Indigenous Guardians partner on climate and wildlife research in the NWT
August 18, 2020
Kirk Hesketh and Steve Andersen deploy a unit in the Ts’udé Nilįné Tuyeta protected area. Photo: GNWT, Julien Schroder
In early March, before the world began closing borders and sheltering in place due to COVID-19, Mitchell Shae found himself in a helicopter looking down over the mountain tops of part of his traditional territory. These lands are known as Ts'udé Nilįné Tuyeta, a newly established Indigenous Protected and Conserved Area covering 10,000 square kilometres near Rádeyı̨lı̨kóé, Northwest of Yellowknife. Shae is one of the Indigenous Guardians who will help manage the protected area. “Having Guardians from the community in this area means that they can protect parts of their land, and the more resources we have, the more we can be out, managing it,” he said. On this particular day, that meant that he was also one of several guardians placing over 200 trail cameras and acoustic recording units (ARUs) across the protected area as part of a collaborative research project with scientists from the Government of the Northwest Territories, the Canadian Wildlife Service, and the University of British Columbia.
The mountains of Ts’udé Nilįné Tuyeta protected area. Photo: UBC, Christopher Beirne
This project is just one example of how scientists are partnering with First Nations and Indigenous Guardians programs for conservation field monitoring and research. From scientists in the NWT who turned to the trained Dehcho Guardians to monitor permafrost conditions, nutrient levels in the soil and water quality, to ecologists monitoring sea ice using remote technology in partnership with communities in Gjoa Haven and across the Arctic, these collaborations are generating important information — especially in the COVID era when scientists can’t get into the field.
As the “moccasins and mukluks” on the ground, Indigenous Guardians are trained experts who manage protected areas, restore animals and plants, test water quality, and monitor development projects in their traditional territories. They know the land better than anyone else, which means that this kind of involvement from Indigenous Guardians in field research can yield not only a more cost-effective way to gather data, but also a more holistic perspective of what’s happening on the land. “Up until now, a lot of the field research that has been done in this part of the country has been siloed. Working actively with Guardians and other partners to leverage resources, knowledge, and funding to better understand what’s happening on the land means a co-production of knowledge, and synergy to address a wider range of monitoring objectives more efficiently,” said Samuel Hache, a Landbird Biologist from CWS who was a part of the project.
Project participants discuss plans over a map of the area. Photo: GNWT, Kevin Chan
The K’asho Got'ine Guardians also provided knowledge about the land, making planning and execution more effective: with such a large area of ground to cover, they provided guidance and helped inform the team’s planning for fuel capacity and snow-gear in the field. “We didn’t realize how remote some of the placement sites would be, and how hard they would be to access. The community and the Guardians brought us together to brainstorm and use their knowledge of the land to be able to get the work done,” said Claudia Haas, a Protected Area Biologist from GNWT. She also shared how this knowledge created quite the spectacle the first day out in the elements. “One of the funniest stories from the season was about the snowshoes, the level of snow out there, and how unprepared we were for that. The day before leaving, I was trying to purchase snowshoes, but they didn’t work well. We had one participant guardian with homemade snowshoes and he floated over the snow while the rest of us were sinking up to our knees.”
The cameras and ARUs that Shae, Haas, Hache, and four other teams placed amidst waist-deep snow in March are now capturing the movement and sounds of wildlife throughout the summer season, including migratory birds and species at risk. The data collected will establish a baseline for wildlife populations across the region and help measure the impacts from changes in the environment and the effects of climate change.
Guardian Charles Oudzi setting up an Acoustic Recording Unit. Photo: CWS, Amelie Roberto-Charron
As a Guardian on the land, Shae knows the importance of monitoring Ts'udé Nilįné Tuyeta, which is rich in wetlands, home to incredible biodiversity, and the nesting grounds for thousands of migratory birds. Part of their seasonal work involves maintaining trails to access points that weave their way through thick willowy brush, ensuring their ability to patrol the land and look out for any potential problems.
“These are our traditional grounds,” said Daniel Jackson, the President of the Fort Good Hope Renewable Resources Council, who is a strong supporter of the Guardians program. “This one region, the protected area, the wetlands, it provides so much habitat for wildlife and for birds in migration — as Guardians, they can manage the land and take care of it properly,” he said.
Ts'udé Nilįné Tuyeta is one of many Indigenous Protected and Conserved Areas to be established by First Nations across the country. Indigenous Protected and Conserved Areas are often created in partnership with Crown governments, but Indigenous governments play the primary role in identifying the lands for conservation, shaping the goals and managing the land. Parts of Indigenous Protected and Conserved Areas can be designated as national or territorial parks, or contain wildlife areas. For instance, Thaidene Nëné Indigenous Protected Area, on the East Arm of Great Slave Lake, includes all three elements.
Isadore Manuel, the Programs Manager at the Yamoga Dene Land Corporation, shared the community's enthusiasm for establishing Tuyeta. “A lot of young people are interested in this work, in how they can protect this area. We have talked about it a lot as a community and have a lot of direction from our elders too, on how they used to take care of the land. It’s exciting work.”
And for many scientists aiming to better understand what’s happening to wildlife, collaborative research projects with communities and Guardians Programs like this provide the opportunity to learn and have a more all-encompassing view of what’s happening on the land. “In the workshops before we began the field work, Elders had shared about a decline in migratory songbirds. The community held traditional knowledge about the birds, and by combining this knowledge with western science and new technology , we can co-produce more comprehensive monitoring programs,” said Amelie Roberto-Charron, another biologist from CWS who is working on the project with the K'asho Got'ine.
Land bird biologist, Samuel Hache and K’asho Got’ine Guardian, Mitchell Shae. Photo: UBC, Christopher Beirne
Like in Tuyeta, many First Nations are establishing Indigenous Guardians programs to monitor and care for these lands and waters. But Indigenous Guardianship is about more than just placing ARUs and monitoring wildlife. When the Guardian Program was established, there was an emphasis on healing, health, wellness, and connecting with traditional ways for the youth who were becoming Guardians. “At our training camp, the Guardians were able to learn from elders about our traditional and cultural ways. We spent time on the land together, and it was very healing,” Shae shared. The community has also worked to create a Dene Map, which will protect the traditional place names and stories within the territory, thanks to the knowledge of the Elders and support from the Sahtu Land Use Planning team.
The Guardians are combining this knowledge to help maintain trails for accessing locations within the protected area, and have spent the past few months building cabins and other necessary structures for shelter and management of the lands. They have also been trained in things like wilderness survival, first aid, chainsaw safety, carpentry and GIS technology.
Visiting researchers and the K'asho Got'ine Guardians (Mitchell Shae, Lesley Drybones, Evan Tobac, Charles Oudzi, Burli Lafferty, John Tobac, and Dolphus Taureau) who placed the monitoring devices gather for a group photo. Photo: GNWT, Kevin Chan
Before the snow falls again, the trail cameras and ARUs will need to be retrieved and the data collected in order to be analyzed. Samuel Hache is hopeful that this model can serve as a reference for others to improve on how field research is done. “This pilot work is providing a good example of how we can do things differently and improve knowledge of our northern ecosystems.” By involving the community upfront and equipping the trained Guardians to do the work themselves, it meant that even in the midst of disruptions like COVID, the work didn’t need to stop. “Guardians have an enhanced role to play. We are hopeful this work continues, and even expands into more Guardian-led initiatives.”