Indigenous-led Climate Change Mitigation To Build Pathways to First Nations/Indigenous Stewardship of Their Traditional Territories

Carbone Terre à Terre (CTaT) is forging relationships of trust with Indigenous / First Nation governments, traditional users and other indigenous stakeholder organisations so as to assist these nations to develop pathways to co-management of their core homelands. CTaT connects the dots with indigenous elders, off takers/buyers, NbS project financiers, other levels of government, ENGOs and research entities to integrate ‘modern’ and indigenous science in the development of new indigenous led ecosystem restoration / climate change mitigation and First Nation led conservation of key cultural, critical habitat and biodiversity hotspots.

An example is the development of best practices for fuel reduction thinning Biological Carbon Removal and Storage (BiCRS) in the Quebec boreal northeast with Innu nations. Such BiCRS projects offer a high level of resilience against climate change (CC) driven wildfires and mega CC-driven defoliation outbreaks (e.g., the largest spruce budworm epidemic in eastern Canada). This BiCRS pilot project sits at the intersection of climate change mitigation and adaptation. In northeastern Quebec this initiative is truly indigenous led as small pilots are being implemented in 2026 with much larger projects to follow.

Also in intensive engagement with indigenous and nonindigenous stakeholders is the creation of community wildfire interface live tree fire breaks that provide a definitive level of protection above and beyond fuel reduction thinning BiCRS. Both projects have been piloted and are highly replicable across the boreal regions of Canada. These activities also provide a high level of protection to critical social infrastructure (i.e., hydro substations, windfarms, water intakes, hospitals, schools and other essential infrastructure).