Good afternoon, everyone.
I'd like to thank you for inviting me to present to you today on the budget ask for support for indigenous leadership in conservation and the indigenous guardian initiative.
My name is Steven Nitah. I'm a representative of the Indigenous Leadership Initiative, which supports indigenous nations in honouring our cultural responsibility to care for land and water—essentially, a continuation of life.
The Indigenous Leadership Initiative provided a written submission to this committee as part of pre-budget consultations earlier this year. Indigenous leadership plays a unique leadership role in advancing indigenous-led conservation. We directly support dozens of first nations as they pursue their conservation goals. We are a leading national voice in building momentum and consensus among scientists, conservation groups and academics, such as through conservation through reconciliation—