The Indigenous Circle of Experts (ICE) – was created as part of the Pathway to Canada Target 1 to develop a report providing advice to federal, provincial, territorial and Indigenous governments on how to achieve Canada Target 1 through the appropriate recognition of Indigenous leadership and knowledge systems in the conservation of the land and water. The release of the ICE Report is a watershed moment in both the history of conservation in Canada and the vital need for reconciliation between the conservation community and Indigenous Peoples in Canada.

The report recommends the development of Indigenous-led protected areas and advises governments on how they can meet commitments on global biodiversity targets. The report emphasizes the need for a paradigm shift in land use and conservation in Canada through changing the way conservation areas are created and managed, fundamentally shifting the principles underlying our conservation system and our place within nature. It goes further in calling for Crown governments to engage in reconciliation to address wrong-doings in the creation of past protected and conserved areas.

“We can help address our international commitments to protect biodiversity and to the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples (UNDRIP) through a new way of thinking about conservation from an Indigenous perspective,” said Marilyn Baptiste, ICE member.

The recommendations include expanded and shared responsibilities between Indigenous and Crown governments for protected areas through recognition and support for Indigenous Protected and Conserved Areas (IPCAs). IPCAs are the lands and waters where Indigenous governments have the primary role in conserving ecosystems through Indigenous laws, governance and knowledge systems.

ICE also outlines how governments can meet their global biodiversity targets subject to existing Treaties, Section 35 of the Canadian Constitution and other important agreements. These principles are part of the report’s ethical space which created a place for Indigenous and western knowledge systems to interact with mutual respect, kindness, generosity and other basic values.

Etuaptmumk: Two-eyed seeing refers to learning to see from one eye with the strengths of Indigenous knowledges and ways of knowing, and from the other eye with the strengths of western knowledges and ways of knowing—and learning to use both of these eyes together for the benefit of all.” Elder Albert Marshall of the Mi’kmaw Nation, Central Regional Gathering, June 2017
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