Proposed protected area in Yukon is about recognizing Indigenous sovereignty, says conservationist

The Ross River Dena Council in the Yukon is accommodating the territorial and federal governments to potentially create its Indigenous protected area, not the other way around, says a conservationist. 

Christopher Addison, who's with the Wildlife Conservation Society Canada, said non-Indigenous people need to recognize — and affirm — the authority of the Kaska, and of all First Nations. The society has closely worked with the Ross River Dena Council on the First Nation's proposal to create an Indigenous Protected and Conserved Area in the region. 

"People want to know where the authority for that comes from, and they're expecting that to be a legislated authority," he said. "And in a lot of cases, that authority is by the right of the First Nation.

"I think that is difficult for a lot of people to wrap their heads around at first."

On Friday, Ross River Dena Council, Parks Canada and the Yukon government signed a memorandum of understanding to look into whether and how land that represents about 17 per cent of Kaska country should be protected.

With the community behind it, the Ross River Dena Council kickstarted the whole process a few years ago with a proposal to establish an Indigenous Protected and Conserved Area (IPCA) that aligns with Kaska laws and customs — and in lieu of settling land claims under the Umbrella Final Agreement, which the First Nation has long opposed.

The agreement signed last week sets in motion work to figure out how — and to what extent — land in part of Kaska country should be protected, with the Ross River Dena's IPCA proposal serving as a guide.

IPCAs are regions defined by their high cultural and ecological importance whose control rests with Indigenous nations, and the concept dovetails with federal aspirations to conserve 30 per cent of land and water by the end of the decade. 

In much of Canada, though, there's no framework legislation on IPCAs, leading some First Nations to work within colonial systems to protect land in the way they think it should be protected. According to the memorandum of understanding signed in Yukon last week, one of those systems is a national park reserve. Those are subject to Indigenous land claims. 

Canada's national park system has a dark legacy, including forcibly removing Indigenous people from their lands, severing their cultures and their own forms of governance.

Addison acknowledges that "trust is hard to rebuild."

"Communities would like, generally, to have more of a say in how parks and protected areas are implemented," he said.

Still, the importance of protecting more land and water can't be overstated, he added.

"I would say that large intact and connected protected areas are one of our best tools that we have to mitigate against climate change and the loss of biodiversity."

In May, the conservation society produced a report that states the main obstacle to a new protected area in the region has long been "settler governments' preference for industrial development rather than conservation."

The land in the region shows the scars of the extractive industry, including the abandoned Faro mine, one of the most complicated mining cleanup jobs in the country. There are also projects still in the proposal phase, including the Kudz Ze Kayah mine project.

The report from the conservation society touches on Kaska law and how the land is entrusted to the nation to protect for future generations, how decisions about the land and water require consent of the First Nation, and how all things have a spirit and are interconnected. 

"Reconciliation cannot be achieved without attention to these Kaska ancestral laws and associated worldview," the report states.

'We've learned'

Adriana Bacheschi, executive director of protected areas establishment with Parks Canada, told CBC News the agency is working to atone for the past while working to uphold Indigenous people as the original and unwavering stewards of the land and water.

Bacheschi said the national parks system, as a tool of colonialism, "started not from a good place."

"Like, we picked an area, we put a boundary, moved people away from it. We are in a world now where we've learned that the only way to protect land, respectfully, we have to do it with the people who have been there forever."

Bacheschi said still, the intention now is that federal tools can help complement work by First Nations to protect the land and water. 

"To do it properly is to do it from the perspective of the Indigenous nations coming to us and looking at how they want to protect their lands and using the national park as a way to layer the protection and support them," she said.

"I think the feasibility process is what's going to help us understand what would be the best tool to use here."