NWAC honours the traditional roles of Indigenous women, girls, and gender-diverse people as water carriers and land protectors through initiatives that advance environmental justice and climate resilience. Our work ensures meaningful participation in climate policy development, protects navigable waters, and advocates for proper assessment of industrial impacts on Indigenous territories. By centering Indigenous perspectives in environmental decision-making, we protect vital ecosystems while strengthening community capacity to address climate challenges.
Environment
When our communities lead environmental protection efforts, we honour ancient relationships with the land that sustained our nations for countless generations.
Engaging Indigenous People in Climate Change Policy (EIPCCP)
NWAC empowers the climate leadership of Indigenous women, in all their gender diversity. Through research and engagement, it centers their experiences and knowledge to shape inclusive, land-based climate policy under the Pan-Canadian Framework.
Learn MoreImpact Assessment
This project engages Indigenous women, in all their gender diversity, on proposed changes to the Impact Assessment Act and explores how to meaningfully include Traditional Knowledge. It also raises awareness and supports Indigenous participation through engagement activities that encourage them to take an active role in the impact assessment process.
Learn MoreWater Carriers
NWAC honours the sacred role of Indigenous women and girls, in all their diversity, as Water Carriers – those who protect, speak for, and care for water as kin. This initiative advocates for their leadership in addressing water insecurity and climate impacts in pursuit of community-based, self-determined water governance.
Learn MoreIndigenous Habitat Protection Program
Uplifting the voices of Indigenous women and girls, in all their diversity, in the protection of fish and fish habitats is crucial. By embedding Indigenous Knowledge, rights, and values into the modernization of the Fisheries Act, NWAC is fostering meaningful, distinctions-based engagement.
Learn MoreSupporting Inclusion of Indigenous Climate Science
This project ensures Indigenous women’s knowledge informs biodiversity and climate policy by contributing to global science assessments through the Intergovernmental Science-Policy Platform on Biodiversity and Ecosystem Services (IPBES). NWAC works with PTMAs, Elders, and Knowledge Keepers to review and provide feedback on technical documents which influence global environmental policy.
Supporting Capacity of National Indigenous Representatives to Engage in Conservation
Indigenous women, in all their diversity, must be represented in biodiversity and conservation forums. By carrying grassroots priorities into decision-making spaces and sharing insights back with communities, NWAC is strengthening inclusive, culturally grounded environmental policy at all levels.