Indigenous led reforestation reduces future fire season threats

The central interior of B.C. has always experienced wildfire, but what was once a relatively rare part of natural renewal has become more frequent and much more intense. Wildfire records have been basically set ablaze over the past decade, with four of the five worst fire seasons in recorded history happening since 2017, topped by 2023's undisputed titleholder for most destructive ever with 2.8 million hectares lost to the flames.

Clearly, these forests are not as resistant to fires as they used to be.

Although there isn't just one culprit to the worsening wildfires, the climate crisis has created a domino effect of consequences that worsen wildfires. Warming temperatures over the past two decades have enabled pine beetles to survive winter and kill standing trees, creating forest areas full of dead wood that burn more easily.

The lower snowpack means less snowmelt, which reduces water flows in streams and rivers as well as less moisture for soil and vegetation, creating tinder-dry conditions. Climate change has also affected rain cycles, plunging the interior in an ongoing drought, a perfect environment for fires to thrive.

Colonialism has also played a role by banning First Nations stewardship practices, such as prescribed or cultural burning, which has only recently begun to loosen.

Used deliberately for millennia to manage wildfire risk, these carefully controlled fires are used to reduce forest understory, which acts as fuel, as well as eliminate disease, create natural fire breaks and, ultimately, enhance habitat.

Instead, authorities have used decades of decreasingly effective fire suppression while piling on stressors from climate change and industry practices like replacing fire-resistant (but less valuable) deciduous trees.

Given all this, how do we recover from and combat wildfires in the long run?

One way is to bring back a more balanced ecosystem for people and wildlife through Indigenous-led reforestation, the kind of work being done by the Secwepemcúl'ecw Restoration and Stewardship Society (SRSS).

This collaboration by several Secwépemc communities was formed in the aftermath of the 2017 wildfire season, which blazed through 192,725 hectares of Secwépemcúl'ecw traditional territory over 75 tragic days. To them, reforestation isn't merely planting trees - it's using traditional practices to restore a balanced, complex ecosystem that benefits communities and wildlife, not just industry. Here's how they're doing it.

Restoring shrubs as well as trees

Often reforestation efforts focus on commercially valuable trees, which weakens forest resilience to fire if we don't also restore other plant types. Having a good mix of trees and shrubs helps to capture and create moister habitats, hydrating plants and decreasing dry conditions, which lowers the risk of a wildfire catching and reduces intensity when it does.

Planting a variety of species

Most of the land devastated by wildfires were monoculture forests managed to maximize value for commercial logging. SRSS is working toward a mixed forest canopy by planting a mixture of coniferous and deciduous tree species in addition to shrubs and other native plants. Mixed canopies help capture moisture, hydrate plants and reduce dry conditions, lowering the risk of wildfires and the intensity of an existing fire.

Planting native and adapted species

Better suited to the local ecology, native and adapted species also provide food and shelter for culturally important wildlife while providing First Nations communities with better access to traditional foods and medicines, such as soopolallie (buffalo berry), wild onions and wild strawberries.

The ultimate goal of this work is to recover from fire in a way that adheres to the Secwépemc values and laws which, as SRSS put it, comes from their connection to tmicw, which roughly translates to all life and resources found on the land and waters of the Secwépemc. As their website says, "It is our cultural responsibility to ensure we leave a legacy of regenerated lands, enriched and thriving forests and biodiversity, healthy and abundant wildlife, clean air and water for future generations."

Guided by Indigenous knowledge and combined with scientific data, SRSS and WWF-Canada have been working together since 2020 to restore culturally important and at-risk species and habitat for wildlife while monitoring long-term progress, like how much carbon these forests are storing over time.

Since then, the SRSS has planted more than 1.1 million trees with the financial support of WWF-Canada and our funding partners, restoring more than 677 hectares of forest ecosystems impacted by the wildfires. Member communities of the SRSS have been trained to monitor how their efforts have helped sequester carbon and are currently working to increase their nursery capacity and implement a native seed collection program with the goal of scaling up to one million trees annually by 2026.

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