The Northern Nations Alliance (NNA) represents
the convergence of 15 First Nations from Northern British Columbia and the
Southern Yukon, with combined territories greater than 120,000,000 acres. The
origins of the NNA began with initial discussions in 1996, although the
NNA in its current incarnation occurred in early 2004.
The formal launch of the NNA occurred at a First Nations Summit meeting
in Vancouver, British Columbia in June of 2004, where the 15 Nations signed
a Treaty Declaration and a Memorandum of Understanding, with ceremonial
songs, and witnessed by the premier of the Yukon and members of the British
Columbia Summit Executive. The text of the Treaty Declaration highlights
key issues related to the future of land and natural resources, and calls
for recognition of rights and title, and an opportunity for genuine co-management.
Leadership for the NNA comes from a Steering Committee, comprised of
individuals from the Kaska, Tahltan and Tlingit Nations. Round River, since
the inception of the NNA has provided strategic facilitation support and
strategic advice. The mission statement for the NNA is set out in the Strategic
Plan, completed in April 2004, as follows:
To affirm and expand our individual and collective authority, capacity
and capabilities as Nations, thereby creating opportunities for cooperation
with other communities and Nations, and helping to ensure that the future of
our land, cultures, languages and way of life is secure for generations upon
generations to come.
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 building 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.
Invited by the 15 member nations of the NNA,
Round River is providing program support. 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 with conservation
interests, and provide economies of scale for capacity building. Specific
objectives 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.