Forest management includes Aboriginals

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Aboriginal communities in Canada have long struggled to gain access to decision-making in the management of forest resources in traditional territories.

Today, advances are being made as Aboriginal peoples join in new forest management discussions at the local, provincial, federal, and international levels.

In part, the impetus for increased Aboriginal involvement is attributable to global and domestic efforts to further develop and implement the concept of sustainable forest management.

In the process of defining sustainable forest management, there is growing recognition of the importance of forests to Aboriginal peoples and that Aboriginal forest-based ecological knowledge can contribute to the goals of the concept.

At the National Aboriginal Forestry Association, our primary focus is to develop management tools and build a policy framework for Aboriginal forest management that is consistent with the goals of self-determination, self-reliance and sustainable management of forests.

The move towards sustainable forest management does not lessen the economic importance of ensuring a continuous wood supply, but gives equal emphasis to non-wood forest products and uses, including social, cultural and spiritual needs.

For a good many Aboriginal communities, the forest industry represents the single most important economic opportunity, while at the same time, traditional forest based activities continue to be fundamental to who they are as distinct peoples--the original inhabitants of this land.

The concept of sustainable forest management is important to Aboriginal peoples from both these viewpoints though there is a balance which must be found on a community-by-community basis.

In Canada, implementation of sustainable forest management is occurring on two fronts. Canada, as a nation, is obligated to achieving sustainable forest management in accordance with commitments made as a result of the 1992 United Nations Conference on Environment and Development.

The significance of the UNCED commitments is that, in working towards a sustainable development, nation states that are signatory to the Biodiversity Convention, or have agreed to the principles in the Rio Declaration, Agenda 21 or Statement of Forest Principles, are committed to addressing Indigenous issues in the context of sustainable development.

In effect, adequate provision for elements such as recognition of Indigenous knowledge, maintenance of cultural identity, sharing in economic benefits and participation in decision-making, are integral to the evolving definition and implementation of sustainable development.

To give effect to these commitments, Canada, through the Canadian Council of forest Ministers, has developed criteria and indicators for sustainable forest management. Indicators include recognition of Aboriginal and treaty rights and increased participation by Aboriginal communities in sustainable forest management.

Among other things, the council's criteria and indicators are intended to be a reference point for measuring progress and to provide guidance for the development of policies on the conservation, management and sustainable development of forests.

Implementation of sustainable forest management is also taking place through the development of sustainable forest management and forest product certification systems. These systems are voluntary to forest managers (companies primarily) and are not being developed as a result of government regulation.

Intended to appease the marketplace, they assume that consumers are willing to search out and pay for a product that is guaranteed to have been produced in a sustainable way.

Forest product certification is an approach still very much in its infancy stage in Canada. The approach is to certify forest products through a trademark which requires a "chain of custody" inspection to verify that the finished product is from sustainable managed forests.

The objective of forest product certiication is to assure consumers that their purchases of forest products do not contribute to the destruction and degradation of the world's forests. The Forest Stewardship Council headquartered in Oaxaco, Mexico, is the leading proponent of forest product certification.

A fundamental operating principle of FSC certification requires that forest managers ensure that "the legal and customary rights of Indigenous peoples to own, use4 and manage their lands, territories, and resources shall be recognized and respected."

A Canadian working group of the FSC was formed in January 1996 to begin working on standards for Canadian ecosystem types.

Harry Bombay, a member of the Rainy River First Nation in Ontario and is executive director of the National Aboriginal Forestry Association based in Ottawa.