Sharing a Vision: A Guide for Indigenous Leadership Engaging with Parks Canada’s Management Planning Process

January 10, 2023

by Kai Bruce. on behalf of the Conservation through Reconciliation Partnership

An illustration of two people kneeling to harvest berries from a bush. (Illistration by Nicole Burton.)

We are pleased to announce the release of an FAQ Guide to Parks Canada Management Planning. The guide aims to inform Indigenous leadership on Parks Canada’s collaborative management planning process for national parks, national park reserves, national marine conservation areas, and national historic sites. 

The Guide outlines what Indigenous governments can achieve through Parks Canada management planning. It unpacks Parks Canada’s approach to collaborative management planning and clarifies key terminology. It also provides examples of management plans that have created new pathways and opportunities for shared governance and Indigenous stewardship in heritage sites. The guide places particular emphasis on examples that are most likely to be of interest to Indigenous governments located in historic treaty contexts and who are working with Parks Canada in less formalized cooperative planning settings. 

Why now?  

The Conservation through Reconciliation Partnership recognizes that many Indigenous governments are actively engaging with Parks Canada to strategically (re)negotiate the governance and management of protected areas in pursuit of asserting their leadership and presence on their homelands. Lands, waters, and ices that have formed the homelands of Indigenous Peoples for millennia are now considered protected areas by Parks Canada. We support individual Indigenous governments in their own pursuits to transform existing protected area management away from colonial conservation strategies, and towards models and practices rooted in Indigenous knowledge systems, designed in accordance with Indigenous law, and developed through relationships forged in ethical space.

 One way that Indigenous governments can pursue this is through Parks Canada’s management planning process – a public, legislated process during which Parks Canada has a legal requirement to consult with Indigenous Peoples. Taking this approach has a growing rationale behind it. For example, Parks Canada now follows Ministerial commitments to reconciliation and has committed to adhering to the principles of UNDRIP.

 Indigenous leaders and their partners asked the CRP to develop an accessible resource that could effectively communicate Parks Canada’s management planning approach. In response, this guide was developed by Kai Bruce in collaboration with CRP partners and various Parks Canada experts. 

 The Guide reflects current management planning practices and highlights where Indigenous collaboration can take a meaningful step in the right direction. However, we acknowledge that the relevance of this guide may evolve over time as Parks Canada continues to adapt their approaches and policies to recognize and elevate Indigenous worldview, governance, and knowledge systems and as Indigenous-led conservation approaches take root across Canada.

We hope that the Guide can help inform Indigenous governments as they develop their approach to engagement with Parks Canada and fills a critical gap in the establishment of mutually respectful and effective conservation partnerships. 

 You can find this guide and add it to your basket of knowledge on the IPCA Knowledge Basket at the following link: https://ipcaknowledgebasket.ca/resources/parks-canada-management

Or download the PDF by clicking below: