The territory of the Northern Nations Alliance (NNA) covers approximately half a million square kilometres in Northern British Columbia and the Yukon. The conservation opportunities in the North are extraordinary and include large intact landscapes rich in cultural history and with an abundance of wildlife and habitats.

Natural resource development in the “north” has typically proceeded with little regard for ecological consequences and or consideration of the rights, entitlements, and cultural requirements of First Nation communities. Pressures on this region are expected to build in the future. For example, as revenues from forestry activity in British Columbia decline, greater emphasis is being placed on northern oil and gas development, as well as mining exploration.

Despite these increasing threats, significant opportunities remain to secure conservation gains through a combination of formal land use designations, interim measures agreements, and via negotiations both at the treaty table and directly with third parties holding tenures and licenses for resource development. The NNA presents itself as a potent political force for realizing these opportunities, by serving as a focal point for coordinated land use planning and conservation initiatives in concert with environmental organizations.

Round River Canada has been invited by the 15 member nations of the NNA to provide program support for what has become a complex array of players and initiatives in Northern BC and the Yukon. Our efforts are directed at strengthening the NNA’s capacity to execute several specific conservation initiatives, establish a forum for closer coordination among First Nations and with conservation interests, and provide economies of scale for capacity building. Specific objectives in the coming year include,

• Providing strategic facilitation and organizational development support for NNA,
• Advising and coordinating NNA government relations, communications, and fundraising strategies; and,
• Providing technical support for the NNA’s conservation and land use planning program and to establish a coordinated, pan-regional approach to land use planning, a coordinated and consistent assessment of conservation values across the landscape, and the development of common positions on resource development.
  

– Chuck Rumsey, Executive Director, Round River Canada