Our Economy

Our Economy

Building a Conservation-Based Economy

At the heart of Coastal First Nations is a shared vision: to revitalize a conservation-based economy that will sustain coastal communities for the future.

That vision has driven CFN’s work from the inception of the organization in 2000. Since then, CFN has crafted precedent-setting agreements to protect and sustainably manage the Great Bear Rainforest and Great Bear Sea—both major collaborative efforts that show the rest of the world that conservation and thriving sustainable economies can go hand in hand.

Through a range of economic ventures, including renewable energy, ecotourism, non-timber forest products and shellfish aquaculture, leaders of CFN member Nations are creating jobs to support local economies without depleting valuable resources and ecosystems.

Reversing Unsustainable Activities of the Past

By the end of the 1990s, forest and ocean resources of the Great Bear were being rapidly depleted by unsustainable extraction activities driven by outside sources. Pulp mills, canneries and mines turned profits for companies with little benefit to First Nations.

At the same time, local economic activity had dwindled and jobs were scarce. First Nations had little access to resources in our traditional territories and little say in how they were managed. Our communities were suffering and coastal ecosystems that had sustained our people for millennia were breaking down.

A new approach was urgently needed.

CFN was established to help spur that change; to assert First Nations leadership in re-creating a conservation-based economy in our traditional territories.

Coastal First Nations and Rogers Announce New Partnership

Feature Story
Build Back Better by Investing in the GBR Carbon Project
CFN President and Heiltsuk Chief Marilyn Slett says business and government can support First Nations in building a sustainable economy while conserving our temperate rainforest.
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