FNs Push for More Forestry Control
Thunder Bay, Ont. – First Nations across the country, strengthened by legal victories and new legislation, are seeking greater control over the forestry sector operating in their backyard. A greater share of forestry rights could mean greater economic independence, says Peggy Smith, a forestry expert at Lakehead University.
“Those laws are having an impact across the country, and I think provincial governments that issue forest licences are much more aware now of the duty to consult and responsibility to engage with First Nations before they make even strategic-level decisions,” Smith tells local media. There have been significant changes in recent decades on the question of who gets the right to manage and harvest Crown forests, though rights are still largely locked up in long-term agreements with major forestry companies. That is slowly coming to an end, she adds.
In the early 1980s, Indigenous-held tenure made up about 0.05 per cent of Canada’s total wood supply, while in 2017, with less overall supply, Indigenous Peoples held 10.5 per cent, according to a report from the National Aboriginal Forestry Association. ABQ
