Major Inuit-Led Conservation Launches in Nunavut Territory of Canada

Kathleen Fitzgerald, director of The Pew Charitable Trusts’ Enduring Earth project, joined leaders from the Qikiqtani Inuit Association and the Government of Canada, plus philanthropic partners, nongovernmental organizations, and community members on Nov. 13, 2025, to celebrate SINAA, a “project finance for permanence” (PFP) agreement that will support Inuit-led marine conservation and community development in the Qikiqtani region of Nunavut, Canada.

In 2021, Pew partnered with World Wildlife Fund, The Nature Conservancy, and ZOMA LAB to create a new collaboration, Enduring Earth, with the mission of accelerating adoption of the PFP model, which provides ongoing financial resources for conservation and community development. SINAA is the 10th and largest PFP created through Enduring Earth.

In her speech to the several hundred attendees in Iqaluit, Nunavut, Fitzgerald highlighted four essential components of a PFP: local leadership, government commitment, vision, and donor partnership. She praised the outstanding leadership of the Qikiqtani Inuit Association and the Inuit communities throughout the region, as well as the tireless work of the association staff, in building the vision for SINAA and gaining support from philanthropic partners. Fitzgerald also recognized the Government of Canada for supporting Indigenous-led initiatives, including the Qikiqtani Inuit Association’s planning of SINAA, which she hailed as an example of what is feasible when a government invests in and empowers communities.

Fitzgerald concluded by noting that SINAA’s impacts will be felt far beyond the Qikiqtani region, Nunavut, and even Canada. Worldwide, governments are seeking ways to meet their commitments to protect 30% of their lands and waters by 2030, and SINAA provides a blueprint for the kind of effective public-private-community partnership that is needed to meet that ambitious goal.