NR 08-30 IIB ENG IIBA Signed.doc

(August 22, 2008 – Iqaluit, Nunavut) Nunavut Tunngavik Inc. Acting President James Eetoolook today with federal Environment Minister John Baird signed the Umbrella Inuit Impact and Benefit Agreement (IIBA) for Migratory Bird Sanctuaries and National Wildlife Areas. The historic signing, which took place this afternoon in Ottawa, brings to a close years of negotiations. This agreement paves the way for working together with the federal government on this and future IIBAs.

NTI plans to host a celebration to commemorate the signing at the Niginganiq National Wildlife Area, the bowhead whale sanctuary near Clyde River, later this year.

Clyde River Inuit have worked for two decades to have the world’s first bowhead whale sanctuary recognized and legally protected. Concluding this agreement and signing it with Minister Baird makes our hard work and effort worthwhile. This is a big day for Inuit, said Eetoolook.

NTI, the Regional Inuit Associations and the Government of Canada began negotiations for the IIBA in 2001. The IIBA includes five National Wildlife Areas and eight Migratory Bird Sanctuaries in Nunavut, and will allow three new National Wildlife Areas to be established and legally protected: the Niginganiq Wildlife Area, an internationally recognized bowhead whale sanctuary near Clyde River, and the Akpait and Qaqulluit National Wildlife Areas near Qikiqtarjuaq.

The IIBA provides $8.3 million over seven years for environmentally sustainable tourism, employment, co-management and other opportunities for Inuit in the affected communities. Under the agreement, Inuit will receive $5.6 million to control, use and administer for tourism, and cultural and natural resource initiatives. Funding for the IIBA will be renegotiated in 2014, in perpetuity, meaning Inuit will be provided with benefits for generations to come.

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