By Kaitlin Pal
Project Assistant
Ecological Footprint Initiative
LinkedIn
Published Dec 15, 2023
Biocapacity measures biologically productive lands and waters that are capable of sustaining an Ecological Footprint, quantified in global hectares (gha). It encompasses various elements like cropland, grazing land, forest land, fishing grounds, and built-up land. Not only a numerical measure, but it also holds legal relevance, helping assess the environmental importance of a community or area. My research focuses on determining the Biocapacity within the traditional territory of the Saugeen Ojibway Nation (SON) due to its involvement in a significant land claim case. It aims to apply Biocapacity within a legal framework, conducting a smaller-scale calculations by merging geomatics with Ecological Footprint methodology to evaluate the land's biological productivity associated with this legal dispute.
Figure 1. Map of Saugeen Ojibway Nation's traditional territory. (Source: SON Environment Office)
Saugeen Ojibway Nation (SON) is an Indigenous community located along the Saugeen River and the Bruce Peninsula in Ontario. This community is involved in a land claim concerning their traditional lands and waters presently held by the Canadian Federal and Ontario Provincial governments. This claim traces back to Treaties 45.5 and 72, where the British Crown coerced SON to surrender their traditional territory abundant with fertile soil and agricultural land. In 1836, Treaty 45.5 involved the transfer of 1.5 million acres of land to the British Crown, with the understanding that the Crown would ensure perpetual protection of the Saugeen Peninsula. Regrettably, this commitment was not upheld, and it was breached in 1854. Consequently, within this legal context, SON seeks acknowledgment of the Crown's failure to honour its promise and demands ownership of land not owned by third parties, plus financial compensation. Biocapacity applications can be used in the context of this case to quantify the amount of biologically productive land, potentially supporting SON's claim to these territories.
Figure 2. Map of land classifications within SON's traditional territory.
Data from the Ontario Land Cover Compilation (v. 2.0) was utilized to create a map showing SON’s claim boundaries as well as the land covers that compose the area (Figure 1). Using data extracted from this map, the Biocapacity was calculated using parameters detailed in the Ontario Ecological Footprint Biocapacity Report. My results found that SON’s traditional territory has a Biocapacity of 4,173,902 gha spanning over 3,036,590 ha.
Figure 3. Biocapacity of the boundaries of the SON claim, by type, in gha.
This Biocapacity can support 594,572 people. As Figure 2 shows, the forested areas within the territory accounted for 309,036 gha of Biocapacity. These areas are predominantly composed of both sparse and dense forests. Wetlands contributed to 53,280 gha, including peat bogs, peat fens, and other wetlands. Grazing lands covered 660,944 gha, and built-up land provided 308,785 gha. The highest classes were cropland with 1,590,842 gha, and freshwater with 1,251,014 gha. Cropland had the highest Biocapacity of all zones that exist in the region. This is because Ontario’s farmland has a higher biological productivity due to its rich and fertile soil, and water availability. Freshwater is representative of Anishinaabe Traditional Ecological Knowledge which should also be considered by the court. The inclusion of built-up land is evidence of colonialism, urbanization, and development's impacts on the territory. Including this information in the analysis of Biocapacity provides a holistic and quantitative approach to analyzing the land after the initial dispossession and deepens the understanding of historical and contemporary land use.
Figure 4. Saugeen Ojibway Nation Land Claim Boundaries Measured in hectares (ha) vs. global hectares (gha).
The integration of geomatics with Ecological Footprint and Biocapacity methodology offers unique insights into ecological significance, adding depth to legal and policy deliberations on land use, conservation, and development. As the case progresses, this research could expand understanding of diverse land types and their regenerative capacity. Moreover, this methodology is adaptable to smaller-scale assessments, offering comparative insights across communities and regions, potentially leveraging local data sources.
SON's case holds profound historical, legal, and environmental relevance, as demonstrated through the integration of geomatics and Ecological Footprint and Biocapacity research. This approach is not limited to this case alone but can be applied to various legal disputes or land assessments, providing a comprehensive environmental assessment of a region's ecological significance.
Working Paper: Applications of Biocapacity to Saugeen Ojibway Nation Land Claims
Kaitlin Pal is a Project Assistant for the Ecological Footprint Initiative at York University. She is also an undergraduate Environmental Arts and Justice (BES) student and a peer mentor in the Faculty of Environmental and Urban Change. She is interested in law, the arts, the environment, and ecological economics, which inspired her to pursue this research project. Under the supervision of Director Eric Miller and Dr. Katie Kish, she completed the project "Applications of Biocapacity to Saugeen Ojibway Nation's Land Claim Case." This research was done under the CIRC Geomatics for Analyzing Climate Change Effects on Ecosystems and Human Populations Research Cluster, led by Professor Tarmo Remmel. She has presented her research at the Canadian Society for Ecological Economics 2023 Conference (CANSEE 2023).
