DFN Press, 2004, 03, 22
The Deh Cho territory covers 208,385 km2 of the sub-arctic taiga plains and taiga cordillera ecozones in the south-western corner of the Northwest Territories, Canada.1 In 2002, the total population of the ten communities in the territory was estimated at 6,926 persons, of whom 4,237 (61.2%) identified themselves as aboriginal.2 Traditional land use (hunting, fishing, trapping, and plant gathering) continues to be culturally and economically significant for Dene and Metis. For example, wild foods provide between 22% and 36% of total dietary protein in the Deh Cho territory.3 The ecosystems that support traditional land use are vulnerable to industrial resource extraction, but relatively little petroleum extraction, mining, or logging has taken place in the territory to date.