Respect for Indigenous knowledge must lead nature conservation efforts in Canada

In 2020 we brought together many of the country’s leading experts in nature conservation — from academia, government, NGOs and Indigenous organizations. We set out to assess the information needed to inform policy and practice for biodiversity conservation in Canada. The consensus was that we need to move from collecting information to mobilizing action. Our biggest information needs are not facts and figures about plants and animals. We already have much of the information we need for nature conservation in Canada. Instead, we need to make conserving nature part of everything we do, and we need to do this quickly. A key component of moving from information to action will be working across scientific disciplines and with decision-makers to ensure that the information we generate is useful for policy

Indigenous knowledge systems must play a central role for Canada’s nature conservation efforts to be successful.

These conclusions are the founding principles of the Biodiversity Conservation Solutions group.