Press release - February 16, 2018
16 February 2018 (VANCOUVER) — In response to the Government of Canada and British Columbia revising their draft bilateral conservation agreement on a recovery strategy for the Central Region of the Southern Mountain caribou herd to include directly affected First Nations - the West Moberly and Saulteau First Nations - Eduardo Sousa, Senior Forest Campaigner at Greenpeace Canada said:
16 February 2018 (VANCOUVER) — In response to the Government of Canada and British Columbia revising their draft bilateral conservation agreement on a recovery strategy for the Central Region of the Southern Mountain caribou herd to include directly affected First Nations - the West Moberly and Saulteau First Nations - Eduardo Sousa, Senior Forest Campaigner at Greenpeace Canada said:
“We want to thank the West Moberly and Saulteau First Nations who have shown great leadership in the caribou recovery strategy in northeast British Columbia. Since these conservation agreements as originally conceived do not treat Indigenous governments on an equal footing, we recognize this precedent-setting initiative by the BC and Federal governments as a major step forward. Giving Indigenous Peoples the right to free, prior, and informed consent for decisions that will affect their interests should be regarded as standard protocol. We hope to see this participatory approach replicated across other Canadian provinces where the woodland caribou is also under threat from industrial logging.”
Under the federal Species at Risk Act (SARA), the woodland caribou has been listed as threatened for the last 15 years. Delivering greater protections for woodland caribou will also help Canada meet its international commitments under the Convention on Biological Diversity to protect 17 percent of its lands and inland waters by 2020. Taking these steps in equal partnership with Indigenous Peoples furthermore offers Canada an important opportunity to respect its obligations under the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples.
-30-
For more information:
Marie Moucarry, Communications Officer at Greenpeace Canada, 439-993-6127