More funds sought for Indigenous guardians

An Indigenous organization wants more money for more eyes and ears to keep tabs on traditional First Nations land and Canada’s new protected areas.

“We’re asking for Canada to be good, long-term partners,” said Val Courtois of the Indigenous Leadership Initiative, which is helping to train and equip band members to act as environmental guardians.

Some programs have been operating for more than a decade. The federal government chipped in $25 million over four years in the 2017 budget.

Now, with nearly 60 such projects from coast to coast, the organization wants to move past the pilot stage.

“If that core support is available, that’s where we get the real return on investments,” Courtois said. “That’s where we see things like language retention, increased education, reduced rates of incarceration, increased health indicators — all of those things.”

She points to a recent report done on two guardians programs in the southern Northwest Territories, including one that has been running since 2008. A study, by an Australian firm, found that every dollar invested in the effort returned about $2.50 to participants in social benefits such as welfare reduction and improved education.

The guardian program may also be central to Canada meeting its conservation target of protecting 25 per cent of its land mass by 2025.