First Nations Issues

As UNESCO’s World Heritage Committee convenes this week for its annual meeting in Manama, Bahrain, Indigenous and environmental groups are calling on Canada to do more to protect its largest park, Wood Buffalo National Park.

Members of Mikisew Cree First Nation are in Bahrain to present to World Heritage Committee members. They will urge Canada to implement all seventeen of the Committee’s recommendations to ensure protection of Wood Buffalo National Park, a UNESCO World Heritage Site. Read more about Canada’s failure to protect Wood Buffalo National Park to be raised at UNESCO meeting

Fort McMurray -  Alberta Government’s Department of Sustainable Resource Development, headed by Minister Mel Knight, released the draft Lower Athabasca Region Plan (LARP).  The draft plan proposes a 16% increase to conservation areas in the oil sands region, which is significantly less than the recommendations from the Regional Advisory Council (RAC), who advised up to 32%, and considerably less than recommendations from First Nations.  Read more about Draft Athabasca Land Use Plan Infringes Treaty 8

WASHINGTON, D.C. — U.S. officials heard first-hand this week how their decisions about importing oil from the Canadian tar sands are affecting First Nations communities on both sides of the border.

A delegation of Canadian and American First Nations leaders met with officials at the White House Council on Environmental Quality, the State Department, the Department of Interior and others. They also discussed their experiences and concerns with the staff of key congressional representatives and non-governmental organizations. Read more about U.S. decisions on tar sands imports will impact First Nations communities, leaders say