The Union of British Columbia Indian Chiefs has called for strengthened action to protect the Canadian province's rivers of ice from the threat of climate change.

Formally recognising 2025 as the United Nation's International Year of Glaciers' Preservation, and the launch of the Decade of Action for Cryospheric Science (2025-2034), the UBCIC called on the Canadian and BC governments to "urgently strengthen their monitoring and protection of the cryosphere, including glaciers, snow, permafrost, river, and lake ice, across British Columbia".

The province is home to more than 17,000 glaciers that sustain life across the province by providing cool, plentiful water to salmon-bearing rivers and nourishing ecosystems and communities long after seasonal snow has melted.

The glaciers hold "immense" cultural, ecological, and spiritual significance for First Nations across the province, UBCIC said. Due to the accelerating impacts of climate change, most of BC's glaciers are projected to disappear within the next 75 years, contributing to rising geohazards and deeply altering the hydrology of First Nation territories.

"Glaciers are living parts of the lands and waters that our peoples have relied on since time immemorial," said Union president, Grand Chief Stewart Phillip.

"As the climate crisis accelerates their loss, it threatens not only ecosystems and salmon but our very cultures, histories, and rights as First Nations.

"The UBCIC has consistently called for implementing solutions to, and protections against, climate change through resolutions and we continue to call for direct action and increased cooperation to better understand the full impacts of climate change"

UBCIC said work by the Canadian federal and BC provincial governments to protect the cryosphere, including glaciers, snow, permafrost, river, and lake ice, must be undertaken in partnership with First Nations, ensuring Indigenous knowledge and stewardship guide all monitoring, research, and adaptation measures.

UBCIC Secretary-Treasurer Chief Marylin Slett said recognising the International Year of Glaciers' Preservation is "about more than awareness; it's a call for collective action".

"Governments must step up to ensure that glaciers, which are sacred to so many of our peoples, are studied, protected, and respected as part of our shared responsibility to future generations," she said.

The Union of British Columbia Indian Chiefs encouraged all Canadians to learn more about the UN's International Year of Glaciers' Preservation and the Decade of Action for Cryospheric Science.