New national parks ecological integrity project to draw on Inuit knowledge (fwd)

[phil cash cash]

New national parks ecological integrity project to draw on Inuit
knowledge
http://www.newswire.ca/en/releases/archive/August2005/04/c7232.html

    IQALUIT, NUNAVUT, Aug. 4 /CNW Telbec/ - The Honourable Stéphane
Dion,
Minister of the Environment and Minister responsible for Parks Canada,
today announced a multi-million dollar project to enhance the
ecological integrity of Canada’s arctic national parks by drawing on
Inuit knowledge.
    Parks Canada and local Inuit communities will work collaboratively
to
undertake the $2.4-million project, with support from the University of
Manitoba, the University of Québec at Rimouski, Memorial University, the
Government of Nunavut and various Inuit organizations. The goal is to
blend Inuit traditional knowledge and science to develop a better
understanding of arctic ecosystems, which in turn will help the Agency
to enhance the ecological integrity of three arctic national parks of
Canada - Auyuittuq, Sirmilik, and Ukkusiksalik.
    “The Inuit have lived in the arctic for thousands of years,” said
Minister Dion. “Their understanding of the changes that have occurred in
arctic ecosystems due to climate change, pollution and other stressors,
as
well as their traditional knowledge of how to use the arctic’s resources
in a sustainable way, can help us to develop new and innovative ways to
manage our arctic national parks and enhance their ecological
integrity. Together, we can and will ensure that these special places,
and their unique natural features, are protected for future
generations.”
    “This project has the potential to expand our knowledge of arctic
ecosystems and how to protect them,” said Nancy Karetak-Lindell, MP for
Nunavut. “It will also ensure that the traditional knowledge and
vocabulary of the Inuit will be preserved to enrich the lives of future
generations.”
    Through the project, Parks Canada will develop a comprehensive
description of the baseline ecological conditions in the arctic. This
work
will allow the Agency to develop and implement effective approaches to
monitor current and future ecosystem changes, and to develop strategies
and tools to manage them.
    In Auyuittuq National Park of Canada, Parks Canada will work with
local Inuit communities and draw on their traditional knowledge to
develop and implement a marine ecosystem-monitoring program. The same
collaborative approach will be used in Ukkusiksalik National Park to
develop a shared vision of ecological integrity by the local Inuit
community and the Agency. In Sirmilik National Park, Parks Canada will
work with local Inuit communities to integrate Inuit knowledge and
scientific data to develop a new understanding of arctic ecosystems,
including their biodiversity, functions and stressors.
    “Non-Inuit have done studies and researches regarding the
environment and animal ecology in the arctic for years, but Inuit have
always lived in the arctic, and they have expertise about the weather
and animals,” said Joseph Koonoo, a member of the Inuit Knowledge
Working Group from Pond Inlet, Nunavut. “This project brings together
both Inuit knowledge and Western knowledge, and we need to work
together with both sources of knowledge.”
    “It is great that the Government of Canada, through Parks Canada, is
putting concrete efforts into collecting Inuit environmental knowledge
and
integrating it into the management of Canada’s northern parks,” said
Catherine Gagnon, of the University of Quebec at Rimouski. “When we met
with the elders from Pond Inlet recently, the responses to the project
were really positive. Both Inuit knowledge and science present good
areas of complementarity. It shows great open mindedness to consider
all perspectives.”
    The project is also designed to contribute to the preservation of
Inuit culture, language and understanding of arctic ecosystems.
Information on the Inuit’s traditional knowledge of the arctic will be
collected, archived and made available electronically to Inuit youth,
scientists, researchers and interested people from around the world
through a project Web site and database. Traditional Inuit terms and
vocabulary will be incorporated into the site, which will also contain
information on the new knowledge and understanding of arctic ecosystems
that result from the project.
    “This project will help us to understand our arctic ecosystems and
the
species they support,” added Minister Dion. “With this understanding,
and by drawing on the traditional knowledge of the Inuit, we can begin
to develop effective and sustainable strategies to protect our arctic
legacy.”
    As part of the project, Parks Canada will work with local Inuit
communities to build capacity for the collection and presentation of
Inuit
knowledge, develop community workstations, reports and articles for
publication in scientific journals, as well as media relations
strategies to enhance public awareness of Inuit knowledge and resource
use. It will also promote the use of Inuit knowledge in the development
of scientific
hypotheses, research study methods and ecosystem monitoring programs,
and
incorporate it into future park management plans.
    Through the project, Parks Canada is acting on key recommendations
that were made by the Panel on the Ecological Integrity of Canada’s
National Parks and during the Minister’s Roundtable on Parks Canada.
Support to implement the project is being provided through Parks
Canada’s Ecological Integrity Priority Themes Fund, made possible
through the new EI funding that the Agency received in the 2003 and
2005 federal budgets.

For further information: André Lamarre, Director of Communications,
Office of the Minister of the Environment, (819) 997-1441; Josianne
Jalbert, Media Relations Officer, Parks Canada, (819) 994-3024; Also
available on the Internet at www.pc.gc.ca under What’s new.