The recently-announced Canadian Boreal Forest Agreement (CBFA) signed by Greenpeace, eight other leading environmental organizations, the Forest Products Association of Canada and its 21 member companies, encompasses more than 70 million hectares of Canada’s Boreal Forest. The Agreement aims to establish a large-scale network of permanent protected areas, independently-verified ecosystem-based forestry management, and recovery of species at risk.
Most of this land overlaps pre-existing Treaties and traditional territories of First Nations. Some Aboriginal people and organizations have, understandably, raised concerns about why First Nations weren’t included in the Boreal Agreement or consulted before it was announced, and whether the Agreement recognizes and respects Aboriginal Rights and Title.
Greenpeace drafted a statement to respond to these concerns, available at http://www.greenpeace.org/canada/en/campaigns/boreal/Resources/Background-documents/The-Canadian-Boreal-Forest-Agreement-Greenpeace-and-Aboriginal-Rights-and-Title/
The CBFA does explicitly recognize that “Aboriginal peoples have constitutionally protected Aboriginal and treaty rights and title as well as legitimate interests and aspirations.” It also recognizes the decision-making authority of First Nations over traditional territories. It will be the responsibility of the parties to ensure that this is put into practice as the process moves forward.
While the Agreement lays out a roadmap to achieve shared goals between the signatories, it’s understood that final decisions rest with federal, provincial, territorial, and Aboriginal governments. The Agreement is not intended in any way to usurp Aboriginal peoples’ efforts to resolve outstanding Rights and Title issues.
Greenpeace also recognize Aboriginal Rights and Title, and supports the just settlement of outstanding Rights and Title issues. We support the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples and have joined many other organizations in calling on the Canadian government to endorse it.
Greenpeace has worked for many years with First Nations and other Indigenous peoples in struggles over forestry and other industrial development on traditional territories, in Canada and around the world - work that has built shared understanding and moved forward both our goals and those of our allies and partners.
It is essential to build a culture of conservation in Canada that respects Aboriginal Rights and Title, and helps realize the rights and governance goals of First Nations and other Indigenous peoples. We hope and believe that the CBFA will create space that can contribute to that process. Ensuring that First Nations communities and governments are fully involved going forward and that the final outcomes that the Agreement leads to reflect their decisions and interests is both a challenge and necessity for Greenpeace and the other parties to the CBFA.