"Canada must abide by the international law principle that there can be no development on Indigenous land without consulting and getting the consent of the Title Holders."

We the people are the TITLE HOLDERS!

Clear cutting can certainly be bad for the environment, for ecosystems, for animal populations. A giant swatch of ecosystems are literally taken away from clear cutting on disputed Indigenous Land. At the same time government officials present a deal for land claims. INAC officials were alerted along with the chief and council also.

"What is happening in this region is a monumental crime against the natural world, the tribes, the fauna and is further testimony to the complete irrationality with which we, the 'civilized' ones, treat the world," Jose Carlos Meirelles was quoted as saying in a statement by the Survival International group.

According to the (CBD) Convention on Biological Diversity, the world is losing plants and species at 100 to 1,000 times the natural rate of extinction, leading to a smaller pool of genetic resources.

The Wolastoq (St. John river)or Nekuwutkok (Tobique First Nation) community has suffered many traumas over the years, including forced attendance in Canada's notorious and now-defunct boarding [residential] schools, forced relocation away from their traditional living areas, flooding of sacred grounds and burial sites by hydroelectric dam projects, and clear-cut logging of their forests. Mercury waste from a paper mill contaminated local rivers and created devastating long-term health problems.

Compared to other racial and cultural groups in Canada, indigenous people have the lowest life expectancies, highest infant mortality rates, most substandard and overcrowded housing, lower education and employment levels, and the highest incarceration rates. Native people lead in the statistics of suicide, alcoholism, and family abuse.

And that's not all!

According to Sukhdev's report, deforestation, should it continue at current levels, would mean the world's gross domestic product would be some 6 percent -- or €2 trillion ($3.1 trillion) -- lower by 2050 than it would be were forests preserved. Not only does deforestation mean a forest can no longer produce economic goods, he explained, but it also increases the pace of climate change and puts areas at greater risk of flooding, all of which mean additional costs. The poor would bear a disproportional share of the costs, he said.

A global system to protect all ecosystems would cost around $45 billion annually to build up and maintain, Sukhdev explained. But the returns from such a scheme would be in the range of $4.4 trillion to $5.2 trillion -- meaning that every dollar invested would be repaid 100-fold. (less info)