The excellent history below of Canada's innovative caribou managment team is drawn from a recent speech given at the Canadian House of Commons by Gunther Abrahamson of the Beverly and Qamanirjuaq Management Board.
After you read it, see if you can answer these questions:
"Thank you for inviting me to speak to you about the Beverly and Qamanirjuaq Caribou Management Board and our experience in the co-management of a natural resource.
"The Beverly and Qaminirjuaq herds of barrenground caribou (rangifer tarandus groenlandicus) are two of the six major herds of barren ground caribou in northern Canada. Named after the lakes where many of them drop their calves, they are nomadic herds and range in northern Manitoba, northern Saskatchewan and the Northwest Territories. Both herds spend from April to October on the tundra before moving to or past the treeline between November to March to winter in more sheltered areas of the Northwest Territories and Provinces.
"In the late 1970's, population estimates gave rise to concern that the Qaminirjuaq herd faced possible extinction within a decade. This herd was estimated at 39,000 in 1980 down from more than 145,000 in the early 1950's. This represented an apparent serious decline. The Beverly herd, in a similar decline, was estimated at 94,000 animals in 1980, down from 177,000 in the previous census of 1974.
(In 1988 the Qamanirjuaq herd was estimated to number about 220,000 animals and the Beverly herd about 200,000. A survey was conducted last summer estimates a present total of 500,000 animals in both herds, the highest ever recorded.)
"To respond to the perceived crisis, (although population estimates might have been based on inadequate or inaccurate surveys) an interim group representing government agencies was established in late 1979. Inuit, Dene and Metis users of the herds refused to accept population data in light of their own traditional knowledge and experiences on the land. They claimed that the animals had merely moved to another area and that government surveys were deficient. Governments recognized that changes in management strategy were needed but were unwilling to accept the insistence of aboriginal people that their traditional knowledge and practices gave them the right to manage the caribou in their own way.
"Then, in the winter of 1979-80, the Beverly herd wintered in Northern Saskatchewan in areas accessible by road and 15,000 to 20,000 animals were killed. Dead animals appeared to have been abandoned on frozen lakes with only their hindquaters and/or tongues removed. Photographs and articles published in the national and international press embarrassed federal, provincial and territorial governments. Native people were blamed for this slaughter and for the decline of caribou numbers. Provincial governments said that Indians were a federal responsibility and that Ottawa should do something to control them. Ottawa took the position that caribou, being game, were a provincial/territorial responsibility and that it was up to them to control the hunting of caribou. A confrontational atmosphere developed between native people and wildlife managers.
"In December 1980, federal, provincial and territorial ministers met in Winnipeg to discuss the developing crisis and agreed that cooperative action was needed and that a solution to the problem had to fully involved native people.
"I was given the task of persuading Inuit, Dene and Metis, as well as various government officials to consider working together on a joint management board. I held meetings across the north with various groups to convince them that the idea had merit and that, if we did not try, future generations would blame us for the loss of the caribou which held a prime place in the culture of native people. By October, 1981 there was agreement to form a management board on which native people had a majority. Eight members representing native people and/or their associations and five government members representing the federal departments of Indian Affairs, and Environmental and the governments of Manitoba, Saskatchewan and the Northwest Territories.
REASONS FOR SUCCESS OF THE BOARD
"To date, the Board has often been regarded as a model for co-management
and its operation has been studied in detail and observed by several
groups interested in co-management of resources.
"Of key interest is whether differences in how aboriginal people are involved in the management system makes a difference in how well the management system works. Also, how each management system combines the knowledge and concern of both native people and government managers.
"In the strictest sense, the board is only advisory. In practice, however, governments have followed its advice on overall herd management and see the board as a convenient 'single window' for the resolution of caribou related issues.
"Decisions of the board are generally based on consensus. A few issues, such as the commercial use of caribou, polarized into conflicts between members but never into government-native splits. In fact, the board is seen to work as a team with common objectives. In their function as board members, native people and government representatives alike have become full partners in managing the caribou resource.
"Native people demonstrated remarkable courage in abandoning past positions. One such position was that permission to satellite collar caribou would never be given. Once native members heard what the advantages were to satellite collaring, permission was quickly given along with a recommendation that the term of the project be extended.
"Government members have learned to be patient. They have learned to understand that native people avoid snap decisions and generally prefer decision by consensus. Native people prefer prolonged discussion that includes elders in each community. Thus, decisions are often postponed to provide sufficient time for discussion and consensus. The board has been fortunate to have chairmen who understood this process and were able to weld diverse people into a common purpose.
WHAT IS THE VALUE OF CARIBOU?
"The caribou of the Beverly and Qamanirjuaq herds have value from a variety of perspectives. More than 13,500 people currently live on or near the range of the two herds. Of this number, at least 11,000 are of aboriginal ancestry. The use of these caribou fulfils economic, social and cultural needs. While the social and cultural values are difficult to quantify, those values clearly represent the foundation of several cultures and are essential to the maintenance of these cultures.
"During the first eight years of the Agreement, an estimated annual average of 16,000 caribou were reported taken for subsistence. An average caribou yields about 100 pounds of meat. The equivalent value of beef bought at a northern store for $8.50 per pound would be $850. Thus, in purely economic terms the annual value of the caribou hunt is approximately $13.5 million.
"It is important to note that this is the minimum value and that the resource is renewable. The economic potential of caribou is considerable larger when uses such as outfitting for non-residents are considered (up to $3,000 per animal taken).