Native Lands and Wilderness Council
Protecting Wild Nature on Native Lands Volume II now available!
View the E-book // Buy the hard copy // Download the PDF
Protecting Wild Nature on Native Lands Volume I available as a PDF or hard copy
Buy the hard copy // Download the PDF
“One time, my father told me that the land is our body. The water, the seas and the rivers are the blood that runs through our veins; the wind is the spirit, the life and the heart is what coexists with nature, loving her and respecting her….And the hard is what we all are.” Mayra Estrella, Comcaac Nation, Mexico (participant in the 2nd Native Lands & Wilderness Council, WILD9, 2009)
Through their collective gathering in 2005 and 2009, the Native Lands and Wilderness Council (NLWC) participants have developed a solidarity of purpose and message. As in indigenous lead collaborative, stewarded by The WILD Foundation at the request of participants, the NLWC seeks to:
- Support and enhance indigenous stewardship and management of wilderness;
- Leverage indigenous Traditional Ecological Knowledge (TEK), wisdom and traditional ways of knowing to influence global wilderness conservation and policy;
- Enhance the application of traditional knowledge, customary and traditional practices and indigenous wisdom to conservation and the natural sciences;
- Globally expand the conservation of, and benefits from, stewardship of native wild lands and marine/coastal areas for their cultural and biodiversity values;
- Provide a forum for indigenous-to-indigenous knowledge and wisdom exchanges and capacity building;
- Support tribal members in expanding their network and connections to a global scale; and,
- Provide a platform for alliances and dialogue between indigenous, environmental and governmental leaders for the meeting of nature conservation and indigenous agendas.
All of those who participate in the NLWC provide models of how to live in balanced relationship with the wild lands and seas, and describe sustainable ways of living. They explain creative, wise, and thoughtful strategies for facing contemporary challenges and difficulties that are rooted in their long and complex historical relationships to their respective environments. All of the stories express deep understanding, practical knowledge and love of place that critically inform the actions of conservation.
History
The NLWC began at the 8th World Wilderness Council (2005, Anchorage Alaska – 8WWC) and since that time has provided a critical platform for the meeting of indigenous and conservation agendas, highlighting conservation approaches and providing opportunities for dialogue and information exchanges. Following 8WWC, WILD published and distributed the first-ever volume of indigenous authored case studies on native approaches to stewarding wild nature: Protecting Wild Nature on Native Lands: Case Studies by Native Peoples from around the World.
The 2nd NLWC met in Merida, Mexico as part of WILD9, the 9th World Wilderness Congress (2009). Volume II of the case studies published in conjunction with 8WWC is forthcoming. During this meeting, the NLWC formally defined objectives and goals and requested WILD to facilitate a gathering of indigenous people mid-way to the next World Wilderness Congress.
Publications & Resources
Protecting Wild Nature on Native Lands: Case Studies by Native Peoples from around the World, Volume II; Vance G. Martin and Sharon Shay Sloan (eds) View the E-book // Buy the hard copy // Download the PDF
Protecting Wild Nature on Native Lands: Case Studies by Native Peoples from around the World, Volume 1, Julie Cajune, Vance G. Martin and Terry Tanner (eds) Buy the hard copy // Download the PDF
The Wind River Indian Tribes, Don Aragon, International Journal of Wilderness, August 2007
