Indigenous Leadership Initiative

Great news for Indigenous-led conservation on the West Coast. 🌊🐟🪶 The Heiltsuk, Wuikinuxv, Nuxalk, Kitasoo Xai’xais, Gitxaała and Gitga’at Nations, alongside B.C. and Canada, have signed a historic agreement to help protect one of the richest marine ecosystems on Earth through the creation of the Mia-yaltwa Ha’lidzogm hoon coastal reserve. From salmon and herring to humpback whales, kelp forests, Spirit Bears, and coastal communities, this region supports an extraordinary web of life that has been stewarded by Indigenous Nations for millennia. What makes this especially important is the model itself: an Indigenous Protected and Conserved Area paired with collaborative marine protection and Indigenous governance. It’s another powerful example of what becomes possible when Indigenous leadership is placed at the centre of conservation. 🌿 Read the full The Globe and Mail article here: https://lnkd.in/evVnYR3i Coastal First Nations - Great Bear Initiative

This World Biodiversity Day, we recognize the leadership of the four First Nations of the Seal River Watershed Alliance, whose vision for long-term protection is helping conservation in Canada. The Seal River Watershed in northern Manitoba supports extraordinary biodiversity: millions of migratory birds, polar bears, caribou herds, healthy boreal ecosystems, and species found nowhere else. This year’s #WorldBiodiversityDay theme is “Acting locally for global impact.” Few examples feel more fitting than the Seal River Watershed. Biodiversity wins start with people protecting the places they love, and the good news is, you have an opportunity to help shape that future through the ongoing EngageMB process, which gathers public feedback on the proposal to protect this important landscape. The proposal, crafted alongside the governments of Manitoba and Canada, reflects something increasingly clear around the world: biodiversity outcomes are strongest when Indigenous Nations are part of the solutions to protect it. Because protecting extraordinary places like this benefits far more than one region alone, we encourage all of you (yes, even if you live outside of Manitoba) to leave a positive comment and help bring this proposal. Click this link to make a difference for biodiversity: https://lnkd.in/dvaV-q38

Do you know about the Indigenous women who are helping lead a new future for fire stewardship? 🔥🌾 This article follows Interior Salish women at the forefront of wildfire response, cultural burning, and land restoration efforts in B.C. The story highlights how amazing women are challenging colonial systems while helping communities adapt to a rapidly changing wildfire reality. The movement to revitalize Indigenous fire stewardship is growing across the country, helping: restore cultural burn practices, protect cultural heritage sites during wildfire response, and create spaces for knowledge sharing and healing. It also reflects something we strongly believe in: Indigenous-led fire stewardship is not only about reducing wildfire risk. It is also about restoring culture, traditions, and relationships — to land, to knowledge, and to each other. Read it here: https://lnkd.in/epxCZW3g Piece written by Santana Dreaver for The Narwhal

Do you know what’s the difference between a cultural burn and a prescribed fire? As Indigenous fire stewardship gains more visibility, it is important to understand some important distinctions between these practices. Good news, our senior fire advisor Dr. Amy Cardinal Christianson has broken it down for us! Her new blog unpacks: 🌿 What cultural burns are 🔥 The role of prescribed fires 🪶 Why Indigenous leadership matters ⚠️ How misusing these terms can unintentionally erase or appropriate Indigenous practices Because words shape understanding. And understanding shapes policy, relationships, and power. Read the full article here: https://lnkd.in/e47ZawTc

Today is #MooseHideCampaign Day — an Indigenous-led movement grounded in ceremony, healing, and collective action to end gender-based violence. Wearing the moose hide pin is a commitment to protecting women and children, challenging violence when you see it, and helping build communities rooted in care, safety, and respect. Show your solidarity and take the pledge today! Learn more about the campaign by visiting : Moose Hide Campaign. #MooseHideCampaign #genderbasedviolence #domesticviolence

Every spring, the Boreal forest comes alive with birdsongs from our winged relatives that are coming back from the South. 🪶🌎 For generations, Indigenous communities have known these landscapes are vital for migratory birds. In the Seal River Watershed alone, more than a hundred bird species have been identified. Land Guardians from the Seal River Watershed Initiative, Elders, land users, and researchers from National Audubon Society were able to identify 30% more species than detected in previous studies. How is it possible? The combined efforts of Indigenous traditional knowledge and Western science, and the involvement of a whole community. Land Guardians led fieldwork efforts using thousands of hours of bird recording technology, while Elders and community members shared generations of knowledge. As bird populations decline across North America, the Seal River Watershed remains a thriving refuge. Protecting places like this protects far more than wildlife — it also helps safeguard communities, traditional knowledge, and biodiversity for future generations. 🐣🤎 Want to contribute to its safeguarding? Follow this link to EngageMB and leave a comment to support the new Indigenous-led proposition to protect this precious landscape: https://lnkd.in/dvaV-q38 Photo credit: Jordan Melograna, Seal River Watershed Indigenous Protected Area Initiative, CPWAS Manitoba, Jeff Nadler

When we talk about protecting nature in this country, the Boreal Forest has to be part of the conversation. Stretching across almost 60% of Canada’s land area, this region remains one of the planet’s great ecological strongholds. The knowledge carried by Indigenous People has helped maintain its balance for millennia — and continues to guide how it is stewarded today. Listen as our Executive Director, Valérie Courtois, shares why the Boreal holds such global importance, and why Indigenous leadership is central to its future.

On #RedDressDay, we honour the thousands of Indigenous women, girls, and two-spirit people who are missing or have been taken, and we call out the ongoing and overlooked systemic violence directed at our sisters, mothers, and daughters. This day is about remembering, but also making sure that their memories are honored through accountability, justice, and change. The epidemic of violence Indigenous women and two–spirit people face is rooted in the same colonial systems that have displaced Nations from their territories and attempted to disrupt our traditions, and our connection to each other and to the land. As we work to support Indigenous leadership on the land, we also carry a responsibility to uplift and protect our communities. Because there is no future for conservation without safety, dignity, and respect for all people. Today, and every day, we remember. We listen. We stand with our relatives. And most importantly, we call for justice, safety, and change. ❤️ Beautiful beadwork by artist Heather Stewart @sweetgrass_beads #MMIWG2S #NoMoreStolenSisters #JusticeNow

A decade after the Fort McMurray wildfire, the question remains: are we better prepared today? Despite major investments in suppression, forests continue to grow more vulnerable to massive wildfires, affecting millions of Canadians every year. From fire smoke polluting major cities to entire communities having to be displaced, the growing impact of wildfires is being felt across the country. Communities who have experienced wildfire have built tools and shaped plans for response. But there's another solution that should be included in the conversation at a national level: Indigenous fire stewardship. Indigenous knowledge offers part of the solution to make wildfire management more resilient—one that focuses on prevention, stewardship, and long-term care of the land. Rooted in generations of knowledge, these approaches combine supporting local Indigenous firefighters on the front lines, investing in Indigenous Fire Guardians who steward the land year-round, and recognizing the value of cultural burning, or ‘good fire’ to reduce fuel and restore balance to our landscapes before fires start. Honouring this anniversary means recognizing the need for change — and supporting the knowledge that can help guide it. https://lnkd.in/e4q_rTUe

Let’s clear something up (and no, we’re not talking about overgrown underbush). 👉 Indigenous fire knowledge was never “lost.” 👈 It was actively suppressed through policies that criminalized cultural burning and disconnected people from their own lands. And yet, that knowledge is still here. Carried by Elders. Practiced by First Nations across the country. Helping strengthen both landscapes and communities. From the Saskatchewan River Delta to Southern Ontario, Nations are using “good fire” to restore balance and protect ecosystems. This is not lost knowledge. It’s living knowledge. Interested in learning more? Read our article “Myths and Facts about Indigenous Cultural Fire” by our fire expert Dr. Amy Cardinal Christianson: https://lnkd.in/egcXaKW3