Preserving Our Land,
Preparing for the Future
The Tłı̨chǫ Government has launched a major, multi year tree planting program aimed at planting a total of 13 million trees on Tłı̨chǫ traditional territory in the Northwest Territories. This initiative is in response to devastating wildfires and is a collaborative effort with the Government of Canada and partners like Tree Canada.
The “Preserving Our Land, Preparing for the Future” project is the largest tree planting effort in NWT history, supported by a joint investment of over $53 million form Natural Resources Canada’s 2 billion Trees (2BT) Program and the Tłı̨chǫ Government.
Key aspects
- Restoring Habitat: A primary goal is to restore the boreal ecosystem and critical habitat for species at risk, with a particular focus on the boreal caribou.
- Climate Resilience: Planting native, fire resilient species will help the land recover from past fires, protect communities from future wildfires using Fire Smart principles, and reduce greenhouse gas emissions.
- Economic Opportunities: The project creates local jobs and training opportunities in reforestation and land stewardship for Tłı̨chǫ citizens.
- Integrating Knowledge: In line with the vision of "Strong Like Two People", this initiative is guided by both Tłı̨chǫ Traditional Knowledge and Western science, with community members involved in all stages, from local seed collection to planting.
- Progress: The project involves planting trees around Behchokǫ̀, Russell Lake and James Lake. In the first summer of planting (2025) 1.5 million trees were planted.
Explore
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Reforestation
In October of 2023, Tłı̨chǫ Grand Chief Jackson Lafferty signed a Memorandum of Understanding with Tree Canada and Let’s Plant Trees Ltd., officially launching a three-year agreement to plant one million trees on Tłı̨chǫ land.
Feasibility
The two projects are a green house with biomass CHP facility and a pellet plant, both utilizing biomass as the heat and electricity source. This study investigates the possible technologies and economics involved in providing both heat and electricity to both of these projects, while utilizing biomass as the energy source.
Map
The map shows the Tłı̨chǫ lands and boundaries as established in the Tłı̨chǫ Land Claim and Self-Government Act. It also shows the two proposed locations for the new project, wildfire data from previous years and the planting units.