Learning About Indigenous-led Cumulative Effects Management

This month’s reconciliation discussion was sparked by the Province of B.C.’s announcement that it is creating a new Ministry of Land, Water and Resource Stewardship. In light of Blueberry River First Nation’s recent court case, the new Ministry will focus on cumulative effects management in partnership with Indigenous communities. It was therefore timely for Elan, Natasha, and Lee to share lessons learned from their recent work supporting Metlakatla First Nation’s Cumulative Effects Management Program (CEM Program).

The Metlakatla CEM program is nationally-recognized. It has a strong 6-year + track record of success and growth. It recognizes that everything is connected: Metlakatla’s values require a holistic, interdependent, and long-range management perspective. The Metlakatla CEM Program uniquely focuses on five value pillars: environment, economic prosperity, social/health, cultural identity, and governance. You can read more about the Metlakatla CEM Program here: https://metlakatlacem.ca/

Our recent role, from July 2021 – February 2022, was to support the CEM Program in building a program strategy and structure. We reflected that a key success factor in the project was the strong direction and active involvement of Metlakatla staff, leadership, members, and partners at all stages of the work.

We are excited to see a new provincial commitment to CEM.  We see Metlakatla’s CEM Program as a leading example of innovative community-led management. We hope that the Province and other communities can learn from Metlakatla’s rich experience and cutting-edge approach!