Connecting Past and Present

July 15, 2025 By: LK

Nature Canada, “Reaction: Canada Signs Two New Agreements to Support Provinces and Indigenous Leadership in Conservation,” March 13, 2025, https://naturecanada.ca/news/statements/reaction-canada-signs-two-new-agreements-to-support-provinces-and-indigenous-leadership-in-conservation/?utm.

This article connects closely to Unit 3’s themes of conservation and the parks movement by showing a shift toward biodiversity protection and climate adaptation through significant federal and provincial funding. The focus on Indigenous leadership and new protected areas like the Seal River Watershed directly addressing the historical exclusion of Indigenous peoples from parks, as brought up by Binnema and Niemi. These agreements confront traditional ideas of ‘uninhabited wilderness’ and support Cronon’s view of wilderness as a cultural construct. By prioritizing Indigenous knowledge and governance, they represent a meaningful evolution in conservation and park management practices.

 

Parks Canada, “Parks Canada and British Columbia Invest More Than $8 M to Improve Ecological Connectivity,” news release, July 9, 2025, https://www.canada.ca/en/parks-canada/news/2025/07/parks-canada-and-british-columbia-invest-more-than-8-m-to-improve-ecological-connectivity.html?utm.

This news reflects a modern conservation approach prioritizing ecological connectivity and biodiversity, emphasizing active natural resource management. The $8 million investment exemplifies Anne Bell’s concept of Resourcism, framing nature’s value economically by linking it to human well-being. It marks an evolution in the parks movement, shifting from isolated protected areas toward connected landscapes. Importantly, it integrates Indigenous stewardship, challenging traditional wilderness ideals that ignored Indigenous presence and land use. This approach signals growing recognition of Indigenous roles in conservation.

 

References

Binnema, Theodore and Melanie Niemi, “‘Let the line be drawn now’: Wilderness, Conservation, and the Exclusion of Aboriginal People from Banff National Park in Canada.” Environmental History 11, no. 4 (2006): 724–750. http://www.jstor.org/stable/3985800.

Cronon, William. “The Trouble with Wilderness; or, Getting Back to the Wrong Nature.” In Uncommon Ground: Rethinking the Human Place in Nature, edited by William Cronon, 69–90. New York: W. W. Norton & Co., 1995.

Bell, Anne C. “Protecting the Tatshenshini: Wild Nature as Resource?” In Canadian Issues in Environmental Ethics, edited by Alex Wellington, Allan Greenbaum & Wesley Cragg. Peterborough, ON: Broadview Press, 1997.