Martha Dowsley

Community clusters in wildlife and environmental management: using TEK and community involvement to improve co-management in an era of rapid environmental change

Environmental change has stressed wildlife co-management systems in the Arctic because parameters are changing more rapidly than traditional scientific monitoring can accommodate. Co-management systems have also been criticized for not fully integrating harvesters into the local management of resources. These two problems can be approached through the use of spatiallydefined human social units termed community clusters, which are based on the demographic or ecological units being managed. An examination of polar bear management in Nunavut Territory, Canada, shows that community clusters provide a forum to collect and analyse traditional ecological knowledge (TEK) over a geographic area that mirrors the management unit, providing detailed information of local conditions. This case study also provides examples of how instituting community clusters at a governance level provides harvesters with social space in which to develop their roles as managers, along the continuum from being powerless spectators to active, adaptive co-managers. Five steps for enhancing co-management systems through the inclusion of community clusters and their knowledge are: (1) the acceptance of TEK, science, the precautionary principle and the right of harvesters not to be constrained by overly-conservative management decisions; (2) data collection involving TEK and science, and a collaboration between the two; (3) institutionalization of community clusters for data collection; (4) institutionalization of community clusters in the management process; and (5) grass-roots initiatives to take advantage of the social space provided by the community cluster approach, in order to adapt the management to local conditions, and to effect policy changes at higher levels, so as to better meet local objectives.

Inuit-organised polar bear sport hunting in Nunavut territory, Canada

Polar bear sport hunting (which in the case of Nunavut is defined as a form of conservation hunting) is an economically important form of Aboriginal ecotourism in the Canadian Arctic territory of Nunavut. Each sport hunt provides approximately 20 times the monetary value of a polar bear taken in a subsistence hunt. Positive cultural outcomes for communities that offer these hunts include the revival of dog mushing; preservation of traditional sewing, hunting and survival skills, and accommodation within the industry for the subsistence economy and Inuit norms of sharing. Concurrently, there are frequent community discussions about the industry that provides insight into Inuit views of hunting for recreation as well as western-style wildlife management, which allow for an examination of how Inuit communities are working to accommodate the non-Inuit culture and the market economy. Sport hunting provides Inuit with a reason to support western-style conservation and learn about scientific research and management programmes. Recent international concern about climate change impacts on two polar bear populations and its extrapolation to all populations threatens the conservation programme already in place in Nunavut. Polar bear conservation is of primary concern to Inuit and non-Inuit alike, but pressure to reduce hunting that is not supported by evidence, could result in an undue reduction in the value of polar bear harvesting (by reducing hunting and stopping conservation hunting). This may well result in a loss of local support for conservation measures, including polar bear quotas, which would erode, rather than support, protection for this species.

The Value of a Polar Bear: Evaluating the Role of a Multiple-Use Resource in the Nunavut Mixed Economy

The polar bear (Ursus maritimus) is a common pool resource that contributes to both the subsistence and monetary aspects of the Nunavut mixed economy through its use as food, the sale of hides in the fur trade, and sport hunt outfitting. Sport hunting is more financially profitable than subsistence hunting; however, the proportion of the polar bear quota devoted to the sport hunt has become relatively stable at approximately 20% across Nunavut. This ratio suggests local Inuit organizations are not using a neoclassical economic model based on profit maximization. This paper examines local-level hunting organizations and their institutions (as sets of rules) governing the sport and Inuit subsistence hunts from both formalist and substantivist economic perspectives. It concludes that profit maximization is used within the sport hunting sphere, which fits a neoclassical model of economic rationality. A second and parallel system, better viewed through the substantivist perspective, demonstrates that the communities focus on longer-term goals to maintain and reproduce the socio-economic system of the subsistence economy, which is predicated on maintaining social, human-environment, and human-polar bear relations.

Developing Community Capacities through Scenario Planning for Natural Resource Management: A Case Study of Polar Bears

Polar bears (Ursus maritimus) were listed as a threatened species in Ontario in 2009 as a precautionary measure based on the expectation that their sea ice habitat will decline. The authors studied the Swampy Cree community at Fort Severn, which traditionally harvests this species, to assess community adaptive and governance capacities and designed and discussed four future scenarios regarding potential uses and management strategies for polar bears. The goal of the scenario planning exercise was to broaden community discussions of how to interact with the government regarding polar bear management. Community actions subsequent to the exercise were more proactive, indicating that the exercise successfully encouraged new thinking. We conclude that (1) scenarios create space for the discussion of options that were previously discounted, and (2) scenario planning is a useful tool for the empowerment of communities for the development of adaptive governance.

Demographic and traditional knowledge perspectives on the current status of Canadian polar bear subpopulations

Abstract Subpopulation growth rates and the probability of decline at current harvest levels were determined for 13 subpopulations of polar bears (Ursus maritimus) that are within or shared with Canada based on mark–recapture estimates of population numbers and vital rates, and harvest statistics using population viability analyses (PVA). Aboriginal traditional ecological knowledge (TEK) on subpopulation trend agreed with the seven stable/increasing results and one of the declining results, but disagreed with PVA status of five other declining subpopulations. The decline in the Baffin Bay subpopulation appeared to be due to over‐reporting of harvested numbers from outside Canada. The remaining four disputed subpopulations (Southern Beaufort Sea, Northern Beaufort Sea, Southern Hudson Bay, and Western Hudson Bay) were all incompletely mark–recapture (M‐R) sampled, which may have biased their survival and subpopulation estimates. Three of the four incompletely sampled subpopulations were PVA identified as nonviable (i.e., declining even with zero harvest mortality). TEK disagreement was nonrandom with respect to M‐R sampling protocols. Cluster analysis also grouped subpopulations with ambiguous demographic and harvest rate estimates separately from those with apparently reliable demographic estimates based on PVA probability of decline and unharvested subpopulation growth rate criteria. We suggest that the correspondence between TEK and scientific results can be used to improve the reliability of information on natural systems and thus improve resource management. Considering both TEK and scientific information, we suggest that the current status of Canadian polar bear subpopulations in 2013 was 12 stable/increasing and one declining (Kane Basin). We do not find support for the perspective that polar bears within or shared with Canada are currently in any sort of climate crisis. We suggest that monitoring the impacts of climate change (including sea ice decline) on polar bear subpopulations should be continued and enhanced and that adaptive management practices are warranted.

A dialogue and reflection on photohistory: Engaging indigenous communities in research through visual analysis:

Attempts at capturing observations and concerns of change in the Canadian north (sub-Arctic, Arctic) have been mostly conducted through interviews and focus groups spearheaded by researchers. Indeed, images depicting change in the north, when utilized at all, are mostly used to confirm and illustrate the findings derived from researchers. Rarely are local depictions of change used in these interpretations. The purpose of this Notes from the field is to discuss the application of a methodology we term ‘photohistory’ in a study examining visual depictions of cultural and environmental changes in the Moose Cree and MoCreebec First Nations in northern Ontario, Canada. This process of active engagement fosters past reclamation of old photographs while encouraging the discovery of new research directions and partnerships. The application of photohistory in a First Nations located in northern Canada, and subsequent refinement of the methodology for future studies, are discussed.

An initial exploration of whether ‘female flight’ is a demographic problem in Eastern Canadian Arctic Inuit communities

ABSTRACT Emigration of indigenous women from small, isolated communities in Alaska and Greenland is seen as a pattern of female flight that results from modernization. As women see more options for a satisfying life, many are leaving remote northern communities. Female flight can result in social, cultural and economic problems for small communities and decrease the sustainability of such locales. We conducted an initial review of census data and found little evidence of female flight across the Canadian Territorial North, in Nunavut specifically, nor in any Nunavut communities. Two study communities in Nunavut, Clyde River and Qikiqtarjuaq were surveyed in an attempt to better understand the factors that affect movement decisions of Canadian Inuit women. Two explanations for the apparent lack of female flight were examined. First, that Nunavut is in an early phase of the demographic transition and thus could expect high migration as it modernizes. The second is that Nunavut communities are modernizing in such a way that young women are choosing to remain at home, and thus the territory is experiencing a unique path to modernity that does not fit the demographic transition model. The evidence more strongly supports the second explanation, although further research is recommended.

Practices and Processes of Placemaking in Inuit Nunangat (The Canadian Arctic)

In this chapter, we introduce the concept of ‘placemaking’ to the Canadian Arctic context, a term frequently used in urban planning and architectural settings to describe and characterise how spaces are formed by organic and systematic activities, particularly in contemporary times.