A Reflection on First Nations in their Boreal Homelands in Ontario: Between a Rock and a Caribou

Abstract

This article provides some thoughts on the impacts of the conservation vs development paradigm on First Nations, as it has played out in the Canadian Boreal Forest Agreement and the Far North Act in northern Ontario, Canada. The author contends that the dichotomy between conservation and development does not fit the First Nations′ worldview in which First Nations assume responsibility for land stewardship. The author points to the need for non-governmental organisations (especially environmental non-governmental organisations) and the private sector to respect, and learn from, First Nations by ensuring they play a key role in decision making about land and resource use in their territories-one based on free, prior, and informed consent.

Keywords

• boreal
• forest management
• conservation
• Indigenous peoples
• Aboriginal and treaty rights
• Ontario
• Canada