Use of Traditional Knowledge in Wildlife Management - A Case Study
The
Gwich'in Renewable Resource Board (GRRB) was established as the
main instrument of renewable resource (wildlife, fisheries,
forestry) management in the Gwich'in Settlement Area under the
Gwich'in Comprehensive Land Claim Agreement. The GRRB consists
of a Chairperson who is Gwich'in, 6 board members and 6
alternates, one-half of who are Gwich'in beneficiaries. The
staff of the GRRB is composed of a near equal mix of
non-Gwich'in and Gwich'in beneficiaries. The Gwich'in board
members and staff bring their own experiences and perspectives
to the table.
The
GRRB operates under a co-management framework that assures that
each Gwich'in community, represented by a Renewable Resource
Council, is included in and must approve any proposal for
wildlife research and management projects within their area of
concern.
There
are several ways in which Traditional Knowledge (TK) is used by
the GRRB. TK and local knowledge collected in workshops and by
private interviews is a necessary first step in designing any
project. As the settlement area is large and remote, local
knowledge is key to effectively selecting study areas,
understanding seasonal range use of the species, and animal -
hunter dynamics.
The
Gwich'in Harvest Study has been collecting harvest information
from Gwich'in hunters, trappers and fishers for 5 years. This
information is the main source of mortality data for population
modeling, and for understanding the distribution of mortality on
the landscape.
Several
GRRB staff are dedicated to the Gwich'in Environmental Knowledge
Project and have established a TK database. They have produced
one book (Gwich'in Elders. 1997. Gwich'in
Words about the Land. Gwich'in Renewable Resource Board.
Inuvik, NT. 212pp) and are working on a second book documenting
Gwich'in Traditional Knowledge about the land, wildlife and
fish.
Bryon
Benn and Peter Clarkson
Gwich'in
Renewable Resource Board
Inuvik,
NT
