15. Indigenous leadership is essential to conservation

Andrea J. Reid and Natalie C. Ban provide invaluable guidance from the perspective of an indigenous scientist and a ‘colonialist-settler’ scientist who has long worked with tribal people in marine resource systems. Their experiences provide invaluable advice on how to engage in these systems. They focus on the necessity of collaborating with Indigenous leaders from developing the problem definition, to designing culturally appropriate pathways to solutions, to designing implementation approaches that suit the local culture and biophysical setting. Reid is an advocate of ‘Two-Eyed Seeing’ which recognizes the value of Western and Indigenous perspectives and proposes maintaining both views to operate effectively in these situations. They provide engaging examples from coastal British Columbia.