Land donation contributes to growing Amlamgog First Nation conservation project
Amlamgog (also known as Fort Folly) First Nation has just announced another parcel of land to be protected under their Indigenous Protected and Conserved Areas (IPCA) project. The small, three acre strip of land along the Petitcodiac river was given to Amlamgog First Nation by a Memramcook family, after an annual ancestor ceremony held nearby at Beaumont. The latest parcel is part of a growing collection of land protected by the first nation.
Amlamgog cultural coordinator Nicole Porter says the band’s IPCA project is acquiring land through donations and purchases from a fund setup for that purpose. “We hold it in trust for everyone to be able to use in a good way, in a sustainable way,” says Porter. “It won’t be harvested or clear cut. It won’t be developed or anything like that. It is strictly for conservation.”
Three other groups in the province also have IPCA projects underway, and Porter says they work in concert to protect land, and make it open, “to the Mi’gmaq people all across Mi’gmaqi.”
Porter says Amlamgog has identified lands to focus on, including in the Tantramar area, as sacred or useful for gatherings and ceremonial purposes. Part of the plan with the IPCA projects is for the province to match or donate Crown land identified for conservation, but Porter says that hasn’t quite come to fruition.… Continue