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Challenges and Opportunities to Use of Non-Timber Forest Resources: Exploring First Nations and Non-First Nations Relationships and Perspectives

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Challenges and Opportunities to Use of Non-Timber Forest Resources: Exploring First Nations and Non-First Nations Relationships and Perspectives Challenges and Opportunities to Use of Non-Timber Forest Resources: Exploring First Nations and Non-First Nations Relationships and Perspectives by Robin Samantha Charlton B.A. (Hons., International Development), University of Guelph, 2005 Research Project Submitted in Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the Degree of Master of Resource Management Report No. 565 in the School of Resource and Environmental Management Faculty of Environment © Robin Samantha Charlton 2013 SIMON FRASER UNIVERSITY Spring 2013 All rights reserved. However, in accordance with the Copyright Act of Canada, this work may be reproduced, without authorization, under the conditions for “Fair Dealing.” Therefore, limited reproduction of this work for the purposes of private study, research, criticism, review and news reporting is likely to be in accordance with the law, particularly if cited appropriately. Approval Name: Robin Samantha Charlton Degree: Master of Resource Management Title of Thesis: Challenges and Opportunities to Use of Non-Timber Forest Resources: Exploring First Nations and Non-First Nations Relationships and Perspectives Report No. 565 Examining Committee: Chair: Bastian Zeiger, MRM Evelyn Pinkerton Senior Supervisor Associate Professor Ajit Krishnaswamy Supervisor Adjunct Professor Date Defended/Approved: Jan 24, 2013 ii Partial Copyright Licence iii Abstract The community forest (CF) tenure in British Columbia has the potential to manage non- timber forest resources (NTFRs) in order to optimize economic, environmental and social benefit and to work closely with First Nations. Using grounded theory, interviews and participant observation in the Wells Gray Community Forest area and in the territory of the Simpcw First Nation, this research identifies: 1) the local NTFR sector, exploring constraints to and opportunities for NTFR use, 2) ethical modes of harvesting NTFRs based on traditional and local knowledge (TK/LK), 3) First Nations and non-First Nations perspectives on NTFRs and NTFR management, 4) factors in, and challenges to, success in managing NTFRs through the co-management theoretical framework, 5) The main conclusions are that: 1) a selection of preconditions and supporting conditions for co-management are demonstrated in the research, and 2) informal co-management agreements are a potential pre-cursor to or replacement for formal legal arrangements for management of NTFRs. Keywords: Co-management; community forest; non-timber forest resources; First Nations; collaboration; traditional knowledge; iv Acknowledgements I would like to acknowledge each community member who volunteered their time to participate in an interview with me. Special acknowledgement goes to the community members who participated in multiple interviews. Extra special acknowledgement goes to those few individuals that were not only interviewed once or twice, but also connected me to community events and/or allowed me to job shadow them and understand their world. Joe Jules welcomed me into his home so that I could spend more time in the community of Chu Chua, and he introduced me to people who were willing to participate in interviews. I am also very grateful for the openess and participation in my research of other members of the Simpcw community and the Simpcw band council. In Clearwater, George Brcko and Ted Richardson responded to many questions that I had about the community forest, and were always very helpful. I thank the Wells Gray Community Resource Centre for providing me with an office to work out of in Clearwater, British Columbia. I also acknowledge Sharon Neufeld who shared her knowledge, home and garden with me – it was largely because of Sharon that Clearwater will always have a special place in my heart. I would like to acknowledge my supervisors, Evelyn Pinkerton and Ajit Krishnaswamy, who put up with my less than polished drafts and continually helped me with both the content and process of my research. I thank my peers at REM who read over pieces of my research and discussed qualitative data analysis with me, among other things. I would also like to thank the British Columbia Community Forest Association. Their staff have been helpful on multiple occasions and their yearly conferences have been extremely enjoyable and informative. I am grateful for support from a grant of the Social Sciences and Humanities Council of Canada to Evelyn Pinkerton, principle investigator, for research on community forests. Finally, I thank my parents, who have always encouraged me to challenge myself, go to new places, try new things and be ambitious. v Table of Contents Approval.............................................................................................................................ii Partial Copyright Licence.................................................................................................. iii Abstract.............................................................................................................................iv Acknowledgements............................................................................................................v Table of Contents..............................................................................................................vi List of Tables.....................................................................................................................ix List of Figures ....................................................................................................................x List of Acronyms ...............................................................................................................xi Executive Summary........................................................................................................ xiii 1. Introduction .............................................................................................................. 1 1.1. Background.............................................................................................................. 1 1.1.1. Problems with current forest management................................................... 2 1.1.2. Community forests as a potentially sustainable solution.............................. 7 1.1.3. Co-management......................................................................................... 11 1.1.4. Non-timber forest resources (NTFRs) definition and legal context ............ 17 1.2. Importance of the NTFR sector.............................................................................. 23 1.2.1. Importance to the Canadian economy ....................................................... 23 1.2.2. Importance to First Nations ........................................................................ 25 1.2.3. Importance to the environment................................................................... 30 1.2.4. Importance to NTFR harvesters and small business ................................. 32 1.2.5. Importance to the health care field............................................................. 33 1.3. Research gaps and opportunities .......................................................................... 34 1.4. Chapter Summary.................................................................................................. 38 2. Methodology........................................................................................................... 39 2.1. Overview of methodology ...................................................................................... 40 2.1.1. Geographical location of study................................................................... 40 2.2. Detailed Methods ................................................................................................... 47 2.2.1. Studying traditional knowledge/ local knowledge....................................... 47 2.2.2. Community-based research protocol ......................................................... 48 2.2.3. The Case study method and grounded theory........................................... 49 2.2.4. Primary and secondary literature ............................................................... 49 2.2.5. Interviews ................................................................................................... 50 2.2.6. Participant-as-observer .............................................................................. 52 2.2.7. Analytical strategy ...................................................................................... 54 2.2.8. Researcher bias and research limitations .................................................. 58 2.2.9. Coding........................................................................................................ 60 2.3. Chapter Summary.................................................................................................. 65 vi 3. Results .................................................................................................................... 67 3.1. Participant Observation.......................................................................................... 67 3.2. Overview of NTFRs and harvesters in the area..................................................... 72 3.2.1. What is harvested in the area..................................................................... 72 3.2.2. Harvesting best practices........................................................................... 74 3.2.3. NTFRs of special concern.........................................................................
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