Working with First Nations
We support First Nations across Canada to inventory, value and manage the natural assets in their territories — on their terms, with their data under their control.
Our commitment
Nations’ data, Nations’ decisions
Forests, wetlands, rivers and shorelines in a Nation’s territory are not just assets on a register. They carry rights, responsibilities and knowledge that long predate any asset management framework. When we are asked to help inventory and value them, we start from that.
Green Analytics works with integrity. We follow the First Nations principles of OCAP® — Ownership, Control, Access and Possession — established by the First Nations Information Governance Centre, and the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples (UNDRIP), now part of Canadian federal and British Columbia law. These are not statements we append to a proposal. They shape how every engagement is scoped, delivered and handed over.
OCAP® and UNDRIP in practice
What the principles mean on a project
Each principle has a concrete counterpart in how we work. If one of these is missing from a scope, ask us why.
The Nation owns the data
Data collected about a Nation’s lands, waters and community belongs to the Nation. Green Analytics takes no ownership interest in it, and our agreements say so in writing.
The Nation decides how it is used
Leadership decides what is collected, which services are valued, how results are presented and who they are shared with — at scoping, during delivery and after.
The community can reach its own information
Members and leadership have access to their inventory and dashboards without going through us. Access rules are the Nation’s to set.
The Nation holds the results
Data, models and dashboards are delivered to systems the Nation controls. We do not remain custodian beyond the engagement unless asked to.
Free, prior and informed consent
We work under agreements the Nation has shaped, and we do not extend the use of its data — including any mention on this website — without its consent.
Indigenous knowledge alongside science
Where a community chooses to share knowledge of its territory, it is held with the same protections as any other data and credited on the community’s terms.
How an engagement runs
Built to be handed over
- A data sharing agreement, on the Nation’s terms, before any data moves
- Priorities for which natural assets and services matter most set by the community, not by a template
- Inventories, valuations and dashboards delivered into the Nation’s own systems
- Draft findings reviewed by the Nation before anything is finalised or released
- Training so staff can update and re-run the analysis without us
- Nothing published — including on this site — without the Nation’s permission
First Nations we have worked with
Natural asset work with Nations across Canada
Part of the 65 communities we have supported with natural asset inventories, valuations and dashboards, many alongside the Natural Assets Initiative.
Leq’á:mel First Nation
British Columbia
Prophet River First Nation
British Columbia
Upper Similkameen Indian Band
British Columbia
Treaty One Nation
Manitoba
Unama’ki Institute of Natural Resources
Nova Scotia
Miawpukek First Nation
Newfoundland and Labrador
References
The First Nations principles of OCAP® — First Nations Information Governance Centre. OCAP® is a registered trademark of the First Nations Information Governance Centre.
United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples — adopted 2007; implemented in Canada through the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples Act (2021) and British Columbia’s Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples Act (2019).
Working with a Nation on natural assets?
Tell us where you are — an inventory, a valuation, a dashboard, or the first conversation. We will tell you what it would take and what stays in the Nation’s hands.