Canada's Aboriginal peoples are major players in the future of the boreal. More than 600 First Nations, Inuit, and Metis communities are scattered across the region, and vast swaths of the landscape are in Aboriginal hands. Most of the tribes are taking part in some of the finest conservation thinking on the planet. Under the Northwest Territories' Protected Areas Strategy, tribes, communities, and organizations are working with federal and territorial governments to preserve special natural and cultural areas. For example, Northwest Territories officials last fall announced the creation of 25.5 million acres of national park and wildlife protection areas, including plans for a possible 8.3-million-acre park on the East Arm of Great Slave Lake.