Indigenous food harvesting as social–ecological monitoring: A case study with the Gitga'at First Nation

Abstract

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Indigenous peoples as sentinels of change in human‐wildlife relationships: Conservation status of mountain goats in Kitasoo Xai'xais territory and beyond

“…Integrated approaches towards research and management, informed and guided by the knowledge of local peoples, can offer unique insight that is place‐based and tailored towards areas or species that might otherwise be ignored or deprioritized. Examples of such approaches are becoming abundant in both research (e.g., DeRoy et al, 2019; Gavin et al, 2015; Housty et al, 2014; Reid et al, 2020; Thompson et al, 2020) and management (e.g., Frid, McGreer, Haggarty, et al, 2016; Houde, 2007) contexts. Especially in landscapes inhabited by peripheral wildlife populations, LEK and IK observations can serve as early warnings and an important source of information to guide applied research and management.…”

“…Harnessing such knowledge for data‐poor populations in particular is important. Scientific research often requires years to build robust datasets, but extant LEK has already been generated over many years of experience and observation (Thompson et al, 2020). Such information can enhance management by extending historical baselines (e.g., Eckert et al, 2018; Lee et al, 2018) and rapidly detecting change (e.g., Service et al, 2014).…”

Effects of customary egg harvest regimes on hatching success of a culturally important waterfowl species

“…Engaging more people in place‐based resource management, such as customary harvests, also increases the number and detection resolution (both spatially and temporally) of ecological feedbacks (e.g. wildlife population numbers, habitat conditions), which can inform adaptive responses to environmental change (Berkes, 2009; Cumming et al., 2017; Herse et al., 2020; Thompson et al., 2020). For instance, current management of swans by FGNZ is based on annual, regional‐scale trends in adult abundance and/or harvest rates, which could obscure local ecological drivers of populations (Herse et al., 2020; Weinbaum et al., 2013).…”

“…Engaging more people in place-based resource management, such as customary harvests, also increases the number and detection resolution (both spatially and temporally) of ecological feedbacks (e.g. wildlife population numbers, habitat conditions), which can inform adaptive responses to environmental change (Berkes, 2009;Cumming et al, 2017;Herse et al, 2020;Thompson et al, 2020).…”

Decolonising cultural environmental monitoring in Aotearoa New Zealand: Emerging risks with institutionalisation and how to navigate them

“…Indigenous people have observed and analysed environmental changes since time immemorial. In recent decades, many Indigenous communities have developed and applied Indigenous knowledge within and alongside Western frameworks of environmental monitoring and observation, to both maintain their cultural practices and enact customary environmental stewardship (Harmsworth & Tipa, 2006; Thompson, Hill, et al, 2020; Thompson, Lantz, & Ban, 2020; Wilson et al, 2018). The Indigenous monitoring of the environment has parallels with the related developments of citizen science or community‐based monitoring (CBM) (Tengö et al, 2021).…”