Assembly Calls for a Wholistic Eco-System Management Plan for the Cape Breton Highlands

Press Release

September 10, 2025

(Mi’kma’ki) – Last week, the Maw-lukutijik Saqmaq (Assembly) issued a media release supporting the original intent behind a community-led protest held on Hunters Mountain on Thursday, September 4.  We learned the event was peaceful and impactful.  The Assembly fully supports community members in efforts to make their views heard. The Assembly will continue to provide communities with facts and information regarding the Cape Breton Highlands to help inform thoughts and opinions.

It is important for community members to also know that these concerns regarding the eco-system, forestry practices and moose habitat have been and will continue to be raised with the province and companies involved.  We are committed to dialogue with Premier Houston and his Ministers to talk about the health of the Highlands.  It is our goal that the issues raised during Thursday’s protest become a starting point for deeper conversations with the province and all parties involved.

Therefore, the Assembly is calling for a wholistic eco-system based, co-governance and

co-management plan for the Cape Breton Highlands. A plan that incorporates Mi’kmaw laws around appropriate land and resource use, Mi’kmaw laws that emphasize the importance of stewardship and sustainability for the next seven generations.

In the past, we had similar concerns with proposed mining exploration in the Cape Breton Highlands and as a nation, we were able to put a halt on exploration activities to address those issues on a nation-to-nation basis with Nova Scotia.  With the support of our Mi’kmaw science organizations and community members we know we can do that with the issues surrounding wholistic eco-system management for the Highlands.

The Highlands are a unique and sacred eco-system, and all parties need to come to the table and create solutions. Recent unilateral decisions by the province, like the prohibition of access to Crown lands, has created distrust among community members who want to see the Mi’kmaq have a say in the ways lands are protected and managed.

Taking our responsibilities as stewards seriously, we are also committing to another one-year moratorium on moose-harvesting to allow the species to continue to recover.  The population numbers are growing, but still not at sustainable levels.  No harvesting and continuing work to build a more wholistic view of the eco-system in the Highlands – with Mi’kmaw laws, values and understanding – is what we need to do.

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