Pacific Environment will lead an international exchange on indigenous land rights and resource management from June 7-21, 2002. The exchange will bring a delegation of indigenous leaders from Siberia and the Russia Far East to visit Native American and Canadian First Nation communities managing their own land and resource base in Washington State and British Columbia.

Indigenous peoples on both sides of the Pacific Ocean are working to guarantee their right to participate in decisions impacting First Nations and their traditional territories. Additionally, some indigenous peoples have established their right to manage traditional territories and are making long term land use decisions.

The main goal of this visit will be to learn how indigenous people can become equal partners in managing traditional lands. We will focus our attention on practical issues of land and resource management. We will also discuss positive experiences of indigenous peoples in developing effective partnerships with governmental and non-governmental organizations. We will touch on legal issues of indigenous land and resource management.

This exchange will give Russian indigenous groups the opportunity to meet with Native Americans and Canadian First Nations on their own tribal lands and to learn first-hand about the issues U.S. native groups are facing. We will talk with local indigenous communities about their life experiences, discuss self-determination initiatives, and learn about natural resource management programs, including examples of cooperative management with governmental and non-governmental bodies. A key issue for the exchange will be the long-term protection the land and resources, which indigenous peoples depend on for traditional nature use.

For more information, please contact Pacific Environment Exchange Coordinator Sibyl Diver: sdiver@pacificenvironment.org; or see our website www.pacificenvironment.org.