Help us name our Métis-led IPCA!
Fill out the survey below with your name suggestion and tell us what type of activities and programs you would like to see take place here. Must be a Citizen of the Otipemisiwak Métis Government aged 18+ to participate. You will be entered to win 1 of 10 $100 prepaid Visa gift cards. Survey closes 11:59 PM MST on May 21.
Complete the survey: IPCA Name & Programming Survey (surveymonkey.com)
To help inform your participation in this survey, you can also learn more about our IPCA by visiting our StoryMap.
Timeline of our first Métis-led Indigenous Protected and Conserved Area (IPCA)
In 2019, we acquired funding from Environment and Climate Change Canada to support the development of a Métis-led Indigenous Protected and Conserved Area (IPCA) in Alberta. We started by researching existing IPCAs and potential avenues to establish one in Alberta.
In November 2020, our team hosted online Citizen engagements and heard from over 500 Citizens and their suggestions for what it should include. The data collected through both the engagements and surveys were analyzed and used to develop evaluation tools for assessing potential sites and partnership opportunities.
In May 2021, the Otipemisiwak Métis Government of the Métis Nation within Alberta (MNA) hired a Conservation Coordinator for the IPCA project. Since May 2022, additional staff have been hired to administer the project.
In May 2023, the MNA purchased 158 acres of private land in Lamont County, AB to be a pilot IPCA. MNA staff visited the pilot IPCA and conducted a baseline inventory of the site’s species and natural features. MNA staff will continue to monitor the IPCA and use the monitoring data to develop a management plan.
The MNA is currently exploring partnership opportunities and evaluating other sites as potential IPCAs.
This project was undertaken with financial support of the Government of Canada through the federal Department of Environment and Climate Change.