Program a good fit for wildlife foundation

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One of the newest organizations to join the Progressive Aboriginal Relations (PAR) program is World Wildlife Fund (WWF) Canada, which is using the program to help them practice what they preach.

The organization, founded in 1967, works to conserve biological diversity, promote sustainable use of renewable resources and reduce pollution and wasteful consumption.

As an environmental watchdog, WWF is often taking government and private sector companies to task over their conservation practices and relationships with communities, explained Monte Hummel, president of WWF Canada. Through the PAR program, WWF can ensure it is living up to the standards it expects others to meet.

"You know, we expect a lot of these resource companies, to be behaving to a high standard with respect to the environment and their community relations. Let's make sure that we do what we ask others to do," he said.

The nature of the work WWF does puts it in direct contact with Aboriginal communities.

Working closely with those communities and following their lead is a priority for the organization, Hummel said.

"The whole way we position ourselves in our work is to be supporting something that is championed and led by the community, rather than us saying 'We think this should happen here,' and 'We think that should happen there.' We like to say 'We support the community's interest in having this happen here and this happen there.' So we are respectful of community wishes and we do our best to understand what they are and to blend conservation objectives with the needs and aspirations of communities."

That working relationship not only ensures conservation initiatives are community-led, but often sees community members benefit economically from the initiatives, through employment and training opportunities.

"We are involved in training and a lot of educational work in the sense of conveying professional skills to communities, particularly mapping and [geographic information system] skills," Hummel said.

The WWF also relies heavily on the knowledge and expertise of local people in its work.

"We have contracts with a number of communities in the north, in particular, in both Nunavut and [the Northwest Territories], to document values on the land, whether it's fishing camps and caribou crossings or burial sites and summer camps and areas that are important to people... and these are providing revenue to the people who are doing the work, honoraria to Elders who are providing information, salaries to people in the communities who are actually conducting the studies," he said.

"We found that our work is just better when we integrate traditional knowledge and local knowledge into the scientific work that we do. So again, that's been an economic benefit to the communities. And I think that, at the end of the day, hanging on to these resources that are still extremely important to communities in the north for country food, as well as for cultural and historical reasons, is also an economic benefit to the communities."

One of the things the PAR program will do for the WWF is provide a formal recognition of the work the organization is doing to improve its relationships with Aboriginal communities. But more important than the recognition factor, PAR will also help the WWF to set some goals, helping the organization to do better.

"Because that's part of the PAR process too, is you don't just sort of sit back and say, 'Well, aren't we great. Look what we're doing.' You set some goals for where you want to be," Hummel said.

"I've got the whole management committee and the board of our organization involved in this, and I'm really keen on this becoming, the progress on this and doing better, becoming part of our whole future. So that's the part that really interests me, is we foresee doing more and more and more of the kind of work that we're doing already."

The PAR program will also help ease any concerns among theAboriginal people who may equate conservation with being anti-hunting and anti-trapping. That problem grows smaller as WWF's reputation grows.

"People are getting to know who we are. They even know we're not the World Wresting Federation," Hummel joked.

"I was raised in the North so I understand people's concerns, that they want to know first of all, are you some kind of anti-trapping, anti-hunting, are you the guys who killed the seal hunt, where are you guys really coming from?'" he said.

"I'm hoping having the PAR certification will just allay and set all that aside. People will say, 'Well, you couldn't possibly be anti-hunting, anti-trapping. You couldn't be a threat to Aboriginal people if you're PAR certified. Just the opposite. So I hope it'll help us with that continual communication challenge.

Although the PAR certification will be a useful communication tool for WWF, the organization won't be using the PAR hallmark until they complete the assessment process and graduate from the commitment level.

"I'm not going to put that red feather on our stationery until we're qualified. You're allowed to do it right from the moment you enter the program, and you go for it. But I'm not going to put in on our letterhead until we're there," Hummel said. "I don't think it's good enough to put that on your letterhead and say we want to advertise this because we're trying. I want to advertise it when we're there."