Biodiversity Boreal Climate change Conservation planning Freshwater Indigenous partnerships Natural resource development Peatlands

The National Peatland Strategy: Implementation Opportunities for the Northwest Territories

Goodday, V., Tanguay, L., Radatus-Smith, N. & Harris, L

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To facilitate uptake of the National Peatland Strategy, opportunities for implementation at the federal level and in each province and territory have been identified. This document outlines opportunities for the Northwest Territories.

Key points

• Canada’s peatlands are of global importance, storing over 150 billion tonnes of carbon.
• Canada's provinces and territories have the primary responsibility for properly stewarding these climate-critical ecosystems.
• Top opportunities for the Government of Northwest Territories to achieve better outcomes for peatlands, and the communities and ecosystems that rely on them, include:
  • Establishing explicit policy and legislative pathways for peatland protection and stewardship in the NWT. Specific opportunities include ensuring coverage of peatlands under forestry, land-use, and water resources legislation; strengthening peatland commitments under the NWT Water Stewardship Strategy and the 2030 NWT Climate Change Strategic Framework; and including explicit peatland targets and actions in regional land-use plans and finalizing these plans.
  • Addressing data and information gaps by, for example, improving regional wetland inventories, scaling up research and monitoring of peatland values and services, and developing peatland science expertise and capacity within the Government of NWT and Indigenous governments and organizations.

The full strategy is available in both English and French.

Recommended citation

Goodday, V., Tanguay, L., Radatus-Smith, N. & Harris, L (2025). The National Peatland Strategy: Implementation Opportunities for the Northwest Territories. Wildlife Conservation Society Canada [WCS Canada]. https://doi.org/10.19121/2025.Report.52386.p10.en