Environment

“Our DNA is of Earth and Sky, our DNA is of past and future” – John Trudell

Heather Charles, Ash Tree Monitoring & Management Coordinator, is a member of the Chippewas of Georgina Island First Nation. Her spirit name is Giiwadonnongose Kwe (North Star Woman) and she is of the Wolf Clan. Her diverse employment experiences include: Chainsaw Operator, Emergency First Response Coordinator, Education Assistant for the York Region District School Board, Day Care Cook, Construction Labourer, Women’s Advocate/Native Outreach Worker/Volunteer Coordinator at a local Women & Children’s Shelter, Union Representative, VP of the Anti-Oppression/Anti-Racism Committee for Ontario Association for Interval and Transition Housing. Some other things you may not know: Heather is also an experienced “Faster” (4days/nights & 2days/nights), Talking Circle Facilitator, Powwow Dancer (1st place for Women’s Traditional “back in the day”), Commissioned Artist and Published Author.

heather.charles@georginaisland.com
Phone 705-437-1337 ext.2242

Forestry and Indigenous People

For Aboriginal peoples, culture and identity are based on their spiritual relationship to the land and the pursuit of traditional harvesting activities in all areas of traditional use including: hunting, trapping, fishing and gathering,

Aboriginal and Treaty Rights are recognized in the Canadian Constitution and in legal decisions involving natural resources use, and should be given contemporary interpretation. Their land ethics are not well understood by many governmental natural resource managers.

This land ethic includes four belief areas: All Is Sacred, Right Action, All Is Interrelated and Mother Earth. Beliefs concerning the environment spring from a spiritual context rather than the scientific‐utilitarian context more prevalent in the dominant Euro‐American culture.

Because of their unique relationship with the land, Aboriginal peoples have developed special knowledge of forest ecosystems, knowledge which may be shared and used in improving forest management practices. Aboriginal peoples have a right to share in the economic development afforded others by forestry activities. Aboriginal peoples are not just another forest “stakeholder”.

Forestry provides a focused lens through which to understand, influence and practice sustainable resource management and sustainable development. Unlike environmental science, it is a profession and craft as well as a field of study. A degree in Forestry or Forest Conservation will give you entrance into careers where you can have a profound impact on the sustainability of human social and economic systems.

When you study Forestry, you also study: Ecology, Conservation Biology, Environmental and natural science, Political Science, Economics, Engineering, Management, Sustainable development, Geography, Urban Forestry, Planning, Psychology and Public Health.

Forest Management / Invasive Species Web link

Silv-Econ Ltd. Forestry Consultants – https://www.silvecon.ca/

Ash Tree Survey Snake Island 2017

2008 Species at Risk Assesssment of GIFN – Final 2016

Invasive Insects in Canadian Forests (Detecting & managing invasive insects and insect-pathogen complexes) http://www.invasiveinsects.ca/

Links for more information on the Emerald Ash Borer Beetle: