“Enough is Enough”
An Indigenous Law-Based Approach to
Managing Cumulative Effects
Treaty 8 Tribal Association Community Gathering
March 26, 2015
Jessica Clogg, Executive Director & Senior Counsel
Hannah Askew, Staff Counsel
West Coast Environmental Law
CUMULATIVE
EFFECTS:
• The combined
impacts from
past, present &
reasonably
foreseeable
actions & events
on the
environment &
human wellbeing
Photo: Halalt First Nation
Photo: Tumbler Ridge News
WILDLIFE
West Coast Environmental Law
WATER
West Coast Environmental Law
Photo: Halalt First Nation
KNOWLEDGE TRANSMISSION
West Coast Environmental Law
GETTING BACK ON TRACK: UNDERSTANDING
THE BIG PICTURE & FOLLOWING ‘OUR WAYS’
Photo:
Marie
Barney
Photo:
Darlene
Vegh
AN INDIGENOUS LAW FOUNDATION FOR
PLANNING & MANAGEMENT
Photo: Kelly Marsden
Sources of
Indigenous Law
Stories Can Tell Us About…
• Legal processes (decisionmakers/procedural steps)
• Legal obligations and rights
• Legal principles about management
West Coast Environmental Law
Photo: Chris Thevarge
Photo: Andy Wright
FOLLOWING ANCESTRAL FOOTPRINTS: “OUR
STORIES ARE WRITTEN ON THE LAND”
Photo: Darlene Vegh
EXAMPLES FROM GITANYOW LAX’YIP
PROTECTION PLAN
From principles to plan
Gwelx ye’enst means the exercise of
Gitanyow’s rights and responsibilities to
hold, protect and pass on the land and
water in a sustainable manner from
generation to generation, including the
process of developing the Gitanyow Lax’yip
Land Use Plan.
West Coast Environmental Law
Photo: Kelly Marsden
HA’NII TOKXW
From principles to plan
“Ha’nii tokxw” means “our food table” and
is the Gitanyow designation that encompasses the land,
water, air and all resources associated with Hanna
Tintina and the Biodiversity Areas set out in Schedules
A and B,
where landscape is retained in a predominantly natural
condition (as per conditions under traditional Gitanyow
management)
to maintain and enhance the availability of Gitanyow
foods, and protect the water that is the lifeblood of the
Gitanyow Lax’yip.
West Coast Environmental Law
Gitanyow Lax’yip Protection Plan
Designations & rules
for all resources values
in Gitanyow territory











Wilp Cultural Heritage
Forest Ecosystem Networks
Old Growth Management Areas
Water Management Units
Grizzly Habitat
Moose Habitat
Mountain Goat Habitat
Goshawk Habitat
Operable Lands
Hanna Tintina Protected Area
Cedar
Gitanyow Huwilp Recognition & Reconciliation Model
West Coast Environmental Law
From principles to plan
n’hlu4ik Sim’aks (Water Management Units)
• Designated as roadless areas, Gitanyow
Water Management Units encompass the
valley walls and headwater bowls of many
large rivers and streams in the territory.
• Unique forests, with high conservation
values for water quality and watershed
hydrology.
West Coast Environmental Law
From principles to plan
En’sii’wineex (Hydroriparian Ecosystem
Networks)
• Full hydroparian zone plus one and one-half tree
heights distance reserved for streams in network.
• Protects hydroriparian ecosystems; biodiversity
‘hotspots’, high habitat values, important wildlife
movement corridors and Gitanyow cultural
features; facilitates migration of plant and animal
species and gene pools through the landscape; &
connect habitats across all elevations.
West Coast Environmental Law
Photo: Noba Anderson
Indigenous law
foundation for planning
and management:
building blocks
• Indigenous law
principles
• Description of historic
“base case”
• Mapping and recording
of traditional use
information &
knowledge
Photo: Andy Wright
Photo: Brian Huntington
ESTABLISHING STRATEGIC LEVEL DIRECTION:
FOOD AND WATER SECURITY PLANNING
?
Photo: BC Hydro
EVALUATE CUMULATIVE EFFECTS OF
DIFFERENT DEVELOPMENT SCENARIOS
Taku River IPP; Photos: Ecotrust Canada
What plausible future scenarios
have the greatest mutually
reinforcing positive ecological, social
and economic benefits, while
upholding the title and rights of
individual nations?
West Coast Environmental Law
GOVERNMENT-TO-GOVERNMENT
NEGOTIATIONS/DECISION-MAKING
West Coast Environmental Law
22
Photo: Kelly Marsden
Government -toGovernment
Arrangements
• Strategic land use
agreements
• Co-management of
assessment, approvals
and monitoring
• Benefit sharing
Thank you!
Facebook: www.facebook.com/WCELaw
Twitter:
@WCELaw
Web:
www.wcel.org
West Coast Environmental Law
Elements of
Cumulative Effects
Management:
• Establish strategic level
direction
• Assess, manage and regulate
activities to ensure
objectives are met
• Monitor effects & undertake
adaptive management
Photo: Wayne Sawchuk
Photo:
Photo: Andy
Andy Wright
Wright
Managing Cumulative Effects in
BC: Law Reform Solutions
• 2 year WCEL research project
• Includes analyzing institutional models with
potential for use in the cumulative effects
context from BC, North America and
internationally.
• 40 ‘models’ examined to date
• Looking for examples of innovation and best
practices – what is or is not working
West Coast Environmental Law
Institutional Mechanisms:
Framework for Analysis
• How is collaboration among and within
governments (including First Nations
governments) and with non-governmental actors
structured?
• Nature and scope of authority/activities?
• How is scientific and Indigenous knowledge used
in decision-making?
• How are outcomes integrated into land and
resource decision-making?
• How is the model funded?
West Coast Environmental Law