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Look at a map of the mineral-prospecting permits, leases and claims that have been approved in Nunavut and it seems Ukkusiksalik was set aside as a park just in time. The entire perimeter of the park — in fact, much of the territory — has been staked by mining companies. Nunavut has one of the richest natural-resource endowments in Canada, but conservationists are worried industrial development is racing ahead of land preservation.

Peter Ewins, director of Arctic conservation for World Wildlife Fund Canada (WWF-Canada), says the idea of putting nature first has been in aboriginal culture since the beginning. "When [aboriginal peoples] make a decision, they think about it over the long term ... they put people and land first. What's happening now is that people are getting greedy and are doing development first and conservation second."

According to WWF-Canada, Nunavut has preserved land, like Ukkusiksalik, because of pre-existing plans from outside agencies such as Parks Canada, not through its own conservation strategy. With some of the largest tracts of wilderness left in the country, says Ewins, "there is still time for Nunavut to make a course correction."