Shared Governance

Published by: David Suzuki Foundation and partners
Authored by: Aimée Craft, Rachel Plotkin
Partners: Decolonizing Water

Environmental rights, Biodiversity land use, Boreal forest, Indigenous protected and conserved areas, Indigenous Peoples, conservation

This report from the David Suzuki Foundation and Decolonizing Water sets out to explore some of the forms that shared governance and decision-making can take—both historical models that can be improved upon, and new and evolving models that can serve as templates for shared land governance initiatives.

Through a literature review and interviews with knowledge-holders involved in (or studying) shared governance projects, it explores the strengths and weaknesses of well-established co-management models, from the Gwaii Haanas National Park Reserve, National Marine Conservation Area Reserve and Haida Heritage Site (hereafter Gwaii Haanas); the Yukon Water Board; and the Beverly and Qamanirjuaq Caribou Management Board to more recent approaches like the management structures for the Great Bear Rainforest and Thaidene Nëné Protected Area.