EDAI

ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT FOR AMERINDIANS

Continued from frontpage

COMBINING A FIRST NATIONS’ TRADITIONAL EXPERTISE
WITH MODERN DEVELOPMENT

PICTURE AND NEWS-RELEASE BY ONTARIO GOVERNMENT October 26th 2009
http://www.mnr.gov.on.ca/en/Newsroom/LatestNews/278134.html

Balancing Forestry and Protection in the Whitefeather Forest
Mc Guinty Government Working in Partnership
With Pikangikum First Nation

The Ontario government and PikangikumFirst Nation celebrated their continued partnership by signing terms of reference that will support protected areas and forest management planning in the Whitefeather Forest.
Under the terms of reference, teams will prepare plans by 2012 for:
- forest management activities
- management of dedicated protected areas
   – totalling 36 per cent of the Whitefeather Forest.

The public will be invited to participate in these planning processes in the near future.

Consultations were held on the proposal to regulate dedicated protected areas under the Provincial Parks and Conservation Reserves Act. These proposed protected areas
will contribute to the development of the Pimachiowin Aki UNESCO World Heritage Site project.

These efforts are part of the Whitefeather Forest land use strategy – Keeping the Land – developed by Pikangikum First Nation and the Government of Ontario. This strategy commits to protecting areas of cultural and natural significance, maintaining customary stewardship responsibilities and creating new economic opportunities, such as forestry and tourism.

“PikangikumFirst Nation has shown tremendous leadership in seeking to harmonize customary stewardship and new economic opportunities across their cultural landscape through the Whitefeather Forest land use strategy. The terms of reference we signed today will guide decisions around future forest management activities and establishing dedicated protected areas in the Whitefeather Forest.”
-Donna Cansfield, Minister of Natural Resources

“Pikangikumpeople have exercised our responsibilities to take care of the Whitefeather Forest for generations. As our Elders say, when you go out into the Whitefeather Forest you can see the land is still beautiful. It is our responsibility to continue to carry out our responsibilities for Keeping the Land. The dedicated protected areas that are being established in our partnership with Ontario will contribute to this."
-Jonah Strang, Chief, PikangikumFirst Nation

Next Steps in Achieving Whitefeather Forest Corporation’s
Stewardship Objectives:

We continue to work in partnership with the Ontario Ministry of Natural Resources
and others to achieve our stewardship goals for the Whitefeather Forest.

Currently this work involves two key tasks:

- a submission to the Ministry of the Environment seeking Environmental Assessment coverage for Forest Management Planning that will enable
commercial forestry operations within the Whitefeather Forest

- developing stewardship arrangements including for management of the Dedicated Protected Areas in the Whitefeather Forest (the Ahkee dialogue)

Subsequent work will involve:

- Forest Management Planning
- Protected Areas Management Planning
- Related business planning
- Developing arrangements to implement these plans

We intend to complete these tasks by 2011.

Read more on
COMBINING A FIRST NATIONS’ TRADITIONAL EXPERTISE
WITH MODERN DEVELOPMENT

Zurich, December 24, 2009

Hon. Donna Cansfield
...

Dear Minister Cansfield:

Economic Development for Amerindians (EDAI) is a Swiss NGO dedicated to fostering culturally appropriate and sustainable economic development within indigenous communities in the Americas. An independent EDAI Rapporteur was travelling in Canada on behalf of EDAI at the time of your visit to Pikangikum First Nation on October 26, 2009. The Rapporteur had a mandate to liaise with Pikangikum. He was able to attend your meeting with Pikangikum Elders and leaders and observe the signing of the Terms of Reference to guide Forest Management Planning and Dedicated Protected Areas planning for the Whitefeather Forest.

EDAI is aware that Pikangikum and OMNR have been working on a timeline for planning to be completed by March 31, 2012 in order to enable the First Nation to commence forestry and tourism opportunities in support of their goal of economic renewal. There is broad acceptance of the urgent need of Pikangikum First Nation to be able to develop its planned economic opportunities for the Whitefeather Forest.

Therefore it was with pleasure that we have been able to learn that the Revised Forest Management Plan-ning Manual for Ontario has now been approved with provisions for the Whitefeather Forest. We wish to congratulate you on reaching this milestone with Pikangikum. We are also happy to see that notice of the commencement for Forest Management Planning in the Whitefeather Forest has also been posted on the Ontario Environmental Bill of Rights Registry. Pikangikum can now move forward working together with Ontario to achieve the goal of establishing internationally acclaimed forestry in the Whitefeather Forest.

EDAI considers the Keeping the Land approach guiding the development of the Whitefeather Forest Initiative and the partnership of Pikangikum with the Government of Ontaro to be of international relevance. The po-tential of implementing Pikangikum-led economic opportunities in the Whitefeather Forest while sustaining the biological diversity of the forest through a partnership between Indigenous Knowledge and Western Science is being followed internationally and has the full support of EDAI.

EDAI, through our Rapporteur, will liaise with Incomindios Switzerland (International Committee for the In-dians of the Americas  - NGO in consultative status with the Economic and Social Council of the United Na-tions) to have the United Nations Human Rights Committee and the UN Committee on Economic, Cultural and Social rights informed of the progress of the Whitefeather Forest Initiative partnership with Ontario. EDAI is confident that we will be able to report continuing partnership-based progress in the development of the Whitefeather Forest Initiative as an example from which many other jurisdictions where indigenous peoples live will be able to draw from.

Sincerely,

on behalf of EDAI     

Heinz Lippuner, Chair

cc. Chief Jonah Strang, Pikangikum First Nation
Alex Peters, President - Whitefeather Forest Management Corporation