We Are a Canadian-U.S. collaborative of conservation organizations, researchers, foundations and conservation-minded individuals. Our international community is focused on the protection, conservation and restoration of forests and natural heritage from New York to Nova Scotia, across the Northern Appalachian Acadian ecoregion.
The Ecosystem
The Northern Appalachian-Acadian-Wabanaki Ecoregion encompasses over 330,000 square kilometers (nearly 82 million acres) in the northeastern U.S. and southeastern Canada, including all or a portion of western Massachusetts, northern New York, Vermont, New Hampshire, Maine, southern Québec, New Brunswick, Nova Scotia, and Prince Edward Island. Ecologically diverse, it is dominated by spruce-fir and northern hardwood forests, extensive coastlines, inland mountain ranges, and glacially carved landscapes. It is also an ecological transition zone between northern boreal and southern temperate forests.
The NAPAW is the most intact ecoregion in the eastern United States and contains the broadest extent of nearly contiguous natural forest. Forest cover has been increasing since extensive deforestation in the 19th century so that the remaining areas with over 80% natural cover amount to over 50% of the region. It also contains diverse aquatic, riparian, wetland, and coastal habitats, including floodplains, marshes, estuaries, peatlands, and sandy beaches. There are still large, intact forest blocks in the NAPAW with few roads and diverse flora and fauna.
The Idea
We noticed an absence, and from that absence arose an idea. Who was tracking the cumulative ecological effects of today’s land use decisions in this ecoregion on either side of the border? Until this point, conservationists, researchers, and government agencies in the U.S. and Canada had little history of working together to protect habitats, histories, and species tied to this ecoregion. Learn more about who we are and the work we’ve done.
Building Resilience for Ecological Recovery and Community Wellbeing in the Northern Appalachians-Acadian-Wabanaki Region
This five-day workshop will convene key stakeholders and Rights holders from Indigenous groups, Canada, and the U.S. to develop a shared plan for accelerating the protection and stewardship of a resilient forested landscape across the Northern Appalachian-Acadian-Wabanaki (NAPAW) ecoregion of Canada and the United States.
To learn more about this exciting workshop, go here.
Land Acknowledgement
We would like to acknowledge that we live and work on the traditional and unceded territory of the Wabanaki Confederacy and other Indigenous peoples, who have been caretakers and stewards of this land since time immemorial. These Indigenous nations and peoples include the Abenaki, Massachusett, Mi’gmaq/Mi’kmaq, Pennacook, Penobscot (Penawapskewi), Peskotomuhkati, Wampanoag and Wolastoqiyik peoples. This territory is governed by the Treaties of Peace and Friendship which were signed with the British Crown in the 1700s, and the rights of Indigenous peoples described in the Jay Treaty of 1794 between the US and Great Britain. These treaties did not deal with the surrender of lands and resources, but in fact recognized Indigenous title and established the rules for what was to be an ongoing relationship between nations.
Recognition and respect are essential elements of establishing healthy, reciprocal relations. These relationships are key to reconciliation, to which we all need to be committed, as we are all Treaty peoples. In conserving these lands and waters, we need to embrace the essential leadership of Indigenous stewards who continue to care for them, including Elders, Knowledge Holders and communities. Working together on shared responsibilities to the lands and waters, and to each other, is a key part of our ongoing Treaty relationships and collective kinships with nature.