Wilderness and Water Campaigner Eric Reder to highlight the need to support First Nations during conservation efforts and showcase the incredible intact nature in Manitoba

RAPID CITY, SOUTH DAKOTA / HE SÁPA, THE SACRED TERRITORY OF THE OCETI SAKOWIN — Wilderness Committee campaigner Eric Reder is speaking at the Wild Foundation’s 12th World Wilderness Congress later today. Reder’s presentation will focus on how to support Indigenous communities while they care for nature during the global push to preserve biodiversity.

“I've received such valuable teachings from friends and colleagues in First Nations communities, and am heartened to see society slowly starting to recognize the leadership First Nations provide in caring for our planet,” said Reder. “It's an honor to be able to present our great experiences  working with First Nations to protect wilderness in Manitoba and across the country.”

The World Wilderness Congress — an international gathering first convened in 1976 — brings together nature defenders from around the world to address our broken relationship with nature and develop new strategies to protect it. This year’s Wild 12 gathering, in South Dakota’s Black Hills, is billed as a historic moment to reinterpret wilderness through the lens of traditional cultures and root Indigenous principles at the center of the movement to protect nature.

Titled Settler Organization Framework for Conserving Wilderness and Indigenous Culture, Reder’s talk outlines some of Wilderness Committee’s process and guidelines for building relationships with First Nations, and how to share knowledge towards decolonizing parks and protected areas. The presentation is based upon two decades of boots-on-the ground research in traditional territories in Manitoba And across the country.

“As a settler I have a responsibility to challenge and work to dismantle the systems of oppression that Indigenous communities continue to face, especially in my field of wilderness protection,” Reder said.

Reder’s presentation also touches on some of the ways Canada’s colonial history is being grappled with and addressed, from grassroots movements like Idle No More, to more formal processes like the Truth and Reconciliation Commission.

“ Wilderness Committee believes the global push to protect 30 per cent of lands and waters must address colonialism and work to return land and authority to Indigenous people. We’re glad to have the opportunity to take this stance at the World Wilderness Congress,” said Wilderness Committee Associate Director Torrance Coste.

The Wilderness Committee has worked to protect biodiversity and fight climate across Canada for more than 40 years, with offices in Vancouver, Victoria, Winnipeg and Toronto.

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For more information contact:

Eric Reder | Wilderness and Water Campaigner
1-204-997-8584, eric@wildernesscommittee.org