Aboriginal forest tenure and governance in British Columbia : exploring alternatives from a Stellat'en First Nation community perspective

The purpose of this research is to contribute to the identification of appropriate forest tenure and governance designs that are in congruence with Aboriginal values, interests and rights. The research is highly relevant to current societal deliberations on sustainable forest management as well as t...

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Main Author: Weber, Sarah Elizabeth
Format: Thesis
Language:English
Published: University of British Columbia 2008
Subjects:
Online Access:http://hdl.handle.net/2429/789
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spelling ftcanadathes:oai:collectionscanada.gc.ca:BVAU.2429/789 2023-05-15T16:15:14+02:00 Aboriginal forest tenure and governance in British Columbia : exploring alternatives from a Stellat'en First Nation community perspective Weber, Sarah Elizabeth 2008-04-30T14:54:14Z http://hdl.handle.net/2429/789 eng eng University of British Columbia http://hdl.handle.net/2429/789 Aboriginal forest tenure Stellat'en First Nations British Columbia Forest governance Forest management Community ecosytem trust BC Community Forest Agreements American reservations Carrier Sekani Tribal Council Traditional territory Electronic Thesis or Dissertation 2008 ftcanadathes 2014-03-30T00:44:08Z The purpose of this research is to contribute to the identification of appropriate forest tenure and governance designs that are in congruence with Aboriginal values, interests and rights. The research is highly relevant to current societal deliberations on sustainable forest management as well as to the future of the forest sector in Canada. First Nations culture and ways of life are intimately and inextricably tied to the land. Some eighty percent of Canada’s First Nations communities are situated in productive forest regions (NAFA 2003). Even so, First Nations have been largely excluded from forest development and planning activities. Furthermore, the provincial policy emphasis on industrial timber production may not be consistent with Aboriginal forest values. This community-based research takes a participatory approach to forest policy analysis. The work is conducted in partnership with the Stellat’en First Nation and Carrier Sekani Tribal Council in central British Columbia. Stellat’en criteria for forest tenure and governance are identified in a series of workshops and interviews. These criteria are then applied in the analysis of four alternative models: the Community Ecosystem Trust, the Gitanyow joint land use planning model, BC Community Forest Agreements and Aboriginal reservations in the United States. The results indicated that Stellat’en have three main goals regarding forest tenure and governance: protect the traditional territory for future generations, protect Stellat’en culture and support Stellat’en economic self-determination. Implementation of the Stellat’en vision calls for a greater emphasis on ecological and cultural values in forest management, devolution of decision making authority to First Nations, reallocation of harvesting rights and redistribution of wealth generated by forest activities. The Stellat’en perspective emphasizes co-existence and stewardship. Evaluation of the four alternative models provided useful insights for progressive tenure and governance design. All four models had positive aspects to contribute, as well as shortcomings. The models are not mutually exclusive. Since each model addresses different management and institutional functions, they could be combined into a new system for the future. Thesis First Nations Theses Canada/Thèses Canada (Library and Archives Canada) British Columbia ENVELOPE(-125.003,-125.003,54.000,54.000) Canada Gitanyow ENVELOPE(-128.070,-128.070,55.266,55.266)
institution Open Polar
collection Theses Canada/Thèses Canada (Library and Archives Canada)
op_collection_id ftcanadathes
language English
topic Aboriginal forest tenure
Stellat'en First Nations British Columbia
Forest governance
Forest management
Community ecosytem trust
BC Community Forest Agreements
American reservations
Carrier Sekani Tribal Council
Traditional territory
spellingShingle Aboriginal forest tenure
Stellat'en First Nations British Columbia
Forest governance
Forest management
Community ecosytem trust
BC Community Forest Agreements
American reservations
Carrier Sekani Tribal Council
Traditional territory
Weber, Sarah Elizabeth
Aboriginal forest tenure and governance in British Columbia : exploring alternatives from a Stellat'en First Nation community perspective
topic_facet Aboriginal forest tenure
Stellat'en First Nations British Columbia
Forest governance
Forest management
Community ecosytem trust
BC Community Forest Agreements
American reservations
Carrier Sekani Tribal Council
Traditional territory
description The purpose of this research is to contribute to the identification of appropriate forest tenure and governance designs that are in congruence with Aboriginal values, interests and rights. The research is highly relevant to current societal deliberations on sustainable forest management as well as to the future of the forest sector in Canada. First Nations culture and ways of life are intimately and inextricably tied to the land. Some eighty percent of Canada’s First Nations communities are situated in productive forest regions (NAFA 2003). Even so, First Nations have been largely excluded from forest development and planning activities. Furthermore, the provincial policy emphasis on industrial timber production may not be consistent with Aboriginal forest values. This community-based research takes a participatory approach to forest policy analysis. The work is conducted in partnership with the Stellat’en First Nation and Carrier Sekani Tribal Council in central British Columbia. Stellat’en criteria for forest tenure and governance are identified in a series of workshops and interviews. These criteria are then applied in the analysis of four alternative models: the Community Ecosystem Trust, the Gitanyow joint land use planning model, BC Community Forest Agreements and Aboriginal reservations in the United States. The results indicated that Stellat’en have three main goals regarding forest tenure and governance: protect the traditional territory for future generations, protect Stellat’en culture and support Stellat’en economic self-determination. Implementation of the Stellat’en vision calls for a greater emphasis on ecological and cultural values in forest management, devolution of decision making authority to First Nations, reallocation of harvesting rights and redistribution of wealth generated by forest activities. The Stellat’en perspective emphasizes co-existence and stewardship. Evaluation of the four alternative models provided useful insights for progressive tenure and governance design. All four models had positive aspects to contribute, as well as shortcomings. The models are not mutually exclusive. Since each model addresses different management and institutional functions, they could be combined into a new system for the future.
format Thesis
author Weber, Sarah Elizabeth
author_facet Weber, Sarah Elizabeth
author_sort Weber, Sarah Elizabeth
title Aboriginal forest tenure and governance in British Columbia : exploring alternatives from a Stellat'en First Nation community perspective
title_short Aboriginal forest tenure and governance in British Columbia : exploring alternatives from a Stellat'en First Nation community perspective
title_full Aboriginal forest tenure and governance in British Columbia : exploring alternatives from a Stellat'en First Nation community perspective
title_fullStr Aboriginal forest tenure and governance in British Columbia : exploring alternatives from a Stellat'en First Nation community perspective
title_full_unstemmed Aboriginal forest tenure and governance in British Columbia : exploring alternatives from a Stellat'en First Nation community perspective
title_sort aboriginal forest tenure and governance in british columbia : exploring alternatives from a stellat'en first nation community perspective
publisher University of British Columbia
publishDate 2008
url http://hdl.handle.net/2429/789
long_lat ENVELOPE(-125.003,-125.003,54.000,54.000)
ENVELOPE(-128.070,-128.070,55.266,55.266)
geographic British Columbia
Canada
Gitanyow
geographic_facet British Columbia
Canada
Gitanyow
genre First Nations
genre_facet First Nations
op_relation http://hdl.handle.net/2429/789
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