Skip to content
a group of people sitting around a table with plans and maps
Healthy Country Planning Colleagues and partners collaborate at a Healthy Country Planning conference in Vancouver in August 2017. © Michael Pietrocarlo

Indigenous-Led Conservation

Healthy Country Planning

We are sharing lessons from colleagues around the world to help our partners develop stewardship plans that reflect their values.

What is the key to a healthy territory? Flowing rivers. Abundant moose. Traditional food for your family. Robust fish stocks. Connections between youth and elders. These are just a few of the values identified by participants from Indigenous communities in Manitoba, Alberta and the Northwest Territories at a natural resources planning workshop hosted by Nature United in August 2017.

When people involved in a planning process feel empowered and invested in the output, that plan is more likely to succeed. Healthy Country Planning is one of the Indigenous-led models that Nature United supports.

Healthy Country Planning is an Indigenous-led process for land and water planning and management.   

A Shared Solution

Healthy Country Planning was developed in collaboration with many communities, and it does not belong to any one organization or person. It is licensed under Creative Commons. Find more information on the Conservation Coaches Network website.

First developed with Indigenous people in Australia, Healthy Country Planning was created to ensure that Indigenous knowledge and people are central to planning processes in their country. It has since been used worldwide for developing and implementing land-use plans, wildlife management plans and protected area plans, including in Canada’s Northwest Territories.

Healthy Country Planning encourages strong community engagement by tailoring language, facilitation and tools to the community’s needs. It also provides an approach to connect community values, Indigenous knowledge and western science, helping parties understand each other and giving a platform to implement appropriate solutions.

Elements of Healthy Country Planning

Healthy Country Planning was developed for an inclusive community approach to ensure cultural, environmental and social values are considered equally. The process creates well thought-out pathways to improve the health of lands, waters and the people who care for them. HCP follows a cycle of simple steps to build and use a plan in the right way, with the right people.

Share

Finding ways to tell the story; helping others learn from it.

Define

Developing a vision, identifying values on the territory and threats to those values by working with Elders, community members and leaders.

Plan

Working together to develop goals, strategies, and actions.

Work and Monitor

Implementing the plan on the ground in the territory; working with partners; identifying indicators to monitor progress.

Adapt

Recording information about lessons learned; Modifying approach based on learnings.

Explore RETURN
a graphic showing five photos in a circle with arrows in between Share Define Plan Work and Monitor Adapt

Nature United provides facilitation and other tools to support Indigenous-led planning processes.

Trainings To Date Across Canada

  • 2015, Northwest Territories
  • 2017, British Columbia
  • 2019, Manitoba

Indigenous stewardship is at the centre of Nature United's work, with a focus on working in partnership with Indigenous communities as they strengthen governance, build on-the-ground stewardship capacity, support and build leaders, and catalyze local economies. As an affiliate of the world's largest conservation organization, The Nature Conservancy, Nature United has access to a global network of community conservation programs and practitioners. We draw on these connections whenever possible to share ideas and innovative tools from around the world with our partners in Canada.

A Collaborative Approach
A Collaborative Approach Since 2015, Nature United has organized and attended Healthy Country Planning trainings across Canada. © Michael Pietrocarlo
Making a List
Building Capacity We are working to build capacity for Indigenous communities participate in and facilitate their own Healthy Country Planning processes. © Michael Pietrocarlo
A Collaborative Approach Since 2015, Nature United has organized and attended Healthy Country Planning trainings across Canada. © Michael Pietrocarlo
Building Capacity We are working to build capacity for Indigenous communities participate in and facilitate their own Healthy Country Planning processes. © Michael Pietrocarlo

How We're Supporting Healthy Country Planning

There is an expanding interest among Indigenous communities in Canada to use Healthy Country Planning. As an organization we are committed to supporting our partners in using this Indigenous-led planning process.

  • Capacity Building

    Train Canadian-based facilitators who can lead and provide technical support for the Healthy Country Planning process.

  • Providing Resources

    Providing access to trained facilitators and co-facilitation support to Indigenous communities interested in Healthy Country Planning

  • Adapting the Process

    Advocate and participate in the development and adaptation of Healthy Country Planning in a Canadian context as tool to support Indigenous-led planning.

Healthy Country Planning Resources

More Stories

Elders and youth from the Misipawistik Cree Nation gathered on the shore of Lake Winnipeg, near Grand Rapids, Manitoba.

Managing the Land for Living Culture

Margo Robbins of the Yurok Tribe shares her knowledge with First Nations at a Healthy Country Planning workshop sponsored by Nature United in northern Manitoba. She describes Healthy Country Planning, an Indigenous-led process used by communities around the world, as “managing the land for living culture.”

a group of people pose for a photo in front of a barn

Stronger Together

At the Indigenous Stewardship Leaders Gathering hosted by Nature United and Tides Canada, attendees discussed strategies, shared success stories, made connections for future projects. But they also focused on well-being — their communities’ and also their own.

two boats parked near some boulders

Indigenous Guardians

Indigenous Guardians are the “eyes and ears” of their territories – they are men and women who are using Indigenous knowledge and practices, blended with western science to monitor and steward their traditional lands and waters across Canada. Nature United supports these important programs with technical tools, networking, research, and more.

VIEW MORE