Mandy Gull-Masty, Grand Chief of the Grand Council of the Crees of Eeyou Istchee and Chairperson of the Cree Nation Government, has received an award on behalf of the many individuals who contributed to the implementation of the Cree Regional Conservation Strategy.

The ILCN Conservation Visionary Award is presented every three years at the ILCN’s triennial Global Congress to exceptional leaders and organizations that have made enduring contributions to land conservation policy and practice. This year’s Global Congress will bring together 250 land conservation practitioners across six continents from October 16 to 18 in Quebec, Canada. The 2024 Global Congress is cohosted by Canada’s leading land conservation organization, the Nature Conservancy of Canada (NCC).

Grand Chief Gull-Masty is the first woman to be elected Grand Chief of the Cree Nation. Throughout her career, she has championed her people’s interests and advocated for centering Cree values and leadership in the expansion of conservation lands across the Cree territory. Through collaborating with nongovernmental organizations and international platforms, Chief Gull-Masty has effectively conveyed the Cree community’s concerns and emphasized the importance of Indigenous protected areas.

Grand Chief Gull-Masty played a key role in the Cree Nation’s collective efforts to protect about 10 million acres (some 4 million hectares) in Eeyou Istchee, the Cree people’s ancestral homeland. The Cree Regional Conservation Strategy is distinctive not only for its scale, ambitious targets for biodiversity conservation, carbon sequestration, and sustainable community development, but also for the manner in which it carefully integrates the traditional knowledge of Cree land users, who have lived intimately with the land over many generations, and the expertise of Geographic Information System specialists at the Cree Nation and at supporting organizations such as the Nature Conservancy of Canada.