Environment

The spill notification system is the result of a collaboration between 12 First Nations and the province.

A new notification system and app that alerts coastal B.C. First Nations about oil or hazardous chemical spills on their lands and waters was recently launched.

The method scours stream beds, and current laws ignore First Nations’ rights and interests.

In B.C., a booming industry can be found in the Cariboo, all along the Fraser River, the Tulameen and Similkameen area around Princeton, and the Omineca region north and west of Prince George. There, placer mining is big business. Placer mining is the practice of relentlessly excavating sand and gravel from old and current stream beds to extract minerals.

Nature agreement to help province protect 30 per cent of lands by 2030

The federal government says it's signed its first major nature agreement with a province and First Nations to mutually support protecting 30 per cent of lands and waters by 2030.

Centre will look at how to better benefit from sectors such as forestry, mining and natural gas.

A group of 204 First Nations in B.C. will soon have one central hub to look toward for support and advice on economic development.

The B.C. Assembly of First Nations announced Tuesday (Oct. 11) the launch of its new Centre of Excellence in First Nations Economic Development, along with a $1.2-million injection from the province.

(Ottawa, ON) – Assembly of First Nations (AFN) National Chief RoseAnne Archibald says the 2022 federal budget tabled today in Ottawa falls short in addressing the urgent and long-term needs identified by First Nations and that First Nations must share in the wealth derived from the land and resources of Canada.

In May 2019, a landmark report by the Intergovernmental Science-Policy Platform on Biodiversity and Ecosystem Services painted a bleak picture of our planet’s health. 

Around one million animal and plant species – more than ever before in human history – are now threatened with extinction, many within decades. 

Pollution is proliferating, land degradation is accelerating, and we are nowhere near on track to achieve global goals for protecting biodiversity and achieving sustainability.

On September 22, an unprecedented coalition of First Nations, commercial fishers, sport fishers, wilderness tourism organizations and environmental non-governmental organizations (“ENGO’s”) called for Fisheries and Oceans Canada (“DFO”) to remove open net-pen fish farms from British Columbia.

A growing body of evidence shows that lands and waters that are owned, managed, and used by indigenous peoples and local communities are much healthier than those that aren’t. Governments and multilateral bodies owe it to everyone to engage them in discussions about protecting biodiversity.