Comanagement in Canada

Comanagement, also called community-based management, community-based resource management, cooperative management, joint management, and collaborative management, in the broadest terms refers to the administration of a particular place being shared between two entities. In Canada, it usually refers to agreements between government agencies and representatives of Aboriginal peoples in Canada to jointly make land use and resource management decisions about a tract of government-controlled land or a fishery.[1]

Parks Canada co-manages several Canadian national parks with local Aboriginals has the result of land claims agreements. Ivvavik National Park in the Yukon was created in 1984 and is part of the Inuvialuit Final Agreement. Likewise, the Labrador Inuit Land Claims Agreement dictates co-management of Torngat Mountains National Park in Labrador, created in 2005. Proposals for new parks, such as Thaydene Nene National Park (proposed) in the Northwest Territories typically involve some kind of negotiations over co-management. Not only national parks, but also provincial ones also are subject to co-management; the Hay-Zama Lakes wetlands complex in Alberta is an example. A separate but related phenomenon is the joint management of parks by two governments without an Aboriginal partner. For example thefederal government and a province can jointly manage a park such as the Saguenay–St. Lawrence Marine Park in Quebec, as can two provinces such as Cypress Hills Interprovincial Park in Alberta and Saskatchewan.

The West Coast of Vancouver Island Aquatic Management Board is an example of co-management in fisheries. It consists of two members appointed by each of the Government of Canada, Province of British Columbia, the Nuu-chah-nulth Tribal Council, the regional districts, as well as eight non-government members jointly appointed by the levels of government from the wider community.