Narwhal Week, Episode 4: The key to saving the world’s biodiversity

Clip You’re listening to a frequency podcast network production in association with City News.

Fatima Syed In May, the Mamalilikulla First Nation were celebrating on their ancestral land. For many, it was their first time dancing on that ground. For millennia, they have been the strongest stewards of ten 416 land just north of Vancouver Island, that includes extremely rare shallow coral streams full of salmon and, yes, grizzly and black bears. That land separates the ocean from the cities. The Mamalilikulla people were forced to leave that land because of a lack of clean water infrastructure and children being taken away to nearby residential schools. They became a nation with no home. But all of that changed late last year, when the nation’s elected chief counselor, John Powell, unilaterally declared their land an Indigenous Protected and Conserved Area, or an IPCA. Now, technically, these areas have existed for as long as indigenous peoples have, but the term itself was made official in 2018, when a federally funded indigenous circle of experts published a report on how Indigenous-led conservation could help better achieve Canada’s conservation and climate commitment. The Mamalilikulla people created one themselves according to their own laws and their constitutionally recognized indigenous rights, refusing to wait on colonial governments. And now other indigenous nations are following suit. Indigenous lead conservation has time and again been identified as the most effective and equitable way to protect the biodiversity on Earth. Everything from habitat to wildlife and the impacts of climate change and life on Earth needs protecting. Right now, wildlife populations have decreased by an average of 69% between 19 72,018, according to a recent report from the World Wildlife Fund. A million species around the world are at risk. In a few weeks, Canada will host the largest United Nations biodiversity conference in Montreal to address the biodiversity crisis. Our country has the world’s longest coastline, 25% of the world’s boreal forest, 25% of the world’s temperate forests, 25% of the world’s wetlands, 2 million lakes, and the third largest area of glaciers on the planet. So there’s a lot at stake. But is indigenous lead conservation on the agenda? I’m fabulous. It’s sitting in for Jordan Heath-Rawlings. Welcome back to Narwhal Week on the podcast. I’ve got two friends joining me from Vancouver today to dig deep into indigenous conservation efforts and the biodiversity crisis. Stephanie Wood is a reporter with the Narwhals BC bureau.

Stephanie Wood Hello.

Fatima Syed And Ainslie Cruickshank is the Narwhals biodiversity Reporter.

Ainslie Cruickshank Hi.

Fatima Syed We’re about to talk about biodiversity, which is a really scary scientific word, and I want to start there. What does it actually mean? Steph? How do you understand it?

Stephanie Wood I agree that biodiversity kind of gives the sense of getting, like, a really sciencey word, and it sounds kind of distant and away from us. Biodiversity is over there. We study it when the truth is, biodiversity, like, we’re a part of it, it’s a part of us. It is all of the incredible creatures that we see in this world it is all the creatures you’ve never heard of. It’s all the creatures that bring you wonder and laugh and make you cry. It’s like when you see that sea otters hold hands. It’s like when you see that animals grieve, they’re dead. It’s like when you find out that there is a shrew in BC that can literally walk on water. And you’re like, how is that possible? It’s just everything that makes this beautiful Earth that we have home. I suddenly feel really emotional hearing you describe biodiversity. You’re right. It’s all of life on this planet. It is life.

Fatima Syed Ainslie, you’re actually a biodiversity reporter. How do you understand it?

Ainslie Cruickshank Oh, I think Steph described it so beautifully. I think that’s just a really wonderful way to think about it. I think that the other thing that we maybe don’t see about biodiversity is that within all of those species and creatures, there’s also, like, a huge amount of genetic diversity within those species that leads to kind of all of these wonderful things that we see in the world. And then there’s also kind of, more broadly, a diversity in ecosystems. And so that’s all the different ways that these kind of creatures, whether it’s plants or animals, interact with each other and their environment. You know, there was a recent report from the World Wildlife Fund that found that global wildlife populations have declined by 69% since 1970 and that the world is basically in a biodiversity crisis. And I wonder easily, how is that affecting Canada? How bad is the biodiversity crisis here at home? I think it’s something that we should all be concerned about. I mean, when you look globally, there’s been a major decline in biodiversity, and there’s a number of reasons and sort of challenges behind that. One of them is the destruction of habitat. So when we’re clearcutting huge swaths of forests for lumber or converting it to farmland, or we’re paving over wetlands and estuaries to build our cities, or building massive mines, insensitive ecosystems, all of these things are destroying the habitats that support a whole range of plants and animals. There’s over exploitation, so we’re overfishing or pollution. There’s invasive species. And climate change, too, is having huge impacts for biodiversity. Each increment of warming is increasing the risk for more biodiversity loss, more extinctions. Already there’s a million species, like you said, plasma that are at risk of extinction. And Canada isn’t immune to this. So in Canada, you can think of the monarch butterfly. You can think of the southern resident killer whales. These are just two species that are endangered. There’s multiple populations of caribou that are also at risk and many other plants and animals. And so, yeah, it’s a big problem that’s having impacts.

Fatima Syed You know, Steph, we outlined at the top of this conversation that we’re talking about all of life itself when we talk about the biodiversity crisis. But I think it’s hard to see its impact on a day to day basis. Like, I’m not a monarch butterfly or a killer whale, so why should we care?

Stephanie Wood It has started to impact people directly in their day to day lives. And just like we’ve seen with climate change, where for a while, some people can put it off and be like, it’s not affecting me, it is eventually coming for you, as we’ve seen with wildfires and floods, like the same thing with the biodiversity crisis. So we are seeing results, especially like the really core example out here in BC that’s of concern is salmon. And we’re seeing huge declines in salmon, and that is causing direct impacts on people’s lives every day, every year. And it’s only been getting worse for many populations. Many salmon populations are really close to decline. People are trying to monitor fish returning and literally seeing zero in certain streams and rivers. That has a huge impact on people who rely on fish for livelihood, especially First Nations that have relied on salmon and had a relationship with salmon for millennia. They are disappearing. So it has this real practical implication of food, food security. And also, once again, it’s a relationship, it’s a spiritual and a social issue that is causing a lot of people pain and grief to not be able to eat salmon every year, to not be able to smoke it, share it, have it for ceremony. And it also has these impacts that, you know, you may think about an issue and not realize the way that it’s connected to biodiversity. Like the way that salmon keep forest healthy. Like their carcasses are dragged into the forest and it makes trees grow strong. And you may not realize what you’re losing when the ecosystem loses that. But then if there’s a weak forest or unstable forest or that kind of thing, like it is impacting you and it’s just all connected, like none of it is isolated. And so what impacts are you seeing of the biodiversity crisis, like in your community or just in the broader Canadian community that shows that we really should be caring about what’s happening?

Ainslie Cruickshank No, I think what Steph was talking about is exactly right, is that communities are already being impacted by declines in salmon and other species that many communities have relied on for food. I think caribou’s another example like that. But of course, it’s not just food. Many medicines that we rely on when we’re sick also come from nature. And then I think there’s also aspects of, you know, paving over and building on top of wetlands and estuaries is having a direct impact when there’s heavy rains or flooding. Like, historically, those ecosystems and habitats would have been able to sort of absorb some of that excess water and would have helped reduce the impacts. But that ability has been really impacted. I think trees and other plants, I think, is also important to keep in mind all of these different ways that they affect us. I mean, they clean the air that we breathe, air that we are heavily polluting in some cases. And then, like Steph mentioned, I think that it’s really important to remember that nature is also so important for our kind of emotional wellbeing, our mental health, our spiritual wellbeing. And so it’s both kind of physically helping keep us alive. And then also there’s that sort of emotional and spiritual side to it that is really important too. So this brings me nicely into my next question, which is what do we actually do to save biodiversity? Steph, you were talking about Indigenous communities and how they’ve been impacted by this crisis, but Indigenous communities have also been the original stewards of biodiversity for as long as they’ve existed.

Fatima Syed You wrote this really lovely story about what one First Nation has done to protect biodiversity. Tell us a little bit about what’s happening in Mamalilikulla.

Stephanie Wood Yes, absolutely. The Mamalilikulla First Nation has a really incredible story where they established what’s known as an Indigenous protected and conserved area in their territory. An Indigenous protected and conserved area is an idea that sort of been like formed and really catching fire since 2018. It’s the idea that it’s a protected area that is informed by indigenous laws, values, indigenous blood conservation. So it’s not just echoing a sort of like Western idea of a park. It is about being led by the priorities, laws and values of that specific people. And so the federal government, there is support behind some of these IPCAs. And then since then, it’s taken off way more. And while it kind of began with that idea, there’s First Nations everywhere and you eat mete people’s pursuing IPCAs with or without government support. And so the Mama La Club first nation is on the west coast here. And they basically did the work to be able to declare an IPCA first by doing the research, by doing the capacity building, getting third party funding, building up their guardians program, which is people who are out on the land stewarding. And then they went to the province and the Feds and said, okay, we are establishing this IPCA. It’s happening. Would you like to sign a co-governance agreement with us? But whether you sign it or not, we are doing this. And it’s just they really wanted to invert the idea of having to go to government for permission or for funding. They really wanted to invert that sort of like patriarchal structure that the colonial government has imposed for a really long time. And it’s resulted in them signing a memorandum of understanding with the province. They are having positive discussions with the province, and they started to have talks with do. And so it’s just like a really big moment for them to really ground this new protected area in their own sovereignty. They decide where it is when it’s established, what the borders are, what the priorities are. And they’re inviting colonial government to come along if they would like to. They’re all about partnership, but they’re saying, this is our land, this is our right, this is our law, and we’re doing this. And it is protecting a pretty biodiverse area they have in the waters. In particular, a really rare type of shallow coral. It’s the home to a bunch of really fun animals, little rockfish prawns and a really cute little curly worm that looks like, like it’s of out Alice in Wonderland or something. And that land supports salmon and it supports grizzly bears. And it’s just like this area that’s always been alive, that the people have been connected with and now they’re reconnecting with. As with many of these stories, like, there is the history of the people being literally displaced from their land. So this area where they’ve established a protected area, many people from the nation had never been there before this year. People were displaced from the territory in the 20th century due to a bunch of colonial factors, including residential school and lack of infrastructure. They were not given a reserve that they could live on that could provide a home base. And just this year, for the very first time, people danced and sang there for the first time 100 years. Once again, there’s just this part of this reclamation that you just kind of can’t even put into words what it means to people, like what it means to their spirit and their community. And it’s just really, really incredible story. The way that they described it was it’s about coming home.

CLIP This is a very momentous day, one that is a lot of work went into this and I’m very honoured that as a nation that they are fighting to be the defenders of the land for the future generations.

CLIP The practice of dictating to us what we should do for our own good is over. It’s our turn to determine what’s best for us.

CLIP The fact that we don’t have salmon in the river means the bears don’t eat. The bears don’t eat. Then the seagulls and all of the scavengers that come after the bears don’t eat. The bears don’t have fish. They don’t drop them at the feet of the trees. The law of a weak Negrola not only makes us responsible for the animals, but also their environment.

CLIP I lost my mom last year, so he never got to Village Island. So for me, these trips are really important, important because I still have her with me. I still feel her within me. So I know she’s proud and she really wants me involved and that’s why I’m here.

CLIP Mamalilikulla Band is going to have some opportunity to reactivate their relationship with this territory, to rebuild the integrity of the ecosystems and all of the living organisms and even the aquatic fish and stuff. And this was something that the ancestors did, of course, from time memorial and then with colonization, it ceased, and Indigenous people had little or absolutely nothing at all to do with their relationship with Mother Earth and the territories that they occupied. So now we’re going to renew this. It’s a small step, but it’s a huge step, and hopefully it’ll continue to build and grow. And every child who’s a mother with a child in this territory will begin to know as they grow up that they have an actual relationship with this place.

Fatima Syed The people you just heard in that clip. In order are George Little Child, Chief counselor John Powell, May Flanders and Chief Robert Joseph. They spoke to Stephanie Wood when she visited Mamalilikulla First Nation for their celebration earlier this year. Ainslie, we know indigenous conservation is proven, but how much land do these communities actually take care of?

Ainslie Cruickshank Yeah, absolutely. I think that we know that when Indigenous peoples are leading conservation, that conservation is stronger, that more bio diversity is protected. Around 80% of the world’s remaining biodiversity is conserved by Indigenous peoples in their territories. And I think that’s really significant given the context of a biodiversity crisis and the goals that we’re setting out to try to conserve at least 30% of land and waters by 2030. And I think there is a solution here.

Stephanie Wood One person that Ainslie and I have both spoken to, and many of us at the Narwhal spoken to is Valerie Courtois from the Indigenous Leadership Initiative, who is just so knowledgeable and has really been a leader in IPCAs. And she talks about how when you’re talking about land conservation, when First Nations hold the pen, just how she said it, 50% to 60% and up to 100% of land and waters will wind up being protected 50% to 60%. I looked at a poll that said a lot of Canadians actually think that that’s how much land is protected in Canada. They think that so much more protected than there is. The province has had an agreement to reach 17% protection by, I think, 2020. This was a former agreement, and nobody was able to meet that. And BC has only added 1% extra protected land in the past decade. And Canada has two years left to reach its 1st 2025 goal. It has two years to add 12% of land, 11% of water protected. Once again, when you look at the pace and when you look at the ambition, once again, is the word that values, is when you’ll get Indigenous conservation versus what we’re seeing demonstrated by colonial government, there’s just like, a vast difference, and one is more ambitious and effective.

Fatima Syed So if it works and it’s been proven and it covers so much land, then what’s holding Canada back for partnering with Indigenous communities to do more of this?

Stephanie Wood The very fact that IPCA, they’re becoming this big demonstration of indigenous sovereignty is exactly why it’s like a threat to everything underpinning what Canada is based on. It’s undermining the jurisdiction of the colonial government and upholding uplifting the jurisdiction of indigenous governments. Once again, we’ve seen, like, a very significant amount of funding from the federal and professional government, but once again, it’s kind of on their terms about how much is given and over what time that money is given. It’s very often short term funding, and it’s always a power dynamic that is Canada Supreme and First Nations subordinate it. Subordinate it. And so indigenous peoples are really claiming these IPCAs as a way to renew their role as stewards and to reclaim everything that has been taken. That inherently is quite groundbreaking, that inherently shakes the very foundation of what Canada is based on.

Fatima Syed Yeah. It requires, like, for governments, it requires a whole reframing right. Of the way things are done, which, as we know, is hard to do. But I’m wondering, Ainslie is it changing? I mean, we’re hosting a global biodiversity conference or Cop 15, and you’re going to be there. Is indigenous conservation on the agenda?

Ainslie Cruickshank I think there’s definitely a growing sort of understanding and appreciation for the role that indigenous peoples and communities are playing in conservation about biodiversity around the world. And the post 2020 global biodiversity framework is still being finalized, but in sort of the guiding principles and approaches, I think there is an acknowledgment of that. And sort of one of these principles of the whole agreement is that indigenous peoples have to be full participants in the decision making and that decisions around conservation should be implemented with free, prior and informed consent. Valerie Courtois, who, like Steph mentioned, she said that there’s so much that indigenous communities are bringing to the table around these conversations. It’s kind of changing the frame of conversations around biodiversity and how land and resources are thought about, from one focus on sort of reaping immediate benefits for the people that are here now to one that’s thinking more broadly about not only people who are here now, but also future generations. And in terms of the people living today, making sure that there’s sort of more equitable benefit from the resources and, you know, plants and animals that we do use, making sure that it’s not only going to sort of a select group of people who are benefiting from exploitation. And so I think that there is this recognition of the importance of indigenous lead conservation to meeting the goals and not being a benefit for everybody. And she said a lot of the work that indigenous communities are doing, like Mama Lala CLA, that’s an example on the global stage that we can all kind of learn from. But I think there’s also a recognition that there’s still a long way to go.

Fatima Syed Steph, is there anything Canadians can do to push for more indigenous conservation led solutions to address the biodiversity crisis?

Stephanie Wood Absolutely. And depending on which project you’re looking at, there’s ways to directly support different First Nations pursuing different IPCAs, especially through NGOs and that kind of thing. There’s some partnerships there that have been really positive, but it does largely come down to a real policy thing. Like, it really does come down to governments fully recognizing indigenous sovereignty to the fullest extent, like, beyond words, like, through practice and actions, through funding. And the other thing I like that Bow said, shout out to Bau, is that Canada has this real opportunity to be a leader, not only in conservation, but in recognizing and respecting indigenous sovereignty that would actually set it as a leader worldwide, because we know indigenous people are persecuted and displaced all around the world. It’s actually such an opportunity for Canada to be a leader in more way than one, and peoples are able to steward their territories, and when the land is healthy and taking care of, that benefits everybody and helps mitigate the climate change and biodiversity crisis that we’re facing.

Fatima Syed Thank you both for walking us through the biodiversity crisis and helping reframe this conversation to focus on indigenous conservation. I don’t think many people make the link between the two as often as they should, and it’s so cool that we were able to spend so much time to talk about it and share it with listeners.

Stephanie Wood Thanks so much for having us.

Ainslie Cruickshank Yeah, thank you.

Fatima Syed So Those were my friends Stephanie Wood and Ainslie Cruickshank reporters with the Narwhals BC bureau. And that was another episode of Narwhal Week on The Big Story, which is almost over. So we really, really hope you’ve been enjoying these conversations as much as we’ve enjoyed bringing them to you. You can learn more about biodiversity and indigenous conservation by reading Ainsley and Steph stories on the Narwhal dot. CA. Ainsley is going to be in Montreal covering Top 15, that biodiversity conference we talked about in December. So stick around and stay tuned for more coverage on that. If by now, after these many episodes, you still don’t know what the Narwhal is, let me tell you. We’re a nonprofit journalism magazine. We have no ads, we have no paywalls. And that’s all because we’ve got more than 4600 members in our pod. If you join today or tomorrow or whenever, you’ll get a tax receipt and cool swag like a toque or a tote or a t-shirt. So if you want to support award winning climate journalism, visit the Narwhal CA member to join our pod, donate whatever you can afford. And if you want more climate journalism on this show, please tell them. The Big Story team loves talking about story ideas and wants to know how to COVID the biggest emergency of our time. You can find the show literally everywhere. They’re on Twitter at thebistory FPN. They have an email hello at thebigtorypodcast CA. They even have a phone number 416-935-5935. Thanks so much for listening. I’m Fatima Syed, sitting in for Jordan Heath-Rawlings tomorrow for another conversation about the climate emergency with another one of my friends at the Narwhal talk Then.