An environmental justice analysis of caribou recovery planning, protection of an Indigenous culture, and coal mining development in northeast British Columbia, Canada

Environmental justice theory postulates that communities that predominately consist of minorities and those of a lower socioeconomic status are compelled to bear a disproportionate distribution of burdens resulting from land use decisions. In this article, we present a case study of West Moberly First Nations (an Indigenous group) in British Columbia, Canada, and their fight to protect a threatened herd of caribou from coal mining activities. We examine the role of caribou in maintaining the First Nations’ cultural integrity and the adverse effects of several decisions made by the Provincial Government of British Columbia that would allow a mining company to destroy the critical habitat of the species. Analysis shows that the decisions negate federal law, disregard the best available scientific and traditional knowledge, and fail to uphold the constitutional and treaty rights of the First Nation to meaningfully exercise its cultural practices and customs. A disproportionate share of environmental burdens was therefore placed onto the shoulders of the First Nation while the interests of the government and the mining industry were protected. We conclude that the decisions are a clear case of intentional environmental injustice on the part of the British Columbia government.