NWMB's Relationship to Others

Regional Wildlife Organizations (RWOs) and Hunters and Trappers Organizations (HTOs)
Other Institutions of Public Government
Inuit Organizations
Governments
Administrative Agencies and other Aboriginal Groups

We co-ordinate our activities with Nunavut's 27 community-based HTOs and three RWOs – the Qikiqtaaluk Wildlife Board, the Keewatin Wildlife Federation, and the Kitikmeot Hunters and Trappers Association. These organizations oversee harvesting at the local and regional levels, while the NWMB oversees wildlife management throughout the Nunavut Settlement Area. We also provide funding to these groups, administering both the Federal and Territorial contributions to streamline the paperwork.

We work closely with the other co-management boards which, like our own board, were created under the Nunavut Land Claims Agreement to manage the land and other resources in the Nunavut Settlement Area. These include the Nunavut Planning Commission (NPC), the Nunavut Impact Review Board (NIRB), the Nunavut Water Board (NWB) and the Nunavut Surface Rights Tribunal. The NWMB, NPC, NIRB and NWB, may act together as the Nunavut Marine Council when necessary to address issues of common concern relating to the marine areas of Nunavut.

The Inuit of Nunavut are part of the co-management partnership and are represented by Nunavut Tunngavik Incorporated. The Regional Inuit Associations – Qikiqtaani Inuit Association, Kivalliq Inuit Association and Kitikmeot Inuit Association – nominate members to the NWMB. We also work with the national Inuit association, Inuit Tapirisat of Canada on some issues.

The NWMB takes its direction from the NLCA and carries out its duties as an independent body. We are not under the direction of other branches of public government, although we work with them on most issues. Together, we have had a number of achievements.

However, ultimate responsibility for wildlife management in Nunavut rests with government – to be precise, the Minister of Sustainable Development, Government of Nunavut, as well as the Federal Government's Minister of Fisheries and Oceans, and Minister of the Environment. These government departments are responsible for various concerns in Nunavut.

Department of Sustainable Development (DSD) (Government of Nunavut): responsible for the management of Nunavut's renewable and non-renewable resources and development of Nunavut's economy. DSD is responsible for management of terrestrial mammals including polar bears, caribou and muskox and it develops and maintains territorial parks and conservation areas. Its legislative responsibilities include, among other acts, the Wildlife Act.

Department of Fisheries and Oceans (DFO) (Government of Canada): manages fish and marine mammal stocks, protects their aquatic habitat, and gathers information to protect and conserve marine and freshwater environments and their resources.

Canadian Wildlife Service (CWS), Environment Canada (Government of Canada): handles wildlife matters that are federal responsibilities, including the protection and management of migratory birds, and nationally significant habitat and endangered species. CWS also does research in many fields of wildlife biology.

Indian and Northern Affairs Canada (INAC) (Government of Canada): the primary representative of the federal government in northern Canada, INAC administers mineral rights and land use activities on the more than 80 per cent of land in Nunavut in which both the subsurface and surface are held by the Crown in right of the federal government. Through different endeavors it heads such as the Northern Contaminants Program, INAC also strives to protect the northern environment and encourage sustainable development.

Parks Canada, Canadian Heritage (Government of Canada): oversees Nunavut's three national parks, Auyuittuq National Park, Sirmilik National Park and Qutiniqpaaq National Park.

Naturally, animals, birds, plants and fish don't recognize political boundaries, so it's important for us to work with other groups outside Nunavut on matters of common interest. Among these groups are:

• co-management boards from other land claims in the Northwest Territories (NWT) and Yukon
• Inuit from Nunavik (northern Quebec), represented by Makivik and the Nunavik Hunters Trappers and Fishers Committee
• the governments of NWT, Manitoba, Quebec, Newfoundland and Labrador and Saskatchewan , in negotiating wildlife management agreements for polar bears, caribou and other wildlife
• Greenland – the NWMB acts as an advisor to Canada on wildlife consultations.

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