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NEW NATIONAL PARKS ECOLOGICAL INTEGRITY PROJECT TO DRAW ON INUIT KNOWLEDGE
IQALUIT, NUNAVUT, AUGUST 4, 2005 -- 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.
Information:
André Lamarre
Director of Communications
Office of the Ministerof the Environment
(819) 997-1441
Josianne Jalbert
Media Relations Officer
Parks Canada
(819) 994-3024
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.
Information:
André Lamarre
Director of Communications
Office of the Ministerof the Environment
(819) 997-1441
Josianne Jalbert
Media Relations Officer
Parks Canada
(819) 994-3024
Backgrounder associated with this News Release.
