A new agreement will create a joint management forum for the governance and management of watersheds in the Lull Bay and Hoeya Sound area.
"We are thrilled to have achieved this significant step in collaborative governance with the Province," says Mamalilikulla Chief John Powell (also known as Winidi).
The Mamalilikulla First Nation and the provincial government have signed a Framework Agreement for collaborative governance and management of the Gwaxdlala/Naaxdlala Indigenous Protected and Conserved Area (IPCA) and Mamalillikulla Marine Refuge on Aug. 21.
"When we declared this area a Mamalilikulla ICPA back in Nov. 2021, we invited the provincial government to work with us to honour its commitments to reconciliation and the UN Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous People, as well as to accelerate conservation, protection and restoration. I'm pleased to say that BC readily accepted our challenge, and while the work has taken time, our significant advances of this final agreement overshadow the wait."
Around 10,416 hectares of watershed and marine area are covered by the agreement. The new forum's work includes oversight and implementation of work plans, budgets, management plans and management implementation activities such as site monitoring. Consensus advice will also be provided by the forum to BC Statutory decision-makers on Land Act proposals and tenures.
Chief Powell and Nathan Cullen, minister of water, land, and resource stewardship and minister responsible for fisheries, signed the agreement. It was witnessed by Michele Babchuk, MLA for North Island, Parliamentary Secretary Kelly Green and Mamalilikulla Coun. Brad Puglas.
"This agreement secures a BC government commitment to supporting Mamalilikulla in maintaining its cultural connection to the IPCA, and to supporting conservation, protection and restoration of significant habitats and species with a management approach based on our ancient law of Aweenak'ola, which requires us to address the needs of all beings in the land, sea, and sky and our connections to them," says Chief Powell. "We believe it to be the first collaborative governance agreement with BC for a First Nation-declared IPCA and hope it will provide useful examples for how we can work together with the provincial government to advance our mutual interests."
The process started on Nov. 29, when the First Nation released a declaration announcing the Lull Bay and Hoeya Sound area of Knight Inlet as an Indigenous Protected and Conserved Area. The area is of ecological and cultural significance to the Mamalilikulla people and is referenced in their origin stories and written records. There is a high level of biodiversity in the area, containing shallow sponges, corals, and rare and endangered species, and the estuaries are important for salmon rearing and holding and grizzly bear foraging.
The watersheds have been significantly affected by logging activity and landslides. The new agreement and forum will work on protecting these lands, as well as restoring, maintaining, and conserving the watershed and the habitats significant to the animals in the area. There are also archaeological and cultural sites that will be protected.
Mamalilikulla has been active in the IPCA since the declaration in 2021, regularly conducting monitoring of water quality, archaeological surveys, baseline ecological inventories, and initiating salmon habitat restoration activities. The Mamalilikulla is also in the process of completing a Grizzly Bear recovery plan.
