Land damaged through anthropogenic disturbances is one of the key drivers of biodiversity loss globally. Within Canada, impacts to forests and other ecosystems such as the arctic are remote for most citizens, with those directly affected being the First Peoples who have been guardians of, and in relationship with, these lands since time immemorial. Indigenous communities’ relationship to the land is deeply spiritual and knowledge of the natural systems extends 1000’s of years through shared oral story telling. Concern of cumulative effects to the land, concerns over new projects, concerns over legacy disturbances with no reclamation requirements, and concern over the species which inhabit the land, have historically been brought to the forefront by those who are deeply affected; the First Nations, Inuit and Metis communities.
Concern has moved to action in Canada. Addressing cumulative effects and reversing the negative effects to biodiversity (the land, nature) is at the forefront of Indigenous communities’ priorities. For many, healing of the land will support healing of their people. Solutions are not simple, with implementation of nature-positive solutions needed at large-scales, over many years, with collaboration of stakeholders and at very high financial costs. Although the barriers to on the ground solutions for biodiversity seem immense, many Indigenous communities have overcome these barriers and have led the most successful habitat and species restoration programs across the country.
The work Indigenous communities have undertaken, in some cases without direction or funding from any government institution, is leading Canada on a path to nature positive.
Indigenous Leadership In Action
COP15 provided a venue for Indigenous communities and partnerships to showcase their successful solutions for biodiversity recovery. The lineup of presentations at the Canada Pavilion provided the opportunity for Indigenous communities and their partners to share the strength and action of the great work they are leading across the country.
Despite a national focus on species at risk recovery by the federal government and subsequent increasing pressures on provincial and territorial governments to improve habitat intactness, the most successful recovery programs have arguably been initiated, led and implemented by First Nations.
The Klinse-za herd of woodland caribou in northeast British Columbia had dropped to 200 individuals in 1995 and continued a sharp decline to 40 individuals by 2013. A coordinated and focused recovery action plan led by the Nîkanêse Wah tzee Stewardship Society, a joint initiative of the West Moberly and Saulteau First Nations halted the decline through the implementation of maternity pens for caribou and predator management actions. The Society then went a step further and recognized that recovery actions needed to provide long term solutions through habitat restoration actions. Today, the Society, in partnership with many organizations and governments, has been a precedent setting Indigenous-led conservation initiative that has paired short-term recovery actions for a species at risk with ongoing work on habitat restoration and securement of landscape-level protection. The results of these actions have halted the decline of the Klinse-za caribou herd from the brink of extinction, to a herd that is has an increasing population.
Blueberry River First Nations is a signatory to Treaty 8. Blueberry understood that by signing Treaty 8 there would be an established nation-to-nation relationship based on mutual benefit. Over the last several decades, the Government of British Columbia authorized extensive industrial development within Blueberry’s territory. In 2021, the province’s Supreme Court ruled in Blueberry River First Nations (Yahey) v. Province of British Columbia that the Treaty 8 rights of the Blueberry River First Nations had been breached by development authorized by the provincial government over many years. The agreement that emerged from the ruling requires the Province and Blueberry to work together to develop land management processes in Blueberry territory that restore and protect the ability of the land to support Indigenous ways of life, and ensure future development authorizations manage cumulative effects on land and wildlife and their impact on the Nation’s treaty rights to hunt, fish or trap for food. Since 2021, Blueberry River First Nations has worked to train members in the community to build local capacity for habitat restoration delivery and has successfully delivered restoration programs on the ground.
These examples are only two of several in recent years as Indigenous communities have successfully formed partnerships, secured funding, and delivered actions targeted at protecting and restoring biodiversity. Other successful programs include the Dehcho First Nations establishment of the Edéhzhíe Protected Area on the Horn Plateau in the Northwest Territories, the Kugluktuk Hunters and Trappers Organization (HTO)’s Bernard Harbour Restoration Project in Nunavut, Fort Nelson First Nation’s Medzih Action Plan and implementation of habitat restoration within the Kotcho planning area of NE British Columbia, Fort McKay First Nation Indigenous Guardians program with implementation of community-based research and monitoring of the environmental impacts and restoration activities to help mitigate cumulative impacts in NE Alberta, the Kitaskino Nuwenene Wildland Park Expansion which created the largest area of protected land in the world, made possible through the collaboration of Indigenous communities, industry partners and government.
Achieving harmony with nature is a key challenge for humanity, especially in the face of rapid human population growth and the associated demand for resources needed to maintain or improve standard of living globally. The Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD) has a central role to play in meeting this challenge and has the clear objectives of conserving biological diversity, ensuring sustainable use of its components, and achieving equitable sharing of the benefits nature provides to people. In Canada, as in many parts of the world, Indigenous peoples have an especially important role to play in meeting these objectives.
As Canada’s commitments to biodiversity protection and restoration strengthen, Indigenous leadership in nature positive actions such as restoration and input in conservation area identification is critical. Indigenous knowledge and expertise is of vital importance. Building relationships with these longstanding stewards of the land will help ensure that the efforts we take, and the investments we make, have a long-lasting impact on our natural environment.
Barriers to Overcome
Large-scale conservation areas and coordinated restoration of damaged landscapes will be imperative to moving towards nature positive in Canada. Collaborative partnerships between Indigenous peoples, industry, government and scientists, are needed to provide real world experience of healing landscapes. Important to this collaboration is the incorporation of Indigenous knowledge. Indigenous knowledge is not happening everywhere, which is something that must be significantly improved upon moving forward. Restoration implementors need to engage with these communities to increase habitat restoration program success and social acceptance. Further, both traditional knowledge and scientific knowledge are together important and valuable sources of information for restoration planning and implementation. But even where Indigenous voices are being heard, and utilized, there are challenges to mobilizing this information into action. Restoration and conservation programs need to incorporate approaches that allow for Indigenous participation and knowledge to be embedded in all phases of restoration delivery. For example, selection of priority areas to focus restoration, articulating restoration objectives, selection of restoration techniques and implementation on the ground.
A common roadblock for Indigenous communities to lead restoration programs is to secure funding and to address the administrative requirements of provincial or federal granting organizations. Solutions through partnerships with various non-government organizations, industry or scientists have reduced this barrier for some. Capacity building and training obstacles are also being overcome through fruitful partnerships with academic institutions, consultants, contractors, and industry. This provides important and meaningful local work within a community’s traditional territory.
Lastly, the need for recognition of Indigenous communities having the support to develop, or restore, their land as they determine, without interference from developers or various levels of government remains to be a legacy barrier.
WSP has been honored to have had the opportunity to partner with a number of Indigenous communities in developing restoration plans and implementing restoration actions on the ground. These partnerships have provided an element of capacity building and training. Training has gone both ways, with WSP’s restoration practitioners learning about the value of holistic, culturally appropriate restoration that considers the spiritual aspect of the land. Positive spin-offs have included communities being in a position to complete the planning and implementation of restoration without additional support.
Paula Bentham is a Senior Principal Ecologist for WSP in Canada.
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