Indigenous Stewardship is Critical to the Health of Oceans and Coastal Communities

First Nations have stewarded their marine territories since time immemorial, ensuring the well-being of their communities, and the ocean ecosystems with which they are intimately connected.

The Gitga’at Guardians are combining traditional stewardship practices with scientific monitoring to sustainably manage their territory. Photo by Laura Hope.

Stewarding the Oceans Since Time Immemorial

On the north Pacific coast, the marine and coastal ecosystems of First Nations territories encompass over 10 million hectares. The waters of these territories are rich, productive ecosystems that support the cultures and economies of First Nations along the coast.

In turn, First Nations have stewarded the oceans since time immemorial, ensuring the health, well-being, and longevity of the species who thrive there. These Nations hold inherent Rights and Title and know best how to care for their territories and their resources for the benefit of future generations.

As people with a rich history of management science, we have knowledge that can help to address pressing questions of stewardship and sustainability by asking ourselves, ‘What were the practices that allowed our ancestors to sustain themselves for millennia?

Read about some of the ways First Nations are caring for their marine territories:

  • On the water, Guardian Watchmen programs and stewardship authorities are the “eyes and ears” of their Nation. They patrol, survey, research, monitor, and collect valuable data to support decision making. And they provide a 10-to-1 annual return on investment, with benefits ranging from improved community and cultural well-being, to increased capacity, economic opportunities and improved nation-to-nation relationships.
  • On Haida Gwaii, culture camps are revitalizing Haida culture and creating the next generation of leaders who understand how to care for and sustain the lands and waters of Haida Gwaii, as the K‘aay.yas Elders did before them.
  • Gwa’sala-‘Naxwaxda’xw Nations are re-connecting with their homelands decades after a forced separation, and in doing so are revitalizing their stewardship responsibilities.
  • The Nisg̱a’a Lisims Government is conducting multi-year research into eulachon, the Saviour Fish, to support conservation efforts and its citizens access to the traditional food.
  • The Gitga’at Guardians are combining traditional stewardship practices with scientific monitoring to sustainably manage their territory, including tracking the effects of marine vessel traffic and industrial development activities in order to protect the resources they depend on.

Read more stories of First Nations’ marine stewardship here.

Healthy Oceans = Healthy Communities

The health of Indigenous Peoples and communities is inseparable from the well-being of First Nations’ lands and waters. Economic prosperity, social empowerment, cultural vitality, and environmental conservation are intricately connected.

The waters of the north Pacific coast support recreational and commercial fishing, sustainable aquaculture, marine tourism, and transportation. Not only are First Nations establishing livelihoods that maintain and restore ecological integrity, but they are also safeguarding important marine habitats and cultural resources while providing for food security, research, and conservation-based economic development.

Through sustainable economic development and growth of the conservation economy, First Nations are ensuring community well-being. Some amazing outcomes from this essential approach to stewardship that First Nations are undertaking through investments with Coast Funds include:

  • First Nations operate 17 unique regional monitoring and Guardian Watchmen programs, covering an average area of 4.1 million hectares annually.
  • 291 scientific research and restoration initiatives have been conducted, including critical marine species like salmon, eulachon, herring, shellfish, kelp, and eelgrass
  • First Nations have created 1139 permanent new jobs, enable people to remain in their home communities with family-supporting income levels.
  • Cultural sites and assets are being protected, including clam gardens, petroglyphs, burial sites, and historic village sites.

Learn more about well-being outcomes here.

The North Pacific Coast is an Area of Global Ecological Significance

The north Pacific coast represents some of the world’s healthiest remaining seas. The region offers much-needed climate refugia for key species including Pacific salmon and other fish, invertebrates, kelp forests, and marine mammals as well as globally-rare ancient glass sponge reefs.

First Nations are working hard to protect and safeguard their marine areas.

It is clear that to be successful oceans management and protection must be Indigenous-led.

In 2018, coastal First Nations and the Federal Government announced a Reconciliation Framework Agreement for Bioregional Oceans Management and Protection.

“It is clear that to be successful oceans management and protection must be Indigenous-led,” said Chief Councillor Slett when the framework was announced. “We must support the Nations of the coast and their vision of a marine safety regime that will ensure the protection of our coastal communities—our communities, our economies, and our ecosystems.”

Under that framework, 17 First Nations are co-leading a planning process with Canada and the Province of BC for an MPA network for the North and Central Coast and Haida Gwaii.

The Northern Shelf Bioregion Marine Protected Area Network  planning process will establish a collection of interconnected Marine Protected Areas on the north Pacific coast. It will be designed to put in place protections for a full spectrum of First Nations traditional and harvesting uses, marine ecosystems and vulnerable species.

Creating a Marine Protected Area Network in British Columbia’s Northern Shelf Bioregion

Coastal First Nations–Great Bear Initiative commissioned this film to tell the story of our work with the governments of Canada and British Columbia to establish a Network of Marine Protected Areas (MPAs) that will help secure the health of the Northern Shelf Bioregion of British Columbia’s coast.

First Nations are Building Their Stewardship Finance

First Nations on the north Pacific coast are stewarding their marine and terrestrial territories for the benefit of future generations. To do so they’re fundraising to grow their stewardship authorities.

In collaboration with Coast Funds, First Nations are forming long-term visions and tactical fundraising strategies to strengthen the stewardship of their territories for generations to come.

Learn more about First Nations-led fundraising here.

What these Guardians are doing is super important and it’s contributing to their well-being. To increase their stewardship finance at Coast Funds is so important because it will stabilize their funding needs so they can operate on a sustainable, long-term basis.

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