The Business Case for a National Guardians Network
September 1, 2021
Miles Richardson, OC, Director, National Consortium for Indigenous Economic Development
University of Victoria
First Nations have been strong stewards of our homelands, refining and adapting our stewardship knowledge and processes – caring for our land and waters, people, and fellow species – since time immemorial. Guardians are the contemporary expression of First Nations’ ancestral responsibility to care for and ensure the well-being of our lands and waters. Employed as the “moccasins- and mukluks-on-the-ground,” Guardians are the “eyes-and-ears” of First Nations. They use both science and our traditional knowledge to maintain, restore and protect ecosystems through programs that are as diverse as the territories they cover.
A National First Nations Guardians Network is key to expanding and supporting First Nations Guardians programs across the country. It will connect Guardians programs across the country so Guardians can do more together than they can now on their own. Its creation will enable a Nation-based model of self-determination and a truly inter-National model of stewardship and conservation from coast to coast to coast.
What is particularly unique and valuable about the Network is the centrality enabling First Nations to come together, share observations, and collaborate in Nation-to-Nation relationships amongst First Nations. The synergies and insights that will come from this collaboration cannot be achieved without support to create and sustain a First Nations-run body to facilitate this form of Nation-to-Nation relationship.
