Last Ice Area

Lancaster Sound, known as Tallurutiup Imanga to the Inuit, is a unique Arctic ecosystem located between Baffin Island and Devon Island. Polar bears, narwhals, belugas, bowheads, walrus, seals and seabirds all call this region home. In 2019, the Government of Canada and the Qikiqtani Inuit Association, along with the Government of Nunavut, announced the completion of the Tallurutiup Imanga National Marine Conservation Area through an Inuit Impact and Benefit Agreement.

Tuvaijuittuq is a 322,000 sq. km area in the Canadian High Arctic that exists off the northwest coast of Ellesmere Island in Nunavut. In 2019, plans moved forward to establish Tuvaijuittuq as an interim Marine Protected Area. This movement was led by the Qikitani Inuit Association, and WWF celebrates and supports their efforts to work with the governments of Canada and Nunavut to protect it.

Inuit in Canada and Greenland are looking at the future management of an important feature in the Last Ice Area: the North Water polynya, which is called the Pikialasorsuaq in Greenlandic. A polynya is an area of water that remains ice-free in the winter due to wind and water currents while surrounding waters freeze over. Inuit from communities in Canada and Greenland continue to rely on the polynya. The North Water polynya is also critical to the well-being of many birds and animals. WWF-Canada supports the Inuit Circumpolar Council, which created the Pikialasorsuaq Commission to bring together Inuit leaders from both sides of the polynya to guide the future management of the region. In 2017, the Commission recommended the identification of a protected area (including the polynya) and Inuit-led management of the entire region. We continue to work toward seeing protections for the Pikialasorsuaq.