What is the Indigenous Leadership Initiative? We are an Indigenous-led organization who works to work to: ➡️ strengthen Indigenous Nationhood ➡️ support Indigenous responsibility to the land ➡️ help build a new generation of Indigenous leaders

What does it take to sustain one of Earth’s largest remaining intact ecosystems? 🌎🌲 The answer begins with relationships. For thousands of years, Indigenous People have cared for the Boreal Forest through knowledge, practices, and responsibilities passed from one generation to the next. Today, these living knowledge systems remain essential to protecting its biodiversity and carbon-rich landscapes. They take shape in initiatives like Indigenous Protected and Conserved Areas (IPCAs), Guardians programs, and land relationship planning. As the world looks for ways to address climate change and biodiversity loss, one thing is clear: Indigenous leadership is an essential part of the solution.

For millennia, Indigenous Peoples have cared for lands and waters through laws, languages, stories, responsibilities, and ways of living that understand people as part of the natural world, not separate from it. And that understanding continues to guide Indigenous-led conservation today. Watch our Executive Director Valérie Courtois reflect on what it means to lead from a place of responsibility, connection, and belonging,

What if protecting land included and recognized the Nations who have cared for it all along? 🪶🌲 A new article from @MagicCanoe explores how Indigenous Protected and Conserved Areas are reshaping conservation across the country, including Dene Kʼéh Kusān, the Kaska Nation-led proposal to protect one of the last intact ecosystems in B.C. IPCAs show what conservation can look like when Indigenous laws, knowledge, governance, stewardship, and local economies are part of the same vision. magiccanoe.org/indigenous-le…

Did you know? 👉 A new national poll found that 87% favour investing in Fire Guardians.👈 The message is clear: Canadians want solutions that go beyond reacting after fires have already started, and fire Guardians can help show the way. To learn more about the poll, check out our breakdown here: ilinationhood.ca/publication…

Today, on the National Day for #TruthandReconciliation, we honour the strength and resilience of residential school survivors, and we remember the children who never returned home. Today is a day for reflection, but it is also a day of responsibility. True reconciliation is a call to learn the truths of this country, to acknowledge the intergenerational impacts that continue today, and to respect and uphold the strength of Indigenous Nations in caring for our lands, languages, and Peoples. 🪶 On this National Day, we should all commit to reconciliation rooted in the truth, and most importantly, the love for generations to come. 🧡 Art by Hawlii Pichette

In this exclusive interview with @APTNnews, our Executive Director Valérie Courtois discussed the important findings of a new national survey on wildfire. The key findings of this poll are resoundingly supportive of Indigenous fire stewardship: over 80% of Canadians express overwhelming support for expanding Indigenous fire stewardship in the country’s response to fire risk & 87% supported investing in Fire Guardians. aptnnews.ca/featured/nationa…

Have you heard the news? 👀🔥 New polling shows Canadians resoundingly support Indigenous fire stewardship as a practical and necessary solution to wildfire risk. So how do we move from public support to real change? Our new report shows what needs to happen next: sustainable funding, a trained Indigenous fire workforce, Fire Guardians, and policy changes that make it easier for Nations to lead. Read it here ↓ ilinationhood.ca/publication…

Here are numbers that should stop people in their tracks: A new poll found that 93% of Canadians are concerned about wildfire, and over 8 out of 10 Canadians express overwhelming support for expanding Indigenous fire stewardship in the country’s response to fire risk (83%) & investing in Fire Guardians (87%). 🔥 The results of this new poll are clear: Canadians resoundingly support expanding and investing in Indigenous fire stewardship. The next step? Building the systems to make this work possible. Canadians are ready for a shift, and Indigenous fire stewardship is there to show the way towards a safer future for all of us. 🌿 Read more ↓ ilinationhood.ca/news-releas…

Guardians often say their work changes their lives. A new study now shows us just how much. The most comprehensive assessment of First Nations Guardians programs to date found that Guardians programs deliver major benefits not only for communities and lands, but for the very people who participate. Being a Guardian creates purpose. It helps people reconnect with land, identity, knowledge, and responsibility. It supports healing for people and for the places they care for. Read the full study: ilinationhood.ca/publication…

Guardians are often described as the boots on the ground for their Nations. But “on the ground” can mean a lot of things: It can mean monitoring wildlife habitat; collecting data on the effects of a dam on marine ecosystems; caring for cultural sites important for the community; and teaching youth during camps. For First Nations Guardians, being on the land is part of how knowledge, responsibility, and decision-making stay connected. That may sound simple, but it is also exactly what makes their impact so powerful. Curious to know about these impacts? Click this link to discover the newest study on the benefits of Guardians! 🌿 ilinationhood.ca/publication…

Have you heard!? New data shows that for every $1 invested in Guardians Programs, an average of $12 worth of community benefits are generated! That is one of the many findings from a major new study on First Nations Guardians programs in Canada. It quantifies and demonstrates their many *many* benefits. Behind those numbers is an undeniable, powerful and simple truth: Investing in Guardians works. Read the latest blog on the study that demonstrates how Guardians are one of the most powerful models we have for Indigenous-led stewardship, community wellbeing, and conservation. 🙌 Read here: ilinationhood.ca/blog/report…

“What’s exciting about this report is that it’s confirming that the work they are doing is very important for the future of this planet and meeting important environmental and climate goals.” These new findings confirm that Guardians programs are not only powerful for First Nations. They are also a cost-effective, community-led model for helping Canada meet its goals for protecting nature and addressing climate change. That is something all Canadians can celebrate. 🌎 Learn more about this study here: ilinationhood.ca/news-releas…

Breaking news! Every $1 invested in Indigenous Guardians programs generates an average return of $12 worth of benefits for communities! Behind those numbers are the things Guardians make possible every day: healthier lands and waters, stronger cultural knowledge, more youth on the land, better information for Nations, stronger stewardship, and meaningful work rooted in responsibility. They show that Guardians programs are not only powerful for First Nations, they’re also successful models for helping Canada protect nature and address climate change. In short: The message is simple: Investing in Guardians works. 🌿🙌

When we talk about protecting nature in this country, the Boreal Forest has to be part of the conversation. Stretching across almost 60% of Canada’s land area, this region remains one of the planet’s great ecological strongholds. 🌲 The Boreal is also home to hundreds of Indigenous communities, over 700. The knowledge carried by Indigenous People has helped maintain its balance for millennia — and continues to guide how it is stewarded today. (Photo by D. Langhorst)

Our friends at Wildlife Conservation Society Canada are members of the Key Biodiversity Areas Canada Coalition, which is bringing back the #2026KBAPhotoContest, and this year they’re introducing a brand new category to spotlight Indigenous Storytellers 🦋 The Indigenous Storytellers category celebrates photography rooted in Indigenous knowledge and connection to the land, from First Nation, Métis, and Inuit creators. So enter your best landscape, species, or conservation photos in the contest (open until Oct 15)! 🏞️ 🔗 Details here → kbacanada.org/2026/08/19/cap…

Have you heard the good news? We just launched the First Nations Stewardship Fund: a new funding opportunity for established Guardians initiatives across the country! The fund is intended to support Guardians' employment and conservation activities on the ground. Guardians programs are a contemporary expression of First Nations’ ancestral responsibility to care for the land, and we want to do our part to help support this important work. 🤎 So spread the word and send this to a guardian near you! Find more info and apply here: ilinationhood.ca/guardians-f…

Guardians programs interested in applying to the new First Nations Stewardship Fund: join us tomorrow, September 1st and Thursday September 3rd to learn more, ask questions, and understand the fund’s application process. 📝 📅 September 1st & 3rd ⏱️ 1 PM EDT 📍 Zoom Register here: ilinationhood.ca/guardians-f…

At ILI, we are working toward a future where Indigenous Nations lead decisions on Indigenous lands. ➔ A future where caring for lands and waters strengthens communities, supports well-being, and creates lasting economic opportunities for Indigenous Nations. ➔ A future where Nation-to-Nation partnerships are not the exception, but the standard. ➔ And a future where Indigenous-led conservation in Canada becomes a model the world can learn from.

📣 We have a big announcement to share! The Indigenous Leadership Initiative is launching the First Nations Stewardship Fund – a brand new funding stream for Guardians programs across the country! 💪🌿 We know how essential Guardians are in protecting lands and waters, supporting communities, ensuring development happens in a good way, benefiting cultural knowledge and Nationhood – and we couldn’t be more thrilled that we have the chance to support them. For more information and to apply → ilinationhood.ca/guardians-f…

For generations, Indigenous Peoples have used fire to support healthy, biodiverse landscapes. Today, that knowledge is adapting to climate change and helping imagine a different future for forests across the country. Curious to learn more about the myths and truth surrounding fire? Head here ➔ ilinationhood.ca/blog/indige…