Comparing Aboriginal Community-Based Criteria and Indicators in Forest Management Planning
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Lakehead University Knowledge Commons,http://knowledgecommons.lakeheadu.ca Electronic Theses and Dissertations Electronic Theses and Dissertations from 2009 2018 Comparing Aboriginal community-based criteria and indicators in forest management planning Symington-Armstrong, Erin http://knowledgecommons.lakeheadu.ca/handle/2453/4236 Downloaded from Lakehead University, KnowledgeCommons COMPARING ABORIGINAL COMMUNITY-BASED CRITERIA AND INDICATORS IN FOREST MANAGEMENT PLANNING by Erin Symington-Armstrong RPF A Graduate Thesis Submitted in Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the Degree of Master of Science in Forestry Faculty of Natural Resources Management Lakehead University April 2018 iii A CAUTION TO THE READER This MScF thesis has been through a semi-formal process of review and comment by at least two faculty members. It is made available for loan by the Faculty of Natural Resources Management for the purpose of advancing the practice of professional and scientific forestry. The reader should be aware that opinions and conclusions expressed in this document are those of the student and do not necessarily reflect the opinions of the thesis supervisor, the faculty or Lakehead University. iv ABSTRACT Symington-Armstrong, E. 2018. Comparing Aboriginal community-based criteria and indicators in forest management planning. Master of Science in Forestry, Faculty of Natural Resources Management, Lakehead University. 145 pp. Criteria and indicator (C&I) frameworks have been developed and implemented on national and international scales to measure sustainable forest management. The purpose of this research is to examine the reasons why Indigenous communities would develop local-level criteria and indicator frameworks, what the process is for their development and how they are being used. Criteria and indicators were collected from published and unpublished literature for six First Nation communities. The indicators were reorganized using researcher definitions of institutional, cultural, environmental, social and economic indicators for ease of data analysis. Representatives from each of the case studies were interviewed to provide contextual information about their framework development. Indigenous indicators capture values rooted in traditional knowledge and cultural practices and seek to remedy social issues centred on community well-being. In the last decade the use of C&I in forest management is declining, but C&I still serve as an important tool to collect data and values to measure change and achieving goals, especially at the local level. Keywords: criteria and indicators, First Nations, sustainable forest management, planning, community well-being, local values, Indigenous worldview, traditional ecological knowledge v CONTENTS LIBRARY RIGHTS STATEMENT ..................................................................... ii A CAUTION TO THE READER ........................................................................ iii Abstract ................................................................................................................ iv list of tables ......................................................................................................... vii list of figures ....................................................................................................... vii ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS ............................................................................... viii INTRODUCTION ................................................................................................ 1 Aboriginal Forestry in Canada .......................................................................... 1 Criteria and Indicators in Canada ...................................................................... 4 The Canadian Council of Forest Ministers ....................................................... 7 Criteria and Indicators in Provincial Forest Management .............................. 10 The Canadian Model Forest Program ............................................................. 11 Forest Certification Programs ......................................................................... 12 Connecting Indigenous people with Criteria and indicators ........................... 15 research focus .................................................................................................. 18 LITERATURE REVIEW ................................................................................... 20 BACKGROUND ............................................................................................ 20 Improve opportunities for participation, collaboration and research .............. 20 Maintain forest integrity and health to ensure sustainable use ....................... 27 Protecting aboriginal cultural values in forest management planning ............ 28 Increase economic benefits from forests for aboriginal communities ............ 31 Improve equity, health and stability for individuals and the community ....... 33 CONCLUSION ............................................................................................... 35 RESEARCH METHODOLOGY ........................................................................ 36 RESEARCH METHODS ............................................................................... 36 PARTICIPANTS ............................................................................................ 37 MATERIALS .................................................................................................. 39 PROCEDURES ............................................................................................... 39 Categorizing First Nations Criteria and Indicators ..................................... 40 Interviews .................................................................................................... 44 RESEARCH CHALLENGES ......................................................................... 45 RESULTS ........................................................................................................... 47 Iisaak Forest Resources Ltd. (Iisaak) .............................................................. 47 Tl’azt’en Nation .............................................................................................. 51 Little Red River Cree Nation .......................................................................... 53 Waswanipi Cree .............................................................................................. 56 Algonquins of Barriere Lake ........................................................................... 61 Innu Nation ..................................................................................................... 64 Drivers and context for indicator development ............................................... 67 SUMMARIZING CRITERIA AND INDICATORS ...................................... 71 vi DESCRIPTION OF INDICATOR SETS BY COMMUNITY ....................... 79 Iisaak Forest Resources Ltd. ....................................................................... 79 Tl’azt’en Nation .......................................................................................... 80 Little Red River Cree Nation ...................................................................... 82 Cree First Nation of Waswanipi .................................................................. 83 Algonquins of Barriere Lake ....................................................................... 84 Innu Nation ................................................................................................. 85 DISCUSSION ..................................................................................................... 87 Improved opportunities for participation collaboration and research ............. 87 Maintaining forest integrity and health to ensure sustainable use .................. 98 Protecting aboriginal cultural values in forest management planning .......... 102 Increased economic benefits from forests for aboriginal communities ........ 106 Improved equity, health and stability for individuals and the community ... 108 CONCLUSION ................................................................................................. 113 LITERATURE CITED ..................................................................................... 117 Appendix 1 ........................................................................................................ 136 vii LIST OF TABLES Table 1. A sustainable development framework incorporating Aboriginal Peoples’ values in forest management . ......................................................................................... 43 Table 2. Drivers and context for development of Aboriginal criteria & indicators for forest management in Canada. ........................................................................................ 70 Table 3. Total number of original community indicators by criterion categories. ......... 71 Table 4. Total number of re-grouped community indicators by criterion categories. .... 72 LIST OF FIGURES Figure 1. Geographic Location of Research Communities ............................................. 38 Figure 2. Hierarchy of sorted data................................................................................... 40 Figure 3. Institutional Indicators ..................................................................................... 74 Figure 4. Environmental Indicators................................................................................. 75 Figure