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CPAWS-BC applauds Mamalilikulla First Nation’s new Indigenous-led protected area
Xʷməθkʷəy̓əm (Musqueam), Sḵwx̱wú7mesh (Squamish) and səlilwətaɬ (Tsleil-Waututh) Territories / Vancouver, BC – The Canadian Parks and Wilderness Society – British Columbia (CPAWS-BC) congratulates Mamalilikulla First Nation in declaring gwaxdłala (Lull Bay)/‘nalaxdłala (Hoeya Sound) as an Indigenous Protected and Conserved Area (IPCA).
Near Knight Inlet on the central coast of British Columbia, this 10,416 hectare protected area is almost the size of the city of Vancouver, and contains watersheds that support critical species like grizzly bears, eagles, and salmon. It also houses a one-of-a-kind underwater sponge and coral reef. Without protection and sustainable management, this biodiversity risks being lost.
“Indigenous Peoples—like Mamalilikulla First Nation—have stewarded rich and healthy landscapes since time immemorial. This announcement is a re-assertion of the stewardship role they’ve held,” says Kevin Barlow, Executive Director of CPAWS-BC. “I look forward to seeing the crown governments uphold their commitment to the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples (UNDRIP) and the Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples Act (DRIPA) by formally recognizing this IPCA.”
In addition to protecting biodiversity and cultural values—including settlement sites—this IPCA is an important step forward in protecting 25% of BC’s lands and waters by 2025 in order to stem the climate change and biodiversity crises affecting communities across the province.
The ocean waters of the IPCA are proposed as a strongly protected component of the planned Northern Shelf Bioregion Marine Protected Area Network. This network, led by 17 First Nations including Mamalilikulla First Nation, aims to protect the species and ecosystems underpinning their ocean economy in the north Pacific coast of BC.
With their expertise protecting nature, CPAWS-BC looks forward to more Indigenous-led conservation initiatives.
Kevin Barlow
Executive Director, CPAWS-BC
Recently, Gillian Staveley—a member of the Kaska Dena in northern BC—sat down with CPAWS-BC to talk about protecting a large swath of ancestral and traditional Kaska Territory. Read on to learn more about Dene Kʼéh Kusān and how you can support this Indigenous-led conservation initiative.
Editor’s note: this interview has been transcribed, condensed, and formatted with consent.
Photos by: Britney Berrner Creative
Estimated reading time: 8 minutes
Kristina: Hi Gillian! I’d love to start by asking you who are you, and who the Kaska Dena are.
Gillian: My name is Gillian Staveley—I’m the Director of Land Stewardship and Culture with the Dena Kayeh Institute. I am also Kaska.
The Kaska Dena are a nation of people who are connected through our culture, our land, our language, our laws. We are a fairly large nation in terms of geography, with our communities placed throughout our ancestral lands in northern BC, southeast Yukon, and a small sliver of the Northwest Territories. We call this area Dena Kayeh, or “the people’s country”.
Kristina: Tell us more about Dene Kʼéh Kusān. What is this project about? How did it begin?
Gillian: Dene Kʼéh Kusān is the Kaska’s Indigeous Protected and Conserved Area (IPCA) proposal within Dena Kayeh—we’re trying to protect 4 million hectares of land and water through it. To us, the phrase Dene Kʼéh Kusān is a reminder that we will always be here. Dene Kʼéh Kusān: as long as our lands are here, and our languages are here, and our laws are here, and our culture is here, then we will be here as Kaska people. It’s all tied together because we believe in the principles of relationality: we are all one.
Kristina: What’s unique about the landscapes and ecosystems in Dene Kʼéh Kusān? What do you see, smell, and hear?
Gillian: When I close my eyes, I think of the regions that are very sacred to me, personally, within the Kaska traditional territory.
I visualize the very sacred headwaters that we have, and the confluences of large rivers. I can also smell the moist moss that’s in the deep soils of our boreal forest. We have such an intact, beautiful forest in our territory—it brings me joy to feel those smells. There’s also other aspects of our lands, like hearing the wind in some of the highest peaks of the Northern Rockies, and being able to traverse them.
You can also feel the heartbeat of our people in certain regions of Dena Kayeh, too, like the subarctic terrain. That’s where we’ve hunted and gathered since time immemorial. It’s those areas that are so important to us as Kaska Dena. We truly believe that we are our land, and it’s up to us to ensure that it remains healthy, because we will also be healthy as a result of that.
Kristina: With Dene Kʼéh Kusān being so large, it provides one, huge, connected landscape for animals that call that land home. What are the animals and plants in this area like?
Gillian: Many different animal, plant, and fish species and medicines also call Dena Kayeh home. I think we know that keeping these regions intact is of utmost importance to their survival. As soon as we create those linear disturbances and development areas, they are impacted greatly.
Creating habitat corridors for these really biodiverse regions in places like Dene Kʼéh Kusān is a very vital conservation strategy. It’s an Indigenous-led one, too, because we know that we can’t just protect pockets of landscape. We need to protect very large areas to be able to ensure that—for example—some of the last northern mountain caribou in our province are thriving, and not just surviving. That’s part of what our IPCA proposal is intended to do.
Kristina: Often, nature and culture are very intertwined with each other. In your eyes, why is it important to protect Dene Kʼéh Kusān from a cultural perspective?
Gillian: In Dene Kʼéh Kusān, we’d be protecting half of the recorded cultural heritage sites in our ancestral territory, Dena Kayeh. That’s the kind of stuff that gets me all choked up! Yes, it’s a wild place, it’s remote, it’s an incredibly vast beautiful area, but it’s also our homeland. Our ancient trails are still walked on today, and our people still go into those remote areas to this day, and celebrate the fact that our people have lived there for over 8,000 years.
They’ve created such wonderful memories in those places—and for us, it’s about reconnecting to what that means to us today, and knowing that we want it to be wild, yes, but we also want it to be cultured.
Kristina: What does leading the protection of your own traditional territories mean to you and the Kaska Dena?
Gillian: For me, protecting Dene Kʼéh Kusān is everything, truly. There is nothing more important than this in my life, and I know I am going to be spending the rest of my life ensuring that happens. I’m not the only one, either. This is who we are as Dena: it’s intrinsically who we are as stewards of our land, in wanting to see it protected. It’s a natural response we all have, and it’s what ties us together in knowing that we’re a nation of people that want the same things. There’s tremendous power in that.
Kristina: Why should Indigenous-led conservation projects be important to other people in BC?
Gillian: While it’s existed since time immemorial, we’re finally at a time in our country where there’s more recognition for Indigenous-led conservation. As the original people of this country, we have valid knowledge sources to witness and respect to help create a more just and sustainable world. In BC, we can be the ones leading that convo—we have that opportunity! Dene Kʼéh Kusān is just one example of what’s possible, and people are starting to realize that the time is now.
At the end of the day, it’s our collective responsibility to ensure these areas are protected and conserved for future generations. It’s something that all of our future generations can benefit from, whether you call that area home or not.
Kristina: To end us off: what can British Columbians do to support Indigenous-led conservation projects like Dene Kʼéh Kusān?
Gillian: There are four things, I think, that British Columbians can do. Four is a sacred number to us, after all—it connects us to the medicine wheel teachings.
- For folks who are interested in what we’re doing: visit our website, Dena Kayeh, and learn about our IPCA proposal, and what the Kaska people are trying to achieve. While you’re there, sign our letter of support as your first step.
- I would really recommend that people begin to pay attention to Indigenous-led initiatives in their own backyard—or wherever they call home—and find ways to stand in solidarity with these nations.
- I would advise that the BC public look into what IPCAs stand for, and the meaning behind Indigenous-led conservation efforts. IPCAs are rooted and grounded in the Indigenous nations who are putting those proposals forward, and they’re incredible proposals—more attention needs to be given to what we, as Indigenous people, are collectively trying to achieve.
- If people believe that their personal health and well-being is connected to proposals like ours, Dene Kʼéh Kusān, then I would really ask people to stand with us. Stand with the Indigenous nations who are trying to put these proposals forward. Call on government and public interest groups so that they see the importance of this initiative, especially in northern BC. There’s a collective duty and responsibility to ensure the success of proposals like this.
Want to take action right now? Sign Dena Kayeh’s letter of support for Dene Kʼéh Kusān and read more about the push to protect 25% of BC’s land and waters by 2025.
For interviews, contact:
Tori Ball, Terrestrial Campaigner
Canadian Parks and Wilderness Society, BC Chapter
tori@cpawsbc.org
(604) 685-7445 x24
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
August 5, 2020
Traditional territories of the Coast Salish peoples/Vancouver, BC — The Canadian Parks and Wilderness Society, British Columbia (CPAWS-BC) is applauding a new initiative to hire young people into conservation jobs in BC. These new jobs, announced today by Environment Minister George Heyman, will help to safeguard nature across the province.
“We’re happy to see more conservation jobs being created for young people at a time when our park system needs more support,” says Tori Ball, Terrestrial Campaigner with CPAWS-BC.
“In the short term, these new jobs will help manage the impacts of increasing visitation on the outdoor places we love so much, by addressing long standing capacity issues within BC Parks,” she adds.
BC’s provincial parks were forced to shut down this spring due to concerns with understaffing and overcrowding, following a recent budget cut to operations earlier this year. Decades of underfunding to BC Parks has created a concerning shortage of staff as well as a significant backlog of maintenance issues and major delays in management planning for parks.
“These new temporary positions will help provide much-needed capacity to support overworked park rangers, which will better safeguard nature and improve people’s experiences in the outdoors,” says Ball.
“We hope to see continued investment in nature-based jobs and a commitment to a longer-term capacity increase for BC Parks, as part of the overall strategy to recover the province’s economy,” she adds.
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For interviews, contact:
Tori Ball, Terrestrial Campaigner
Canadian Parks and Wilderness Society, BC Chapter
tori@cpawsbc.org
(604) 685-7445 x24
Resources
BC Government Media Release: Program offers young people work experience with BC Parks, COS (August 5, 2020)
About CPAWS-BC:
Canadian Parks and Wilderness Society – British Columbia Chapter (CPAWS-BC) protects wilderness in every corner of BC and deep into the ocean. CPAWS-BC supports the creation of large, well-managed, connected protected areas where native plants and animals thrive, now and forever; and where people and communities can live off the land and ocean without impacting the ability of future generations to do the same.
In the past 50+ years, CPAWS has played a lead role in protecting over half a million square kilometres – an area bigger than New Brunswick, Newfoundland and Labrador put together.
For interviews, contact:
Tori Ball, Terrestrial Campaigner
tori@cpawsbc.org
(604) 685-7445 x24
New report highlights opportunity to put nature protection at the heart of economic recovery in Canada
For Immediate Release
July 15, 2020
Unceded Coast Salish Territory/Vancouver, BC — A new report from the Canadian Parks and Wilderness Society (CPAWS) recommends that nature protection is put at the heart of Canada’s COVID-19 recovery strategies. The report highlights the enormous potential of BC’s provincial parks to provide accessible and affordable outdoor activities, and outlines urgent challenges posed by decades of underfunding.
“It’s become very clear that BC’s parks are essential to our health and well-being. Safe, accessible outdoor recreation in parks is a proven way to boost mental health and reduce stress,” says Tori Ball, Terrestrial Campaigner with CPAWS-BC.
“Unfortunately, decades of funding for BC’s parks has left communities with inequitable access to nature, and continues to put wildlife at risk,” she says.
The BC Parks budget was cut by 4% this year, exacerbating issues such as understaffing across the province. This has restricted or cut core functions such as monitoring and enforcement, research, and education.
The provincial and federal governments are making decisions on spending to restart the economy and recover from the economic downturn caused by COVID-19. CPAWS-BC is advocating for an investment of economic recovery funding into BC’s parks to better support the needs of communities across the province.
“This is our chance to get it right. We know that nature conservation is a driver of economic growth and provides essential community benefits that help build a resilient global economy,” says Ball.
”Now more than ever, we need to invest in these places so that our communities will be more resilient and better supported in the long run,” adds Ball.
CPAWS-BC’s recommendations to the Government of British Columbia:
- Invest immediately in BC Parks, increasing staff capacity for visitor management, ecological monitoring, and management planning to better recognize the critical role that parks play in supporting our health, our communities, and our environment.
- Support Indigenous-led conservation initiatives that enable reconciliation with Indigenous nations, protection and recovery of species at risk, and build sustainable long-term jobs in rural and remote communities
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For interviews, contact:
Tori Ball, Terrestrial Campaigner
tori@cpawsbc.org
(604) 685-7445 x24
Download Media Release PDF
Additional Resource:
Canadian Parks and Wilderness Society. (July 15 2020). Healthy Nature Healthy People. https://cpawsbc.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/07/CPAWS-Parks-Report-2020-ENG.pdf
Thursday October 24th, 2019
Traditional territories of the Songhees and Esquimalt First Nations, Victoria, BC – The Canadian Parks and Wilderness Society – British Columbia (CPAWS-BC) congratulates the government of BC’s leadership to legally uphold the rights of Indigenous Peoples in the province. The introduction of the Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples Act, the first law of its kind in Canada, follows through on commitments to reconcile BC law with the UN Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples (UNDRIP).
“This legislation is one step forward in a path to reconciliation that will lift up the existing efforts of Indigenous-led protection on land and in the ocean in BC,” says Jessie Corey, Terrestrial Conservation Manager at CPAWS-BC. “Bold action to stem the climate and biodiversity crises will only be achieved with the full collaboration and participation of Indigenous communities across Canada.”
Recent movement towards designating a National Park Reserve in the nxʷəlxʷəltantət, South Okanagan-Similkameen is one example of successful collaboration between First Nations, provincial and federal governments. The recent signing of iʔ sc̓ax̌ʷtət, memorandum of understanding, between these three levels of government is based on the recognition of the title and rights of the Syilx people, and provides a path forward to reconciliation through conservation.
Earlier this year, land and wildlife conservation proposals from First Nations all across BC were submitted to the federal government as part of Canada’s investment in increasing the amount of protected areas in the country. These projects present an incredible opportunity for BC to work with First Nations to combat biodiversity loss in a way that honours Indigenous relationships to the land and rights to self-determination.
Across the country, Indigenous communities are leading the way in new forms of conservation – from the Edezhie Indigenous Protected Area in the Northwest Territories, to the proposed Kaska Indigenous Protected and Conserved Area, Dene Kʼéh Kusān in northern BC.
“This leadership from Indigenous people sets a new foundation for future efforts in BC to safeguard lands and waters through new protected areas,” continued Corey. “With this new legislation, governments are creating a better path forward to a shared future with healthy landscapes and wildlife populations at the heart of it.”
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For interview, contact:
Skye Vallance
Communications & Development Coordinator, CPAWS-BC
info@cpawsbc.org
604-685-7445 ext.22
Resources:
Canadian Parks and Wilderness Society – British Columbia (CPAWS-BC) is dedicated to the protection of public land and water, and ensuring our parks are managed to protect the nature within them. Our vision is to establish large, intact areas of wilderness on land and in the ocean that can nurture nature through climate change and support all life.
