Aulavik

Aulavik protects some 12,200 km² of Arctic lowland at the northern end of Banks Island, the westernmost of the Canadian archipelago, in the Northwest Territories. Its name means "the place where people travel" in Inuvialuktun and was proposed by Geddes Wolki, an elder of Sachs Harbour, the island's only community, more than 300 km south of the park boundary. The agreement to create it was signed on 16 July 1992 after years of negotiation between the community, the Inuvialuit Regional Corporation and the territorial and federal governments.

The landscape alternates tundra polygons, broad river valleys, gentle hills, desert badlands and open coasts. It is a polar desert swept by strong winds and entirely treeless: not a single tree grows anywhere in it. Its axis is the Thomsen River, regarded as the most northerly navigable river in North America, and practically the only way to travel through the park is to descend it by canoe or raft. Access is exclusively by air, on a charter flight from Inuvik, some 800 km away, and there are four landing strips. It is one of the least visited parks in the Canadian system: it recorded 34 visitors in the 2022-23 season.

The Thomsen valley is the most productive area in the world for muskox: around a quarter of the Banks Island population, which exceeds 47,000 animals, grazes in its wetlands of dwarf willow, sedges and grasses. Peary caribou, Arctic wolf, fox and Arctic hare share the territory, and more than 150 bird species come to breed during the short warm season; the lower stretch of the Thomsen, with its associated tundra lakes and ponds, is designated a migratory bird sanctuary because of the concentration of brent geese. The many food caches found in the area document that the peoples who lived here hunted caribou and muskox for centuries.