Places of learning and inspiration for Indigenous Protected and Conserved Areas (IPCAs).
We Rise Together
A legacy of the Conservation through Reconciliation Partnership, IPCA Innovation Centres bring together the best of Indigenous knowledge and modern science to create a better future for all. From coast to coast to coast, IPCA Knowledge Hubs are on the leading edge of the We Rise Together movement.
Following the UN Convention on Biological Diversity, Canada has committed to drastically increase its parks and protected areas, with the goal of protecting 30% of the country's lands and waters by 2030. To achieve this, Canada has looked to Indigenous Peoples for guidance, leading to the formation of the Indigenous Circle of Experts and a new designation: Indigenous Protected and Conserved Areas (IPCAs).
Building on a historic $1.35 billion Nature Legacy investment in 2018, Canada's federal government continues to increase its commitment to Indigenous-led conservation. To ensure capacity is in place to meet this unprecedented opportunity, the IISAAK OLAM Foundation co-founded the Conservation through Reconciliation Partnership (CRP) with the Indigenous Leadership Initiative and the University of Guelph.
Conservation through Reconciliation
The Conservation through Reconciliation Partnership is an Indigenous-led network that brings together a diverse range of partners to advance Indigenous-led conservation and Indigenous Protected and Conserved Areas (IPCAs) across Canada. It aims to investigate, inform, and transform conservation strategy and practice by centring Indigenous leadership, rights, responsibilities, and knowledge. The CRP is a collective of Indigenous leadership, conservation agencies and organizations, academia, civil society and communities acting on and building from the recommendations set out by the Indigenous Circle of Expert’s report We Rise Together.
The Conservation through Reconciliation Partnership is committed to three legacy outcomes to ensure its work lasts well into the future:
A Canadian IPCA Alliance or Association
The IPCA Knowledge Basket (add link)
Regional IPCA Innovation Centres
Regional IPCA Innovation Centres
While the IPCA Alliance and the Solutions Bundle focus on relationships, organizational capacity, ideas and learning tools, IPCA Innovation Centres are physical places and spaces that host those relationships and give life to the ideas that will shape the future of nature conservation in Canada and around the world. We are designing a world-class model that is specifically designed for Indigenous-led conservation.
Pacific IPCA Innovation Centre
The west coast location of Canada's first IPCA Innovation Centre is appropriate considering the many decades of trailblazing undertaken by First Nations in British Columbia, starting with the Haida and Tla-o-qui-aht Tribal Parks in the early 1980s.
The Pacific IPCA Innovation Centre will be strongly anchored at the Clayoquot Campus with programming rooted in Nuu'Chah'Nulth knowledge and teachings.
“Cultural and linguistic revitalization are central to the founding and core vision of IPCAs.”
— Eli Enns, Co-Director, IPCA Innovation Program