Community Knowledge Helps Guide Future Land Stewardship in the Cariboo Chilcotin
Williams Lake, B.C. - Central Chilcotin Rehabilitation Ltd. (CCR) is continuing its work to ensure community knowledge helps guide future land stewardship and post-wildfire rehabilitation planning. This past spring, CCR held community engagement sessions as part of a contract with the Province of British Columbia (Province) to gather information about culturally important plants within the Tŝideldel and Yuneŝit’in caretaker areas.
The sessions were held to better understand community priorities, plant knowledge, cultural practices, and places of importance. The information will help guide future work with the Province, including projects focused on culturally significant plants and how they may be affected by repeated large-scale wildfires.
For CCR, this type of engagement is an important step before projects move forward. It helps ensure that future work is informed by the people who know the land and understand the cultural and ecological values connected to it.
“The work starts with listening,” said Percy Guichon, CEO of CCR and elected Councillor of Tŝideldel First Nation. “When community knowledge guides our planning, we find that projects are stronger and more connected to the land and the people they are meant to support.”
This spring’s sessions were held with Tŝideldel and Yuneŝit’in. All three communities were involved in an earlier information-gathering process the previous spring. Participants included CCR representatives, community engagement representatives from the Tŝilhqot’in National Government, Elders, knowledge keepers, community members, and representatives from Consus Management Ltd. (Consus), a Williams Lake-based natural resource management company that supported the documentation of the sessions.
“The conversations focused on culturally important plants, their uses, related practices, and places that hold meaning for the communities,” said Ann Nielsen, Project Manager, Consus Management Ltd. “The knowledge shared through these sessions provides important context for future rehabilitation work and helps ensure community priorities are reflected in that planning.”
Participants share community knowledge and priorities during a Yuneŝit’in Government engagement sess
The conversations also extended beyond individual plants to broader discussions about natural resource stewardship and the importance of Indigenous guidance in decisions about the land.
Nielsen said the engagement resulted in a report that can support future planning, proposals, and funding opportunities.
“One of the strengths of the final report is how the plant and place information has been documented,” Nielsen said. “The report includes English and Latin plant names alongside Tŝilhqot’in names for plants and places where known, helping preserve important information for future work.”
The report will help inform CCR’s continued work with the Province and communities as future rehabilitation and stewardship opportunities are identified.
“Culturally important plants are part of the land, but they are also connected to food, medicine, language, memory, and cultural practice,” said Guichon. “Understanding where these plants are found, how they are used, and how wildfire may affect them helps us make better decisions about rehabilitation today and carry that knowledge and connection to the land forward for future generations.”
For CCR, the engagement is part of a broader commitment to Indigenous-led stewardship that brings community knowledge into the planning and rehabilitation work taking place on the land.
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For more information or to book an interview:
Aleece Laird, Communications Liaison, aleece@amplifyinc.ca, 250.574.0221
About Central Chilcotin Rehabilitation Ltd.
Central Chilcotin Rehabilitation Ltd. (CCR) is an Indigenous-led forestry company working to rehabilitate and enhance forest landscapes across the traditional territories of its member communities in the Cariboo Chilcotin. Through forest rehabilitation, wildfire recovery, fibre utilization, and collaborative land stewardship, CCR brings together Indigenous knowledge, community priorities, and forestry expertise to support healthier, more resilient forests and long-term benefits for communities and future generations.
About Consus Management Ltd.
Consus Management Ltd. is a Williams Lake-based natural resource management company providing services across forestry, silviculture, geomatics, and environmental and biological fields. Consus works with communities, governments, industry, and other partners to support responsible resource management through technical expertise, planning, field services, and project support.
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