Marci cho, Mr. Speaker. I am proud to let the House know that the Lutsel K'e Dene First Nation is implementing a two-year self-imposed moratorium on hunting the Bathurst caribou herd. This was just announced yesterday, and it will be a stewardship plan led by the community members. The plan is called Yunethe Xa Etthen Hadi. Directly translated, this means "the future of our caribou" in Denesuline.

As everyone is well aware, there has been a severe decline in the Bathurst caribou herd population over the years. The GNWT even went as far as to ban harvesting caribou in its mobile hunting areas since 2015.

Mr. Speaker, what will this initial implementation look like, of this hunting moratorium? Well, the Lutsel K'e Dene First Nation have hired four full-time Nihat'ni Dene Rangers in order to, as the name suggests, watch over and monitor the land, wildlife, and visitors. This will include hunters within the Thaidene Nene protected areas.

I would like to congratulate Chief Darryl Marlowe and the LKDFN for taking the initiative and protecting this caribou herd for future generations. I sincerely hope that other First Nations will take notice and follow suit, and I hope that this government will support endeavours such as these.

In closing, Mr. Speaker, I want to leave with a quote from Lutsel K'e Dene First Nation's caribou stewardship plan that speaks to the LKDFN values and love for the caribou, and I hope it resonates with you.

"Etthen huretth'a; the caribou are listening to us. We shouldn't talk too much about Etthen; they are listening to us. We must speak good words for them, and we must help protect them. The Etthen have their own natural laws and, as such, we have to respect the ways of the Etthen and all other life forms."

Marci cho, Mr. Speaker. That will be all for now. I will have some questions for the Minister of Environment and Natural Resources later.