by Kim Heinemeyer, Round River Science Director; Project Director & Lead Scientist, Round River Canada
Round River’s work in northwestern Canada is picking up again this summer, as more communities become vaccinated and activities resume. We have been working on cultural landscape mapping and connectivity modeling for Northern Woodland Caribou and Dall’s sheep across the 38,000 km2 Aat á x yaa has na.át. aáni ka heen | Na̋n ye chu ye ts’àdnäl | How We Walk with the Land and Water study area (in Tlingit, Southern Tutchone, and English). “How We Walk” is a First Nation partnership between the Carcross/Tagish First Nation, Kwanlin Dün First Nation, and Ta’an Kwäch’än Council to develop an Indigenous Land Vision and Land Relationship Plan for this vast region. Round River is assisting the First Nations with a number of ecological and cultural knowledge collection and mapping efforts that will inform a spatial decision-support and scenario development tool to support their Land Visioning and planning efforts. This summer, Round River’s Canada-based cultural ecologist, Will Tyson, will be spending time with indigenous experts, government biologists and other project collaborators to document knowledge of animal movements across northwestern BC and southwestern Yukon landscapes.
We are continuing our long-standing work with the Taku River Tlingit First Nation (TRTFN), whose 40,000 km2 wilderness territory is adjacent to How We Walk. Our work with the Taku River Tlingit is diverse, but currently we are focused in a few areas. The Taku River Tlingit are doing their part towards reaching Canada’s goal of 30% land protection by 2030 through indigenous-led conservation. One Round River priority is assisting with their work to develop Indigenous Protected and Conserved Areas that complement and advance their Atlin Taku Land Use Plan through the eventual identification of new conserved areas and enhanced stewardship of these lands. We are also supporting climate change adaptation efforts through a TRTFN-led effort to improve food security, with a focus on traditional foods including providing increased community opportunities for bringing youth and elders together for sharing and learning on their land. Round River’s Will Tyson will also be assisting with a wild salmon traditional food harvesting camp on the Taku River that will bring community members into the heart of their territory this summer.
We are also supporting a collaborative effort between the Taku River Tlingit, the Kaska First Nation, Tahltan and British Columbia to develop co-management plans for moose for important harvesting areas within each of the three First Nation territories. This ground-breaking co-management effort is embracing and advancing BC’s ‘Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples Act’; we are supporting outreach within the First Nation communities to gather indigenous knowledge about moose to inform and guide the planning effort.
Round River is honored and inspired to be able to assist the First Nations we work with in advancing their conservation and stewardship efforts, and we all look forward to a time when we can again meet in person, hopefully on the lands and waters that have supported them since time immemorial.
