Mission Statement

I. Purpose:

To act to preserve and protect the natural environment of those areas we perceive to be of special significance from environmentally destructive human activities, by:
- Promoting and sponsoring the preservation and protection of the lands delineated by the Nemiah Aboriginal Wilderness Preserve of the Tsilhqot’in People of Xeni, including the Nemaiah Valley, Chilko Lake, the Brittany Triangle and the surrounding region.
- Promoting the principles of conservation and right to traditional use of the land of the People of Xeni as enunciated in the Declaration of the Nemiah Aboriginal Wilderness Preserve.
- Supporting the Tsilhqot’in People of Xeni in the development of economic activity that is sustainable and in accordance with the principles of the Declaration.
  Promoting and sponsoring the Tsilhqot’in People of Xeni in the defense and protection of the environment in their homeland – the Aboriginal Wilderness Preserve area – including any legal action they may undertake to effect this protection.
- Sponsoring and encouraging research and the publication of educational materials with respect to the fish, wildlife, forests and vegetation of the area, and the sustainable relationship between the Xeni Gwet’in First Nations Government and the natural environment.
To publicize and promote public awareness regarding the preservation and protection of the above-mentioned areas.
To network with other organizations and enlist their support in pursuit of our objectives.
To work with appropriate levels of government in support of the protection of the above-mentioned areas.
To solicit or raise monies, to receive or acquire and hold gifts, donations, and bequests to be used solely in the furtherance of the aforesaid objectives.

II. General Principles:

We recognize that human activities are most often destructive to the environment when they involve the use of machines to carry out large-scale operations of resource extraction. We therefore resist mechanized resource extraction on an industrial scale. We encourage minimally mechanized, small-scale resource use by local populations with moderate trade in those resources, especially when it is carried on within a plan of sustainability.

We recognize the value of native cultures and their traditional relationship to the land, and we therefore support native title and native rights, especially as they concern the protection of the environment in the traditional territory of the native people.

We recognize the existing interests of all of the inhabitants and landowners in the Nemaiah Valley and within the Nemiah Aboriginal Wilderness Preserve area.

We recognize the value of healthy wildlife populations, especially the large mammals, since they are indicators of healthy ecosystems. We therefore resist intrusions that are known to disturb the natural interactions of these populations.