Aviqtuuq: The world’s first Inuit-protected zone and conserved area with Jimmy Ullikatalik – Canadian Geographic

Nov 15, 2023

The Inuit-run conservation zone is already being patrolled by locals and will provide important denning and winter habitat for Arctic mammals like polar bears and muskox

Today’s guest is Jimmy Ullikatalik, the manager of the Taloyoak Hunters and Trappers Association and project manager for the Aviqtuuq Inuit Protected and Conserved Area (IPCA), a proposed 90,000 square kilometres of marine, terrestrial and fresh-water ecosystems in Nunavut. Jimmy also represented Nunavut at COP26, the UN Climate Change conference in Glasgow.

In October, I was lucky enough to make my second trip to Nunavut, to the hamlet of Taloyoak. It is the most northerly community in mainland Canada. It is home to about 1,000 people, mostly Inuit, on the Aviqtuuq or Boothia peninsula, which juts into the Arctic Ocean and Northwest Passage west of Hudson’s Bay. The town is charming, featuring rows of brightly coloured homes reminiscent of Atlantic Canada. It’s situated on Spence Bay and surrounded by a lovely rolling, rocky landscape.

Read More: https://canadiangeographic.ca/podcasts/aviqtuuq-the-worlds-first-inuit-protected-zone-and-conserved-area-with-jimmy-ullikatalik/