Acting Dean Beverly Jacobs appears in a three-part video series about land governance produced by the David Suzuki Foundation.
Globally, Indigenous Peoples comprise less than five percent of the world’s population but protect 80 percent of the planet’s biodiversity. Because Indigenous knowledge of lands and waters has evolved over thousands of years, many are looking at Indigenous governance models to help address the global climate and biodiversity crises.
“There is a direct connection of Indigenous governance, land, language and Indigenous legal orders,” says Dr. Jacobs. “It is important to acknowledge, recognize, and respect that all of these connections address the climate change and biodiversity crises that we are currently living in.”
To understand how re-establishing Indigenous governance models can support better land use, the David Suzuki Foundation helped create “Land Governance: Past, Present, Future.” The foundation hopes this series of videos will promote conversations about land governance in Canada.
The video series highlights the current crisis in land management in Canada, which has sparked — among other initiatives — the Indigenous-led Land Back movement. It explores what happens when two systems of law and governance come head-to-head on land and about land, highlighting the move toward activism and the need for difficult conversations.
View the video series here:
- Past: https://youtu.be/3sVg0Cvqh3k
- Present: https://youtu.be/UsyyYeVHGJ0
- Future: https://youtu.be/McVEgEA4qvg
For more information, visit the David Suzuki Foundation website.