Mahsi cho, Mr. Chairman, and mahsi cho, Chief and committee members.
I also would like to thank you for giving us the time to share the good news that is Thaidene Nëné. As Chief Marlowe indicated, we have been diligently working with both levels of Crown governments over a number of years to create Thaidene Nëné together. Thaidene Nëné was a mandate and vision given to us by the elders, most of whom have passed on since that mandate was given to us. As chief negotiator, I was mandated to take the leadership role on behalf of the community over all these years.
We first started the work in earnest in 2000, once we initialled the Akaitcho lands, resources and governance agreement on July 25, 2000. The elders at that time asked us to move forward to protect the heart of our homeland—not the entire territory of our homeland, but the heart of our homeland. At that time, they identified 55,000 square kilometres as an area of interest.
In 2006 then chief Addie Jonasson signed an MOU with then minister of the environment Rona Ambrose of the Conservative Party. That allowed us to do further research and due diligence on best practices at the global level and down into Canada. We could have chosen different partners in our relationship in the creation of Thaidene Nëné, but we chose Canada because we have a treaty with Canada. We agreed to share the lands and resources and the responsibility to share them and to benefit from them. In 2010, when I was the chief, I signed the framework agreement with the late Jim Prentice, who was then minister of the environment, to start formal negotiations. In our culture we've never really had a political structure that would have a grand chief, per se. Leaders are chosen for specific purposes. At that time, the elders and the community appointed me to take the leadership role to usher in the negotiations and build the relationship requirement to create Thaidene Nëné.
Thaidene Nëné today is a model of conservation. It's a model of reconciliation between indigenous and Crown governments, collectively between us and the land, and as a form of economic reconciliation. Significant investment will go into our community, where 18 full-time jobs will be created. We will work alongside Parks Canada in the management and operations of Thaidene Nëné equally, as a shared responsibility. An amount of $32 million will go into that area for the first 12 years, and approximately $3 million annually after that for the operations and management of Thaidene Nëné.
Thaidene Nëné is a great example of reconciliation in this country. In fact, Thaidene Nëné has been used by Canada and by many indigenous nations across the country as an example of how to develop their relationships with Crown governments. Together we've created a model of a relationship that's been utilized and emulated by many right across the country. In fact, it's helping speed up the relationship building between indigenous governments and Crown governments and the creation of marine and terrestrial protected areas to help Canada reach its Aichi targets of 17%.
With Thaidene Nëné we're ready to go. The conditions are good. We're in a position to sign and establish Thaidene Nëné in July this summer. As the chief indicated, we have secured funding to allow LKDFN their independence and to be a true partner in the management, operations and governance of Thaidene Nëné. We have the capacity to move forward and diversify our economy. We are in a place in the Northwest Territories where our traditional territory is 280,000 square kilometres. A national park of 14,000 square kilometres, with an additional 12,000 for a protected area, is just a small piece of our territory.
We are not anti-development. We have a relationship with all the mining industries in our territory. We have agreements with Diavik, BHP and De Beers.
Thaidene Nëné went through an extensive HMIRA assessment that informed the final boundaries that we see today. All the highly prospective mineral potential has been taken out of the area of interest. Areas that are unknown geologically have been excluded from Thaidene Nëné as well. We've taken great care to ensure that Lutsel K’e has positioned itself to participate in both the non-renewable and the renewable resource economy.
Thaidene Nëné will provide a long-term, stable, consistent economic base for the community and at the same time create certainty for investment outside of Thaidene Nëné within our territory.
It's a great model for reconciliation in this country, and it's a great model for conservation relationships among indigenous governments and Crown governments, whether at the federal or the provincial level. We have an establishment agreement with the Government of Northwest Territories, and we've helped develop the legislative proposal that has been reviewed by the people of the Northwest Territories through public hearings by the Northwest Territories Standing Committee on Economic Development and Environment. They're doing that as we speak. We hope they will turn that legislative proposal into law in their next legislative session in May so we can all sign off on the establishment agreement and celebrate the creation and establishment of Thaidene Nëné.
With that, I will answer any questions you may have.
Mahsi cho.