Stuart Cowell Manager

First Nation’s team in Canada captures purpose of Healthy Country Planning

First Nation from Canada recently came together with staff from The Nature Conservancy, workshop facilitators, and Conservation Management in Stanley Park, Vancouver.  At the end of the week, teams were asked to write down what they had learnt about Healthy Country Planning.

Healthy Country Planning

• Brings everyone TOGETHER – Elders, Chief and Council – to find solutions to problems
• Helps raise awareness about TRADITIONAL practices to sustain our livelihood
• Is a process to create a PLAN for the territory
• Helps us take CARE of our animals, our fish, our earth, sacred lands
• Encourages HEALTHY minds, spirits, bodies
• Helps explore healthy ECONOMIC development
• Is based on traditional VALUES
• Could help us bring Nations together on shared PRIORITIES about the land and water
• Uses a HOLISTIC approach for the land applied by the community
• Creates a plan to bring to industry and government so we can be PROACTIVE, not reactive

Congratulations to the team for their simple yet powerful message. It spells out why Healthy Country Planning is globally relevant, is meaningful to people on the ground, and works.