REKINDLING INDIGENOUS-LED LAND STEWARDSHIP AND CULTURAL CONNECTIONS IN THE ROCKIES
Biocultural Place:
This knowledge hub will be located within the homelands of the Dene, Cree, and Saulteau Nations, also known as the northern and central Rocky Mountains of British Columbia and Alberta. This landscape consists of montane and boreal ecozones that are home to the most diverse and intact assemblage of wildlife in North America. Indigenous peoples have lived in, interacted with, and stewarded these lands since time immemorial. Today, settlers and Indigenous peoples live in small communities throughout this mountainous region. People are employed primarily in resource-extraction industries (e.g., oil and gas, mining, forestry, and hydroelectric), education, and the service sector. Beyond employment, livelihoods are sustained by harvesting wild foods from the land, and through social and cultural connections within and amongst settler and Indigenous circles. Indigenous peoples of this land are signatories on Treaty 8, which promises the ability to continue Indigenous ways of life. Sustaining people and their livelihoods in this spectacularly diverse landscape is an increasingly difficult challenge.
Knowledge Co-Leaders:
Clayton Lamb, University of British Columbia;
Chief Roland Willson, Chief, West Moberly First Nations + Nîkanêse Wah tzee Stewardship Society
Knowledge Collaborators
Naomi Owens-Beek, TREP Director, Saulteau First Nations
Scott McNay, Project Lead, Wildlife Infometrics
Nadia Skokun, Land & Resource Specialist, BC Ministry of Forests, Lands, Natural
Resource Operations, and Rural DevelopmentRay Proulx, Site Lead, Quintette Mine – Care & Maintenance, Teck Coal Ltd. and Teck Resources (Legacy Properties
Kari Stuart-Smith, Senior Forest scientist, Canadian Forest Products Ltd.
Robin Steenweg, Caribou recovery, Environment and Climate Change Canada-Canadian Wildlife Service
Tim Burkhart, Strategic Engagement in the Peace, Yellowstone to Yukon
Adam Ford, Professor, University of British Columbia
Michaela Bjorseth, Enbridge
Other Collaborating Organizations:
Wildlife Infometrics
BC Ministry of Forests, Lands, Natural Resource Operations, and Rural Development
Environment and Climate Change Canada-Canadian Wildlife Service
Yellowstone to Yukon
Enbridge
Teck Coal Ltd. and Teck Resources (Legacy Properties)
Canadian Forest Products Ltd. Caribou Monitoring Unit
Hub Focus and Goals:
Caribou are an umbrella species that cover a broad range of ecosystem processes in mountainous environments, and their recovery is at the nexus of legal, ecological, and human rights issues. Here we propose to build on this conservation momentum and effective collaboration to create a knowledge hub focused on bringing people and knowledge systems together to create transformative change and reimagine a new future for caribou and people. This knowledge hub will focus on implementing and measuring the effects of habitat restoration, supporting ongoing efforts to increase caribou abundance, and strengthening relationships between partners through the shared goal of elevating caribou abundance and harvest. Rekindling Indigenous stewardship through boots on the ground conservation via maternal penning and habitat restoration will create many employment opportunities and facilitate opportunities to reconnect youth with the land and culture. This knowledge hub also focuses on mobilizing knowledge and supporting Indigenous-led conservation and capacity building as part of an ongoing project with significant momentum, collaboration, and leveraged funding. The primary budget for our hub will support Indigenous Guardians, and restoration experts in on-the-ground conservation of caribou, as well as scientists, Indigenous Peoples and Elders who create, hold, share, and mobilize knowledge in many spheres including amongst First Nations, scientists, governments, conservation organizations, stakeholders, and the public.
Publications
R. Scott McNay, Clayton T. Lamb, Line Giguere, Sara H. Williams,Hans Martin, Glenn D. Sutherland,Mark Hebblewhite. Demographic responses of nearly extirpated endangered mountain caribou to recovery actions in central British Columbia. Ecological Applications. 23rd March 2022
Clayton T. Lamb, Roland Willson, Carmen Richter, Naomi Owens-Beek, Julian Napoleon, Bruce Muir,R. Scott McNay, Estelle Lavis, Mark Hebblewhite, Line Giguere, Tamara Dokkie, Stan Boutin, Adam T. Ford. Indigenous-led conservation: Pathways to recovery for the nearly extirpated Klinse-Za mountain caribou. Ecological Applications. 23rd March 2022
Newsletter
Please see attached the official newsletter/update for the Klinse-Za caribou habitat restoration project. We hope you enjoy finding out a little more about this endeavor.
View the March 2024 Newsletter
View the September 2023 Newsletter
View the March 2023 Newsletter
View the February 2023 Newsletter
View the December 2022 Newsletter
View the April 2022 Newsletter
View the March 2022 Newsletter
View the February 2022 Newsletter
Infographics
(click to view)
