Community-scientist collaboration in the creation, management and research for two National Wildlife Areas in Arctic Canada

• Published in: Advances in ecological research Vol. 66; pp. 37 - 61
• Main Authors: Mallory, Mark L., Toomasie, Jeannie, Emond, Susanne, Lamarche, Gabby, Roberts, Lauren, Pirie-Dominix, Lisa, Provencher, Jennifer F.
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Elsevier Ltd 2022
• Subjects: Comanagement; Indigenous; Inuit; Marine threats; Seabird; Self-determination; Comanagement; Inuit; Marine threats; Seabird; Indigenous; Self-determination
• ISSN: 0065-2504
• DOI: 10.1016/bs.aecr.2022.04.002

Arctic Canada hosts many remote seabird colonies supporting nationally and internationally important numbers of several species and located in geographically spectacular settings. In the spirit of co-management enshrined in the Nunavut Agreement, government scientists worked with the Nattivak Hunters' and Trappers' Organization in the community of Qikiqtarjuaq, Nunavut to census wildlife and document local ecological knowledge to develop National Wildlife Areas (NWAs) at two of these sites: Qaqulluit and Akpait. By 2010, the sites were legally established, and the Sululiit Area Co-Management Committee (ACMC) was created with community members from Qikiqtarjuaq and a representative from the federal government. This ACMC is responsible for the management of the two NWA sites, including developing the management plans for these and annually reviewing and advising on permit applications. Since its inception, the ACMC and other research groups raised concerns about the health of the seabird colonies in Qaqulluit and Akpait given the ongoing increase in anthropogenic activity in the region. In 2018, the ACMC co-developed and implemented new research questions on environmental health of these sites, especially as they relate to contaminants and plastic pollution, two areas of concern for community members who still rely heavily on harvest of local wildlife. Collectively, this pluralism in ecosystem governance demonstrated by the ACMC model of managing these sites, and community direction of ongoing research, promotes Inuit goals of self-determination while charting a course on how to achieve local, national and international conservation and research needs in the Canadian Arctic.