Culturally Driven Monitoring: The Importance of Traditional Ecological Knowledge Indicators in Understanding Aquatic Ecosystem Change in the Northwest Territories’ Dehcho Region
There is growing concern about the sustainability of freshwater ecosystems in northern Canada that are under significant stress from climate change, resource development, and hydroelectric development, among others. Community-based monitoring (CBM) based on traditional ecological knowledge (TEK) has...
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ftrepec:oai:RePEc:gam:jsusta:v:12:y:2020:i:19:p:7923-:d:418854 2024-04-14T08:12:47+00:00 Culturally Driven Monitoring: The Importance of Traditional Ecological Knowledge Indicators in Understanding Aquatic Ecosystem Change in the Northwest Territories’ Dehcho Region Sydney Stenekes Brenda Parlee Cristiana Seixas https://www.mdpi.com/2071-1050/12/19/7923/pdf https://www.mdpi.com/2071-1050/12/19/7923/ unknown https://www.mdpi.com/2071-1050/12/19/7923/pdf https://www.mdpi.com/2071-1050/12/19/7923/ article ftrepec 2024-03-19T10:36:33Z There is growing concern about the sustainability of freshwater ecosystems in northern Canada that are under significant stress from climate change, resource development, and hydroelectric development, among others. Community-based monitoring (CBM) based on traditional ecological knowledge (TEK) has the potential to contribute to understanding impacts on the environment and community livelihoods. This paper shares insights about culturally driven monitoring, through collaborative research with Kátł’odeeche First Nation (KFN) in the Northwest Territories. This research was initiated in 2018 to improve understanding of the changes occurring in the Hay River and Buffalo River sub-basins, which extend primarily across the Alberta and Northwest Territories borders. Drawing on 15 semi-structured interviews conducted with KFN elders, fish harvesters, and youth, this paper illustrates the kinds of social–ecological indicators used by KFN to track changes in the health of aquatic systems as well as the fishing livelihoods of local people. Utilizing indicators, fishers observe declines in fish health, water quality, water quantity, and ice thickness in their lifetime. Community members perceive these changes to be a result of the cumulative effects of environmental stressors. The indicators as well as trends and patterns being observed and experienced can contribute to both social learning in the community as well as the governance of the larger Mackenzie River Basin. traditional ecological knowledge; indicators; community-based monitoring; freshwater ecosystems; social–ecological change Article in Journal/Newspaper Hay River Mackenzie river Northwest Territories RePEc (Research Papers in Economics) Buffalo River ENVELOPE(-115.044,-115.044,60.881,60.881) Canada Dehcho Region ENVELOPE(-121.350,-121.350,61.857,61.857) Hay River ENVELOPE(-115.847,-115.847,60.787,60.787) Mackenzie River Northwest Territories |
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RePEc (Research Papers in Economics) |
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There is growing concern about the sustainability of freshwater ecosystems in northern Canada that are under significant stress from climate change, resource development, and hydroelectric development, among others. Community-based monitoring (CBM) based on traditional ecological knowledge (TEK) has the potential to contribute to understanding impacts on the environment and community livelihoods. This paper shares insights about culturally driven monitoring, through collaborative research with Kátł’odeeche First Nation (KFN) in the Northwest Territories. This research was initiated in 2018 to improve understanding of the changes occurring in the Hay River and Buffalo River sub-basins, which extend primarily across the Alberta and Northwest Territories borders. Drawing on 15 semi-structured interviews conducted with KFN elders, fish harvesters, and youth, this paper illustrates the kinds of social–ecological indicators used by KFN to track changes in the health of aquatic systems as well as the fishing livelihoods of local people. Utilizing indicators, fishers observe declines in fish health, water quality, water quantity, and ice thickness in their lifetime. Community members perceive these changes to be a result of the cumulative effects of environmental stressors. The indicators as well as trends and patterns being observed and experienced can contribute to both social learning in the community as well as the governance of the larger Mackenzie River Basin. traditional ecological knowledge; indicators; community-based monitoring; freshwater ecosystems; social–ecological change |
format |
Article in Journal/Newspaper |
author |
Sydney Stenekes Brenda Parlee Cristiana Seixas |
spellingShingle |
Sydney Stenekes Brenda Parlee Cristiana Seixas Culturally Driven Monitoring: The Importance of Traditional Ecological Knowledge Indicators in Understanding Aquatic Ecosystem Change in the Northwest Territories’ Dehcho Region |
author_facet |
Sydney Stenekes Brenda Parlee Cristiana Seixas |
author_sort |
Sydney Stenekes |
title |
Culturally Driven Monitoring: The Importance of Traditional Ecological Knowledge Indicators in Understanding Aquatic Ecosystem Change in the Northwest Territories’ Dehcho Region |
title_short |
Culturally Driven Monitoring: The Importance of Traditional Ecological Knowledge Indicators in Understanding Aquatic Ecosystem Change in the Northwest Territories’ Dehcho Region |
title_full |
Culturally Driven Monitoring: The Importance of Traditional Ecological Knowledge Indicators in Understanding Aquatic Ecosystem Change in the Northwest Territories’ Dehcho Region |
title_fullStr |
Culturally Driven Monitoring: The Importance of Traditional Ecological Knowledge Indicators in Understanding Aquatic Ecosystem Change in the Northwest Territories’ Dehcho Region |
title_full_unstemmed |
Culturally Driven Monitoring: The Importance of Traditional Ecological Knowledge Indicators in Understanding Aquatic Ecosystem Change in the Northwest Territories’ Dehcho Region |
title_sort |
culturally driven monitoring: the importance of traditional ecological knowledge indicators in understanding aquatic ecosystem change in the northwest territories’ dehcho region |
url |
https://www.mdpi.com/2071-1050/12/19/7923/pdf https://www.mdpi.com/2071-1050/12/19/7923/ |
long_lat |
ENVELOPE(-115.044,-115.044,60.881,60.881) ENVELOPE(-121.350,-121.350,61.857,61.857) ENVELOPE(-115.847,-115.847,60.787,60.787) |
geographic |
Buffalo River Canada Dehcho Region Hay River Mackenzie River Northwest Territories |
geographic_facet |
Buffalo River Canada Dehcho Region Hay River Mackenzie River Northwest Territories |
genre |
Hay River Mackenzie river Northwest Territories |
genre_facet |
Hay River Mackenzie river Northwest Territories |
op_relation |
https://www.mdpi.com/2071-1050/12/19/7923/pdf https://www.mdpi.com/2071-1050/12/19/7923/ |
_version_ |
1796310633511124992 |