Established in 2022, the IPCA Support Fund provides funding for up to three years to support Indigenous communities and organizations to consider or establish IPCAs:
- Grants of $50,000 to $100,000 per year
- One to three years of funding per recipient
- Total funding envelope of approximately $500,000 per year
The IPCA Support Fund is fully allocated for 2026 and 2027. For any questions, or if you’d like to receive updates, please email [email protected]
Eligibility
The fund is open to all First Nation, Inuit and Métis communities, organizations and rightsholders within Canada. Projects may include non-Indigenous partners but must be Indigenous-led.
Eligible activities
The fund supports a wide range of activities, including:
- Community discussions about interest in or approaches to creating an IPCA.
- Exploring how to increase connectivity among IPCAs and with other conservation areas.
- Early-stage community engagement and land-use planning to assist with the delineation of an IPCA.
- Knowledge-exchange opportunities across generations, among Indigenous communities, and between Indigenous Knowledge Holders and Western scientists, a practice known as “Two-Eyed Seeing” or knowledge weaving.
- Securing resources to support long-term IPCA stewardship and monitoring based on Indigenous-led priorities and knowledge.
- Exploring community-based social, economic and environmental opportunities for and by Indigenous communities to sustain stewardship efforts.
- Other priorities as identified by First Nation, Inuit and Métis communities that support the intention of the IPCA Support Fund.
Fund recipients
Since the IPCA Support Fund’s creation in 2022, WWF-Canada has supported ten First Nations or First Nation organizations across Canada in their IPCA initiatives. Recipients include:
- Kitigan Zibi Anishinābeg
- Miawpukek First Nation
- Innu Takuaikan Uashat mak Mani-Utenam (ITUM)
- Whispering Pines Clinton Indian Band
- Cook’s Ferry Indian Band
- Dene Tha’ First Nation
- Nuxalk Nation
- Caldwell First Nation
Recipients applied their funding across a wide range of activities driven by community priorities, including identification and mapping of IPCA sites, meetings and interviews with elders and knowledge holders, digitization of previously collected Traditional Knowledge, field and wildlife surveys, land-use studies and knowledge exchanges.
