La participation autochtone à l’aménagement durable des forêts en Ontario : Des avancées vers la coopération

• Published in: Recherches amérindiennes au Québec
• Main Author: McGregor, Deborah
• Format: Text
• Language: French
• Published: Recherches amérindiennes au Québec 2006
• Subjects: envir; scipo; anishina*; First Nations; Premières Nations
• Online Access: https://doi.org/10.7202/1081856ar; http://id.erudit.org/iderudit/1081856ar

Aboriginal participation in environmental decision-making is increasingly recognized as vital to greater sustainability, both globally and locally. This is true in many areas of resource management, including Canada’s forest industry. In Ontario, increased consideration of Aboriginal issues in forest and resource management is long overdue, given the province’s history of excluding Native people from forestry. The Ontario Ministry of Natural Resources (OMNR), along with various industry and First Nations representatives from around the province, is taking a lead role in improving Aboriginal involvement in forest management. Such involvement now constitutes a significant component of Ontario’s forest management planning system. The potential benefits of the new system are great, and include increased cooperation among government, industry and First Nations in moving towards the common goal of sustainable forest management. This paper highlights ways in which gains are being achieved in this area. Examples discussed include the influence of Canada’s National Forest Strategy, particularly its ‘Theme Three: Rights and Participation of Aboriginal People’, on forest management planning in Ontario. Also presented is a summary of OMNR’s evolving Aboriginal involvement component of its Forest Management Planning Manual. Finally, the Anishinabek/Ontario Resource Management Council is highlighted as a case example of collaboration between OMNR and First Nations in Ontario and a potential model for achieving cooperation between Aboriginal and non-Aboriginal peoples around resource management. La participation des autochtones aux processus décisionnels en matière environnementale est de plus en plus reconnue comme un préalable au développement durable tant local que global. Cela est vrai de plusieurs secteurs d’activité, y compris de l’industrie forestière canadienne. En Ontario, la reconnaissance des intérêts des premières nations en matière de gestion des ressources forestières se fait attendre depuis longtemps. ...