New Member Monday: Oceans North

Oceans North is chartered under the laws of British Columbia, with staff in Ottawa, Winnipeg, Halifax, Nain, Iqaluit, and Nuuk. They have extensive relationships and partnerships with scientists, natural resource managers and Indigenous organizations and communities in Canada and Greenland. Oceans North is governed by a board of directors. (Our Story – Oceans North)

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Oceans North supports marine conservation in partnership with Indigenous and coastal communities.
In much of Northern Canada, they work with Inuit communities that have a legal claim on the Arctic’s land and sea through constitutionally protected land claim agreements that act as modern-day treaties. Inuit bring a sophisticated ecological knowledge to marine conservation that is essential to building a healthy future.
In the Atlantic, they work with Indigenous groups and coastal communities that have a longstanding relationship with the sea and its resources in order to preserve and develop sustainable livelihoods.
Finally, they engage on cross-cutting issues such as climate change, which affect communities from coast to coast to coast. Their programs are built by listening, learning, and understanding the unique challenges facing the communities where they work.

​A few examples of their approach are: In Nunavut, Oceans North supported the Qikiqtani Inuit Association’s Tallurutiup Imanga (Lancaster Sound) report outlining Inuit land use and occupancy that is key to the establishment of a national marine conservation area in this region.
· In Labrador, Oceans North has partnered with the Nunatsiavut government to study a unique population of freshwater seals in the Torngat Mountain National Park.
· Oceans North has backed the efforts of the Nunavik community of Aupaluk to use traditional knowledge to document marine wildlife use of Ungava Bay in anticipation of increased industrial development.
· In the Inuvialuit Settlement Region, Oceans North worked with the Inuvialuit Game Council on a three-year pilot program for community-based monitoring.
· Nationally, Oceans North has supported the Inuit Tapiriit Kanatami’s Nulliajut project to gather Inuit views of the Northwest Passage.
· Internationally, Oceans North worked with the Inuit Circumpolar Council in both Canada and Greenland to establish an Inuit-led commission that made recommendations on how best to protect Pikialaorsuaq, or the North Water polynya. (Our Approach – Oceans North)
Please visit their website to see what they are currently working on: Indigenous Protected Areas & Marine Conservation – What We Do – Oceans NorthLinks:
​https://www.oceansnorth.org/en/about/our-story/