Canada is working to increase the participation of Aboriginal peoples in the forest management process through the National Forest Strategy. The plan is to discuss how the forests of Canada will be managed over the next, 5-year term coordinated through the Canadian Forest Service. The discussions can include conservation of biological diversity; the maintenance and enhancement of forest ecosystem conditions and productivity; the conservation of soil and water resources; the forest ecosystem contributions to global ecological cycles, multiple benefits to society; and accepting society's responsibilities regarding sustainable development. About more than three-quarters of Canada’s indigenous communities reside in forested areas (Nair 2009). The forest products industry employs more than 17 000 indigenous people directly and indirectly; though many are still developing skills for the job. This is much more than what we would find in The United States since many are privately owned lands. “The forest industry does business with more than 1 4000 firms run by indigenous people and about 1 000 forestry operations are owned by indigenous people” (Nair 2009). Still, many forests hold important cultural and symbolic values whether or not how many indigenous people own a part of a land. The fact that forests are so important to our day-to-day lives and to the ongoing functioning of the global ecosystems is reflected in the importance forests and trees hold in virtually all cultures (Martin’s lecture 1 slide). For example, many trees are considered sacred or are an important of their lives in certain religions. Many other cultural ceremonies take place in forests too! This means that indigenous people have potential in protecting our forests and trees for the betterment of our society and the world.