, government, industry and non-governmental organizations.

Issues
	Love the Land Loving the land is the heart of CPAWS-NWT’s work. We invited you to share YOUR love of the land, and you responded loud and clear! Through our 2012 Love the Land Photo Contest, we invited NWT residents and visitors to express their love of the natural wonder, beauty, diversity, and richness of our northern lands and waters, and their experiences on the land, in all seasons.
	Thaidene Nene Thaidene Nene (the Land of the Ancestors) is a proposed protected area of approximately 33,500 km2 around and beyond the shores of the East Arm of Great Slave Lake. This area has been the homeland and sacred place of the Lutsel K’e Denesuline for thousands of years, and it is an ecologically-significant cultural landscape with rich wildlife populations and unique geography.
	Nááts´ihch´oh On August 22nd, 2012, CPAWS welcomed the announcement of Nááts’ihch’oh (pronounced Nah-tseen-cho) National Park Reserve, established in collaboration with the Sahtu Dene and Metis of Tulita and Norman Wells, NWT. Nááts’ihch’oh lies in the headwaters of the South Nahanni River watershed, upstream and adjacent to Nahanni National Park Reserve (NNPR) and World Heritage Site. These two parks, working together, are necessary to protect the globally renowned Boreal wilderness of the South Nahanni Watershed. However, the park boundary, as announced by Prime Minster Stephen Harper, falls far short of what is needed to protect the ecological integrity of the world-renowned Nahanni watershed, leaving critical wildlife habitat, including caribou calving and breeding grounds, and source waters of the Nahanni River outside the park boundary.
	Caribou By protecting the threatened woodland caribou’s remaining Boreal forest habitat across Canada, we will also help protect one of the world's largest remaining carbon reserves, and slow the effects of climate change. The NWT species at risk legislation (NWT Species at Risk Act or NWT SARA) came into force February 10, 2010. Boreal Woodland caribou area being assessed under the Act; their status will be determined by October 2012.
	NWT Protected Areas Strategy CPAWS-NWT is a founding member of the NWT Protected Areas Strategy (PAS). We play a critical role in the implementation of the PAS and its subsequent Action Plans. The PAS is a community-driven process that seeks to establish a network of protected areas across the NWT that protect both natural and cultural values, and are also representative off all 42 NWT ecoregions. To date, the PAS has seen Saoyú – ʔehdacho National Historic Site established in 2009, and PAS partners continue to work toward establishing a suite of other protected areas across the NWT.
	Conservation science As a science-based conservation organization, the promotion and use of conservation science is an important aspect of our work. CPAWS-NWT has partnered with accomplished researchers on several exciting conservation science research projects.
	Conservation in the Mackenzie Basin and Mountains Opportunities for large-scale conservation of intact land still exist in the Mackenzie Basin and Mountains area of the NWT. This area is massive, draining 18% of Canada’s landmass. NWT communities lead the processes for protecting natural and cultural values; CPAWS-NWT is playing a pivotal role in ensuring that protected areas will conserve the land, water and wildlife for current and future generations. We work both within and outside of the NWT Protected Areas Strategy, and always collaboratively with communities, all levels of government, and other environmental organizations.