Climate change and human activity continue to impact the state of the lands and waters across the province. Both human and non-human beings rely on the health and stability of the environment. The strategies and actions identified under this pathway focus on environmental stewardship while ensuring that First Nations in BC can uphold their responsibilities and obligations to the land, waters, and resources and continue to protect them in perpetuity.
Restoration and Conservation
3.1.1Restore the lands and waters, including natural habitats and native plants and medicines, disturbed due to climate change and/or urban and industrial development (including resource extraction such as logging, mining, and fracking).
3.1.2Strengthen long-term conservation efforts and accountability measures to preserve and protect the lands, waters, habitats, and non-human beings while adapting to climate impacts.
3.1.3Enhance development and implementation of First Nation-led conservation work that facilitates the exercise of First Nations rights and their ability to uphold responsibilities in line with their laws.
Strategies and Actions
Priority
Implementation Recommendations
a)Prioritize site restoration and protection in areas disturbed due to urban and industrial development as a component of climate adaptation and mitigation plans and cultural revitalization.
- Example: The Saulteau First Nations and West Moberly First Nations’ Twin Sisters Nursey propagates and distributes native plant species for ecological restoration and remediation of mining and other industrial projects while incorporating First Nations values and beliefs.
Ongoing
- The province, in collaboration with interested First Nations in BC, to identify specific land and water restoration and protection priorities and targets by region (interior, north, and coast) with timelines for implementation.
- The province to provide an annual update to First Nations in BC on their investment to this action and outcomes.
b)Strengthen the development and implementation of legislation or policies enforcing cleanup and remediation of lands disturbed by urban and industrial development, agriculture, and climate impacts with specific roles for advocates to lead this work.
Immediate
- Crown governments, in collaboration with interested First Nations in BC, to co-develop and implement state-led law and/or policy on this issue.
- First Nations in BC must be able to enforce any co-developed law or policy within their territories.
- It is recommended that First Nations in BC prioritize the development and use of their own laws, protocols, and standards for this action.
c)Require resource extraction (logging, mining, fracking) and other industrial development to have net-positive impacts on biodiversity, water quality, and critical wildlife habitats.
Ongoing
- Crown governments and interested First Nations in BC to review existing environmental and climate change regulations and mechanisms that govern resource extraction and development and to promote net-positive impacts and source compliance with Crown and First Nations laws.
- All governments must strengthen accountability measures in line with this action.
d)Support First Nations in the designation of Indigenous Protected and Conserved Areas (IPCAs) and marine IPCAs across the province to meet and exceed Canada’s land and marine conservation targets and strengthen protection standards.
Immediate
- Crown governments to increase investments to support interested First Nations organizations in line with this action and to provide annual updates on their investment to this action and outcomes.
e)Support the development and implementation of First Nation-led conservation plans and nature-based solutions projects that enhance conservation, restoration, and climate mitigation goals.
Ongoing
- Crown governments, like-minded organizations, and institutions to support interested First Nations in this work.
f)Develop and deliver materials, resources, and projects to amplify First Nation voices and to increase public education and awareness on the essential and unique role that First Nations play in restoring and conserving biodiversity.
Ongoing
- Interested First Nations in BC, with support from Crown governments and organizations, to develop and share these resources.
Water, Watershed, and Ocean Protection
3.2.1Ensure respect and recognition of First Nations water governance and authority to steward and manage water sources, including fresh and brackish waters, watersheds, and the ocean.
3.2.2Protect natural water ecosystems (marine ecosystems and freshwater ecosystems) and enhance water management policies and practices to safeguard long-term water quality and quantity.
Strategies and Actions
Priority
Implementation Recommendations
a)Revise and update the BC First Nations Water Rights Strategy to advance First Nations jurisdictional water rights throughout the province.
Ongoing
- As mandated by First Nations in BC, the FNLC to continue working with First Nations in BC to revise and update the First Nations Water Rights Strategy.
b)Strengthen provincial and federal legislation, policies, and plans to protect, restore, and enhance the state of the waters and oceans and increase ecological resiliency to the effects of human-caused global warming and other activities.
Ongoing
- Crown governments, in collaboration with interested First Nations in BC, to review and reform legislation, policies, and plans in this regard. This review should include measurables, targets, and indicators of success to monitor progress of implementation.
c)Support First Nations in the development and implementation of water protection and stewardship plans which include a climate change analysis and appropriate responses.
- Example: Nicola Watershed Governance Project.
Ongoing
- Crown governments, First Nations organizations, and institutions to support interested First Nations in BC to develop these community-specific plans.
d)Co-develop pathways as part of the BC Watershed Security Strategy in full partnership with First Nations with specific actions to ensure a healthy state for the oceans and waters across the province.
Ongoing
- The provincial government to work in full partnership with First Nations in BC and First Nations organizations to implement this action.
e)Support community-based climate and water monitoring programs to establish baseline data and track climate variability and other impacts from global warming on freshwater and marine ecosystems.
Immediate
- Crown governments, First Nations organizations, and institutions to support interested First Nations in BC to develop these programs and establish their own data.
- See Theme 2.4 for more implementation recommendations.
f)Build and upgrade water treatment facilities and improve water treatment methods to prevent water and ocean pollution from human activity and entities in the private sector.
Ongoing
- Crown governments, First Nations governments, and the private sector to collaboratively implement this action.
- Crown governments to ensure public and private water treatment facilities are using the most up-to-date methods and technology to strengthen compliance with government and First Nations laws.
g)Support First Nations in implementing their own self-determined nature-based solutions for ocean restoration and coastal protection.
Ongoing
- Crown governments to support interested First Nations in implementing this action.
h)Develop a resource of best practices and guidelines for those entering First Nations communities to use the land, waters, ocean, and resources.
Ongoing
- Interested First Nations in BC to implement this action. First Nations are encouraged to ground these documents on their own laws and self-determined processes.
i)Respect and recognize the rights of nature and explore opportunities to advocate for and uphold legal personhood rights of the waters.
Ongoing
- The FNLC to advocate for this recognition.
Forest Protection and Sustainable Management
3.3.1Facilitate forest regrowth and prioritize sustainable forestry management to reduce fires, landslides, and flood risks.
3.3.2Protect Old-Growth forests and their contributory role in water retention, species protection and survival, human health, and combating climate change.
Strategies and Actions
Priority
Implementation Recommendations
a)Support the development and implementation of a provincial renewed old-growth strategy, ensuring meaningful partnership with First Nations governments.
Ongoing
- The FNLC to continue to advocate to the province for the development and implementation of a renewed old-growth strategy that entrenches Indigenous consent into its processes and is aligned with the UN Declaration, the BC First Nations Forestry Strategy, and the Old Growth Strategic Review recommendations.
b)Implement the BC First Nations Forestry Strategy and BC’s Old Growth Strategic Review Panel’s report recommendations.
Ongoing
- Crown governments, at all levels and within all ministries, to implement this action.
- Crown governments to provide an annual update to First Nations in BC on their investment to this action.
c)Identify critical wildlife habitats, including habitats of species listed under the federal Species at Risk Act, and immediately ban all logging in those areas.
Immediate
- Crown government to work with interested First Nations in BC and like-minded organizations to collaboratively implement this action.
d)Prohibit logging in floodplains and areas that are critical to prevent floods and landslides throughout the province and support sustainable First Nation-led forestry management.
Immediate
- The province to work in collaboration with interested First Nations governments to identify and implement mechanisms to prohibit logging in line with this action.
e)Assess current logging practices and cumulative impacts on ecosystems and their services, particularly on the ability of forests to capture and store carbon, and to ensure First Nations’ food and water sources are protected and restored. Refine logging practices and policies in line with findings.
Immediate
- Crown government, in collaboration with interested First Nations in BC, to conduct this assessment from a climate crisis perspective.
- It is recommended that First Nations in BC prioritize the development and use of their own laws, protocols, and standards in line with assessment findings and community-specific knowledge and experience.
- Entities in the private sector to be responsible for reforming logging practices in line with assessment findings and outcomes.
f)Ensure all future climate-related legislation, policies, and programs provide for the protection of intact and old growth forests aligned with local First Nation protocols for forestry management.
Ongoing
- Crown governments at all levels to be responsible for implementing this action.
g)Support First Nations in conducting their own forestry mapping and research as well as accessing relevant data.
Ongoing
- Crown governments, like-minded organizations, and institutions to support interested First Nations in this work.
Urban and Industrial Development Processes
3.4.1Transform resource extraction and other urban/industrial development processes, including project approval and associated decision-making, to ensure respect and recognition of First Nations jurisdiction to steward and manage their lands and resources.
3.4.2Implement a consent-based approach in line with the minimum standard of FPIC in urban and industrial project processes.
3.4.3Strengthen collaboration in true partnership between entities in the private sector and First Nations communities for climate initiatives, proposed development, and resource management.
Strategies and Actions
Priority
Implementation Recommendations
a)Review and reform legislation, policies, and guidelines to ensure:
- Tenure systems are aligned with FPIC.
- Project proponents obtain FPIC from all First Nations communities potentially impacted by a proposed project.
- Project proponents obtain FPIC from all First Nations communities potentially impacted by a proposed project.
- Transparency and honest representation of all impacts of a proposed project, including those that are compounded by or a result of climate change.
- Early and ongoing engagement throughout the entire timeline of a project ensuring relevant information is shared promptly between partners.
- Early and sufficient notice is provided for First Nations to review data and information received and conduct assessments and research of their own.
- Independent data collection and assessment during project review and compliance monitoring.
- Appropriate integration of First Nation knowledge and laws into project work, including permitting and decision-making.
- Resource: BC First Nations Energy and Mining Council’s Indigenous Sovereignty: Consent for Mining on Indigenous Lands Final Report.
Immediate
- Crown governments, in collaboration with interested First Nations in BC and First Nations organizations, to review/reform legislation, policies, and guidelines accordingly in line with this action.
- The FNLC to advocate for implementation of this action and to support interested First Nations at their request.
- Entities in the private sector to begin implementing items in this action in their daily practice and processes and to implement any outcomes as a result of reformed legislation, policies, and guidelines.
- It is recommended that First Nations in BC use their own laws, processes, and regimes related to mining, forestry, etc.
b)Enhance First Nations’ capacity to conduct environmental assessments and/or to meaningfully participate in environmental assessments processes and ensure respect for their knowledge and jurisdiction in those processes and subsequent decision-making.
- Example: Stk’emlupsemc te Secwepemc Nation developed a Project Assessment Process and conducted their own review of a proposed mine project in 2014; Squamish Nation assessed the Woodfibre LNG Plant.
- Example: The Nisga’a Nass Area Strategy Working Group reviews and prepares responses for various environmental referrals and processes, including projects undergoing EA and permitting.
- Resource: The First Nations Major Projects Coalition: A Guide to Major Project Environmental Assessments.
Immediate
- Interested First Nations in BC, with support from Crown governments, to begin capacity-building initiatives in line with this action and explore implementation of similar actions as part of the BC First Nations Mineral Exploration and Mining Action Plan.
c)Ensure recognition and respect of First Nations authority and jurisdiction throughout when entering their territories and seeking to enter into agreements such as Impact Benefit Agreements.
Immediate
- Entities in the private sector, including Crown corporations, to immediately engage with First Nations with recognition of their inherent jurisdiction and authority to manage their own lands and resources.
d)Implement the Calls for Extractive and Development Industries from the Calls for Justice as part of the Final Report of the National Inquiry into Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women and Girls to ensure safety, security, and gender-based impact assessments as part of project planning and development.
Immediate
- All entities in the private sector, including Crown corporations, to immediately review and implement these calls for action.
3.5.1Support First Nations in developing and maintaining laws, policies, and guidelines for land, water, air, and resource management to use within and between their territories.
3.5.2Support First Nations compliance and enforcement systems to promote respect for and compliance with their laws, policies, plans, and guidelines.
3.5.3Strengthen Crown-led resource management engagement, processes, and communications between the provincial and federal governments and First Nations communities.
Strategies and Actions
Priority
Implementation Recommendations
a)Respect and recognize First Nations inherent jurisdiction to access, use, and manage their traditional lands, waters, and resources.
Ongoing
- All entities must make this recognition, especially those entering community territories and engaging in land use activities.
b)Support the development and compliance of First Nation-led land use plans, management plans, and resource laws. Examples include:
Ongoing
- Interested First Nations in BC, with support from Crown governments, like-minded organizations, and institutions, to begin development of these resources.
- All entities entering community territories must comply with action outcomes.
c)Identify and integrate alternatives to contemporary resource management in line with traditional First Nations systems and governance. For example, weirs, fish traps, reef nets, dip nets, fish wheels in the fisheries context.
Ongoing
- Interested First Nations communities to implement and share these types of alternatives.
d)Support the development and implementation of First Nations compliance and enforcement systems such as Indigenous Guardians and other guardianship and stewardship programs.
Immediate
- Crown governments and like-minded organizations to support these types of initiatives for interested First Nations in BC.
- Crown governments to increase funding support for First Nations to start or continue with existing Guardian programs and similar initiatives.
e)Explore the development or reform of First Nations licensing and tenure systems as an option to implement resource management regimes within their territories. For example, forest licences, carbon licences, etc.
Immediate
- Interested First Nations in BC, with support from Crown governments and organizations, to develop these systems.
- All entities must ensure recognition of these systems when established.
f)Increase engagement and collaboration with First Nations in state and/or corporate-led resource management systems and decision-making, including those relating to provincial and federal forestry, fishing, and mining licensing processes, laws, and regulations.
Ongoing
- Crown governments, at all levels and within all ministries, and the private sector to implement this action.
Collective Stewardship
3.6.1Strengthen collaboration, partnership, and information sharing within and between First Nations communities, organizations, and others to collectively care for the Earth and build climate leadership and resiliency.
Strategies and Actions
Priority
Implementation Recommendations
a)Host an annual virtual BC First Nations Climate Gathering with First Nations leadership and community members across the province to engage in climate-related discussion and collaborate to implement the BC First Nations Climate Strategy and Action Plan.
- Example: Tsleil-Waututh Nation Climate Summit.
Immediate
- The FNLC to secure resources to lead implementation of this action.
b)Support agreements, laws, initiatives, and networks that promote and enhance local and regional collaboration and support between First Nations on climate response and the protection of lands, waters, and resources for future generations.
Immediate
- Interested First Nations in BC to come together in unity to implement this action.
- Crown governments, organizations, and institutions to support interested First Nations in this regard.
c)Support research and raise awareness about the limitations and opportunities that nature-based solutions offer to First Nations and society as a whole in addressing climate change.
Immediate
- Interested First Nations in BC, Crown governments, like-minded organizations, and institutions to implement this action.
d)Establish a regional network of climate coordinators who can provide mutual support between First Nations and help develop regional and provincial climate alliances.
Immediate
- This action to be implemented through items identified at Theme 2.3.
e)Explore stewardship partnerships and project initiatives following OCAP principles and self-determined processes and priorities of partnered communities.
- Examples: Okanagan Nation Alliance Fisheries Program gathers data regarding water flow needs and partners with the Okanagan Basin Water Board and the province; The Upper Fraser Fisheries Conservation Alliance.
Ongoing
- Partnerships and project initiatives may be between First Nations, Crown governments, organizations, institutions, and Indigenous Peoples broadly.