Protecting Nature in Cities with Indigenous Wisdom, Creativity and Science
Presented by the Community Trees Matter Network, CreativelyUnited.org, and Programs in Earth Literacies
Links & Resources
Truth and Reconciliation Calls to Action: https://crc-canada.org/en/ressources/calls-to-action-truth-reconciliation-commission-canada/
Pollinator friendly – bee lawns: https://www.sierraclub.org/sierra/slideshow/inside-rise-bee-lawns?suppress=true
Importance of native plants to support pollinators: https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/british-columbia/native-plants-garden-spring-1.6809917
Higher density equals fewer trees in the urban forest: https://www.focusonvictoria.ca/development-and-architecture/150/
Depaving cities for a greener future: https://www.yesmagazine.org/environment/2021/08/02/depaving-cities-greener-future
Depave Paradise: https://reepgreen.ca/depave/
No mow May/spring: https://beecityusa.org/no-mow-may-low-mow-spring-faqs/
Importance of rain gardens to clean water for fish streams: https://thetyee.ca/News/2023/04/20/Rain-Gardens-Concrete-Solution/
How Nature Can Help Cities Survive: https://www.nationalobserver.com/2023/03/24/news/how-nature-can-help-cities-survive?nih=f998fab78920ef695e32038142dd8c02
BC Coroner’s Death Panel report on 2020 heat dome deaths: https://www2.gov.bc.ca/assets/gov/birth-adoption-death-marriage-and-divorce/deaths/coroners-service/death-review-panel/extreme_heat_death_review_panel_report.pdf
The Role of Urban Trees in Reducing Land Surface Temperatures in European Cities: https://www.nature.com/articles/s41467-021-26768-w
Increasing tree cover could lower heat deaths by one-third: https://www.weforum.org/agenda/2023/02/urban-trees-reduce-heat-deaths/
Considering economic value of nature: https://mnai.ca/about/
Reconciling Indigenous knowledge and natural asset management: https://mnai.ca/the-journey-so-far-post/
Biographies
Paul Chiyokten Wagner is the founder of Protectors of the Salish Sea, an indigenous led organization dedicated to protecting and restoring our Salish Sea through direct actions. Chiyokten is also a cultural educator, bringing forward the words given by his Coast Salish ancestors which have allowed the First Peoples here to co-create paradise for many thousands of years. Chiyokten and Protectors have stood on the front lines of many places of indigenous led resistance such as Standing Rock, Line 3, Sabal Trail Pipeline, Lelu Island, Mauna Kea, Thacker Pass and Fairy Creek, Olympia State Capitol Climate Change Occupations, Chase Bank divestment campaigns and Salish Sea Prayer Walks. Chiyokten is an award winning Coast Salish Native flutist and storyteller and has performed with a few greats such as Kitaro of Japan and Seattle Symphony Orchestra.
Kazusa Nakajo is a green building accredited professional/eco-designer/architect, system thinker, and caretaker of mother nature. With a background in natural building, soil remediation, and bio-engineering in Japan, she integrates proactive design into restoration. She has a deep love for nature and is passionate about sharing the importance of the soil food web and simple field techniques to enliven the soil and plants.
Danijela Puric-Mladenovic is an assistant professor at the Daniels Faculty, University of Toronto. She holds a B.Sc. and M.Sc. in Forestry (Univ. of Belgrade, Serbia) and a PhD. from the University of Toronto.
Her work and research provide real-world solutions and tools that support strategic conservation, restoration, and integrated spatial planning of urban forest, green and natural areas in urban and peri-urban landscapes.
Danijela also leads research on strategic, multi-purpose forest monitoring, Vegetation Sampling Protocol, and a community-based urban forest stewardship and monitoring program (Neighbourwoods©, co-developer with Dr. W.A. Kenney). She teaches undergraduate and graduate courses in Urban Forest Conservation, Forest Conservation, Green Infrastructure, Landscape Ecology, Vegetation Monitoring, and GIS.
Herb Hammond is a forest ecologist and retired Registered Professional Forester with 40 years of experience in research, industry, teaching and consulting. He is best known for his concept and application of nature-directed stewardship, which he formerly referred to as ecosystem-based conservation planning.
Working primarily with Indigenous Nations and other rural communities, Hammond has developed more than 25 ecosystem-based conservation plans across Canada and in other parts of the world. Hammond holds a Bachelor of Science in forest science from Oregon State University and a Masters of Forestry in forest ecology and silviculture from the University of Washington.
He is the author of Seeing the Forest Among the Trees: The Case for Wholistic Forest Use and Maintaining Whole Systems on Earth’s Crown: Ecosystem-based Conservation Planning for the Boreal Forest and is currently completing a book with two other people to be published by UBC Press on applying nature-directed stewardship/ecosystem-based conservation planning to restore urban areas. The book’s working title is: Inviting Nature Home: Putting Nature First in Cities.
Herb is also working on a book about Nature and our place in her complex fabric. This book draws on the Indigenous knowledge and ways of being shared with him by many Indigenous people through the years. With assistance from Indigenous collaborators, Herb hopes to describe a new reality for settler cultures – a reality that is necessary for our survival, and how to get there in the face of the climate emergency.
Maleea Acker lives in unceded WSÁNEĆ territories. She holds a PhD in Geography and lectures at the University of Victoria and Thompson Rivers University. She is the author of three poetry collections, including Hesitating Once to Feel Glory (Nightwood Editions, 2022), and a non-fiction book, Gardens Aflame: Garry Oak Meadows of BC’s South Coast (New Star, 2013), which charts the Indigenous stewardship and current restoration of an endangered Vancouver Island ecosystem.
Quotes
“Humankind has not woven the web of life. We are but one thread within it. Whatever we do to the web, we do to ourselves. All things are bound together; all things connect.” – Chief Seattle
“Even a wounded world is feeding us. Even a wounded world holds us, giving us moments of wonder and joy. I choose joy over despair. Not because I have my head in the sand, but because joy is what the Earth gives me daily and I must return the gift.” — Robin Wall Kimmerer, author of Braiding Sweetgrass
“Don’t just tell politicians what they’re doing wrong. Suggest a solution. Make a case for it. Someone needs to be willing to create a case for something. Be tough, and present it so that no one can say no to it, because it’s the right thing to do.” – former Vancouver politician Sarah Blyth
“We have to fight back, but we also have to fight forward, towards the world that we want. When we fight, we win.” — Lynn Dodson of the Washington State Labour Council.
“Remember that even small victories are contagious. If you lose, go down fighting.” — Seattle city councillor Kshama Sawant.
“Activism is my rent for living on the planet.” Alice Walker
