COS 21-6 - The Tâdzié-Sagow Atihk Stewardship Plan: an Indigenous knowledge-based approach to recovering caribou in ACFN and MCFN homelands

Monday, August 7, 2023

2:45 PM – 3:00 PM PDT

Location: D136

Presenting Author(s)

Susan Mary Leech, MSc, RPBio

Ecology Team Technical Lead
Firelight Research Inc.
West Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada

Slides (PDF)

Coauthor(s)

LC

Lori Cyprien

Manager, Rights and Lands
Athabasca Chipewyan First Nation Department of Lands and Rights
Fort Chipewyan, Canada
BF

Brian Fung

MANAGER, GOVERNMENT RELATIONS
Athabasca Chipewyan First Nation
Fort Chipewyan, Alberta, Canada
LW

Lindsay Wong

Environmental Coordinator
Mikisew Cree First Nation
Fort McMurray, Alberta, Canada
AH

Anne Hervieux

Ecology Researcher
Firelight Research Inc
Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada
CW

Chris Wagner

Ecology Researcher
Firelight Research Inc.
Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada

Abstract: Out of deep concern about the decline of boreal woodland caribou in their homelands, Athabasca Chipewyan First Nation (ACFN) and Mikisew Cree First Nation (MCFN) have jointly developed the Tâdzié-Sagow Atihk Stewardship Plan, which outlines how caribou and the ecosystems they depend upon should be replenished and restored. Boreal woodland caribou—tâdzié in Dené; sagow atihk in Cree—are highly valued in Dené and Cree cultures for their meat, clothing, shelter, tools, thread, and drum skins, among other cultural and spiritual values. Over the last several decades, industrial development in northeastern Alberta (Canada) has pushed tâdzié / sagow atihk to the brink of extirpation. To ACFN and MCFN knowledge holders, this decline indicates that boreal wetland and forest ecosystems are highly stressed. Protecting and recovering these ecosystems is critical to replenish tâdzié / sagow atihk populations.

From 2019 to 2022, elders, knowledge holders, land guardians and youth from the two nations collaborated to develop this Stewardship Plan. Founded upon Dené and Cree law, the plan defines a measurable goal and four core management actions: develop an Elders Declaration to guide the recovery of tâdzié / sagow atihk; identify Stewardship Zones to meet habitat targets; establish a Guardianship Program to support knowledge gathering, intergenerational knowledge transmission, and stewardship; and develop Stewardship Protocols based on Dené and Cree knowledge, to guide all governments, industry and other organizations working in ACFN and MCFN homelands. The Elders Declaration establishes the joint authority of MCFN and ACFN to steward their territory for the protection of caribou, and outlines how caribou should be protected and restored. Using guidance from the Elders Declaration, the team employed Marxan as a planning tool to establish three distinct stewardship zones based on Indigenous knowledge and supported by western science: protection zones, restoration zones and active management zones. Stewardship protocols identify what actions must be taken to protect and restore caribou and boreal wetlands in each of the zones, while Guardians are critical "eyes and ears" on the ground to support implementation.

The Tâdzié-Sagow Atihk Stewardship Plan provides a detailed and achievable path forward for recovery of tâdzié / sagow atihk in ACFN and MCFN homelands within forty years. Implementing the Stewardship Plan will meet legal requirements under Canada's Species at Risk Act, and help Canada meet international obligations related to biodiversity conservation, climate change, and implementation of the UN Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples.