Potential spatial overlap of heritage sites and protected areas in a boreal region of northern Canada

This article aims at better understanding the relationship between community heritage sites and conventionally identified sites in order to improve the conservation-planning process on indigenous lands. Under article 8-J of the Convention on Biological Diversity, indigenous and local communities must be involved in the designation and management of protected areas with indigenous land. This law also allows the transfer of traditional ecological knowledge from local peoples in order to improve conservation planning. Conservation zones are informed by the scientific community and might include areas high in biodiversity that are representative of a region\’s ecosystems. Heritage conservation zones are areas identified by the community and receive the high level of protection, they are areas of cultural and social significance. Conservation and heritage conservation zones are managed separately in most community conservation plans in the Northwest Territories however this approach is not efficient since many of these areas overlap. In order to understand the relationship between heritage sites and sites independently identified to protect other conservation features, the author considered the Gwich\’in settlement area in the Northwest Territories. The study discovered that sites identified as heritage conservation zones are recognized as sacred or important for the Gwich\’in and sites selected for their conventional conservation value were considered. The study also revealed that systematic conservation planning framework that permits the incorporation of indigenous heritage sites into protected-areas planning, most often as special elements in the planning process. However, many conservation plans that identify areas of interest for conservation of conventional features, such as biodiversity, on landscapes overlapping indigenous lands do not consider indigenous interests or opinion. When areas of conventional protection overlap spatially with indigenous heritage sites, protection for both is achieved by targeting only one. However if the overlap is considered minor, the two different forms of conservation approaches are considered in the design process. The method of planning is very inefficient and outline the importance of understanding the relationship between conservation and heritage site to develop a well-integrated conservation plans that address both ecological and cultural values.