Reimagining Conservation Through an Indigenous Lens
The IMAGO Initiative is an innovative process of creating a new model for Indigenous-led conservation that recognizes and advances the rights of Indigenous peoples and uplifts their inherent, inalienable rights as the occupants and stewards of the land since time immemorial.
This long-term process is focused on exploring new ways of working with our Indigenous, conservation, and agency partners to create an equitable system in which Indigenous peoples and the federal government share management, access, and ownership of public lands.
By engaging in place-based dialogue in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge, the IMAGO Initiative is already working to heal historical trauma related to land dispossession, assimilation, and termination policies and investing in equity and inclusivity. We hope to change how protected areas are designed, how conservation is accomplished, and who benefits from land protections.
By making land protections in the Arctic Refuge more durable, recognizing the rights of Indigenous inhabitants, and providing fair and equitable benefits for Iñupiat and Gwich’in peoples alike, we intend to set a transformational example for the conservation movement in Alaska and nationally. This will help advance social justice for Indigenous communities while safeguarding the unique biodiversity and ecologically sensitive habitat of the Arctic by incorporating Indigenous values.
We hope you will join us in reimagining conservation through an Indigenous worldview so that future protections will not only save the land for the next seven generations but will be done in a way that is fair, just, equitable, and respectful.
If you are interested in learning more about the IMAGO initiative, please register for a webinar about it that we are hosting on October 7, 2022, at 4 p.m. Eastern. After the webinar, a recording will be available here.
The Imago Initiative: Reimagining conservation through an Indigenous lens
Oct. 7, 2022 at 4 p.m. Eastern
Don’t wait to register! We will be holding a special screening of a documentary about IMAGO during the webinar. Below is a trailer for that documentary:
