Convention

• The agreement stressed the full collaboration of Indigenous Peoples in alignment with the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples.
• The Nature Agreement follows a series of historic federal investments in nature conservation over the past several years.
• Like the previous announcements, the 2023 Nature Agreement includes funding for Indigenous Protected and Conserved Areas, or IPCAs.

Indigenous Protected and Conserved Areas

• Unlike regular parks and protected areas in Canada, IPCAs are established and maintained by First Nations, Métis and Inuit governments.
• Indigenous governments establish IPCAs under their own Indigenous laws, while some also choose to pursue protection under Canadian law.
• IPCAs are varied, but typically support ecological restoration or protection and local economic development while centring Indigenous cultures, languages, knowledge and laws.

Roadblocks to reconciliation

• Canadian governments continue to grant tenures and licences to companies for logging, mining, fish farms and other impactful activities inside IPCAs against the wishes of Indigenous nations.
• These actions go against the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples and its foundational principle of free, prior and informed consent.
• Indigenous governments are sometimes forced to compensate companies by buying out tenures to ensure protection of their IPCAs.
• This assertion is in spite of the Canadian government’s own guidance for reconciliation and legal pluralism — including the recognition of Indigenous rights and building equal relationships with Indigenous Peoples.

Systemic change will advance reconciliation

• The challenges IPCAs surface can be embraced as catalysts for reconciliation.
• It is the kind of transformative work that the Truth and Reconciliation Commission called for in all sectors of society.
• As such, how Canadian governments and the conservation sector respond to the roadblocks encountered by Indigenous governments advancing IPCAs is crucial.
• Only by assisting these initiatives can we build meaningful and lasting IPCAs which not only restore and protect ecosystems but also advance reconciliation through Indigenous governance, laws, and knowledge systems.

• Justine Townsend received funding from the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council of Canada for her doctoral research.
• Robin J. Roth receives funding from the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council of Canada (#895-2019-1019) and is the principal investigator and co-lead of the Conservation Through Reconciliation Partnership.

• TOKYO, Dec 15, 2023 - (JCN Newswire) - The national defence industry leaders on the Global Combat Air Programme (GCAP) - Mitsubishi Heavy Industries (Japan), BAE Systems (UK) and Leonardo (Italy) - have warmly welcomed the signing of the Convention on the Establishment of the "Global Combat Air Programme - GCAP International Government Organisation (the GIGO)" by their respective governments.
• Ministers from Japan, UK and Italy signed the treaty, which marks an important agreement in the shared design and delivery of a next generation fighter aircraft by 2035.
• The agreement, signed just 12 months since the formation of the GCAP programme, reinforces its momentum and the strong trilateral cooperation amongst the partners.
• The Global Combat Air Programme is a hugely significant programme for the security, political and economic prosperity for Japan, UK and Italy and through effective knowledge and technology transfer will help to evolve and deliver important sovereign combat air capability in each nation for generations to come.

• DUBAI, United Arab Emirates, Dec. 03, 2023 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Exhibition World Bahrain (EWB), the Middle East’s newest and largest exhibition and convention centre, is proud to announce securing the “World’s Leading New Exhibition and Convention Centre 2023” at the World Travel Awards 2023.
• Exhibition World Bahrain captured the highest number of votes, clinching the internationally recognised award from Bharat Mandapam, India, and Tākina Wellington Convention and Exhibition centre, New Zealand.
• Winning the “World’s Leading New Exhibition and Convention Centre 2023” award coincides with EWB’s 1st anniversary and celebrates a remarkable set of milestones.
• Additionally, EWB will host the 29th edition of Routes World, one of the world’s biggest civil aviation expos, for the first time in Bahrain.

• CHARLESTON, S.C., Dec. 20, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- HomeFront Brands, the parent company of both Window Hero Charleston and The Designery Charleston , has awarded local owner Nate Van Valkenburg as the Top Producer of the Year for both his South Carolina ventures.
• The awards were presented to Van Valkenburg earlier this month at HomeFront Brands' Homecoming Convention at the company's headquarters near Charlotte, North Carolina.
• HomeFront Brands is a property service franchise platform with six emerging concepts in its portfolio, including Window Hero and The Designery.
• For more information on Window Hero Charleston, please visit https://windowhero.com/locations/charleston/ and for more information on The Designery Charleston, please visit https://thedesignery.com/locations/charleston/ .