The biodiversity crisis is paralleled by a decline in the ability of Indigenous peoples to practice traditional livelihoods, cultures and languages. The world’s oceans and coastal communities face such threats, prompting increasing interest in establishing conservation measures. Systematic conservation planning (SCP) is a structured approach to establish conservation measures with clearly defined objectives, such as protected areas. Many Indigenous peoples are resurging to reclaim and protect some of their traditional lands and revitalize their cultures as rights holders. SCP goals and Indigenous goals could thus align. This research documents the Indigenous-led marine conservation planning process of the Songhees Nation to reclaim and assert stewardship around the Tl’ches archipelago near Victoria, Canada. We compare the Songhees marine conservation planning approach to SCP approaches. The Songhees approach showed similarities to SCP in the initial scoping phase of the marine conservation planning, in the review and compiling of existing data prior to the collection of data as well as the focus on focal species. The Songhees approach to marine conservation planning also differed from SCP as it included one zone only, did not involve any other stakeholders, and tried to account for the whole social-ecological system in one process step. This research provides useful insights and a guidance to help interested Indigenous communities worldwide to conduct their own marine conservation planning.

伴随着生物多样性危机，土著人民实践传统生计，文化和语言的能力下降。世界海洋和沿海社区都面临着此类威胁，促使人们对建立保护措施的兴趣日益浓厚。系统性保护规划（SCP）是一种结构化的方法，用于建立具有明确定义目标（例如保护区）的保护措施。许多原住民正在复兴，以恢复和保护他们的一些传统土地，并振兴其作为权利人的文化。因此，SCP目标和土著目标可以保持一致。这项研究记录了Songhees民族的土著人主导的海洋保护规划过程，以收回和主张围绕Tl'ches的管理权群岛在加拿大维多利亚附近。我们将Songhees海洋保护规划方法与SCP方法进行了比较。Songhees方法在海洋保护规划的初始范围界定阶段，在收集数据之前对现有数据进行审查和编译以及重点关注物种方面显示出与SCP的相似之处。Songhees进行海洋保护规划的方法也不同于SCP，因为它仅包含一个区域，不涉及任何其他利益相关者，并试图在一个过程步骤中说明整个社会生态系统。这项研究提供了有用的见识和指导，可帮助全球感兴趣的土著社区进行自己的海洋保护规划。