About the CGC

“One aspect I was impressed with was the ability of the Nations to come together while maintaining their autonomy. Our discussion shows that you can provide a certain level of support to everyone without forcing everyone to do exactly the same thing. Maintain your autonomy and distinctness while working together.” – Joanne Barnaby, Facilitator

Indigenous peoples are increasingly formalizing guardianship programs for
caribou throughout their territories according to Traditional Knowledge, laws and values and supplemented with best available science. These approaches are built on generations of “watching” caribou and are founded on the ethic that Indigenous peoples embrace their responsibility as caretakers of their lands, water, wildlife and air. Caribou People across the range of the Bathurst herd are best positioned to be guardians for caribou well-being and, in doing so, their own well-being.

Developing a regional network of guardian programs to care for caribou, builds on what Elders and community members have, for generations, been advocating for, and what was recently recommended in the Bathurst Caribou Range Plan (BCRP):

Recommendation #2: Support Aboriginal groups in the coordinated
development and use of integrated Community Guardianship Programs
across the range of the Bathurst herd. Such programs would watch and report on activity associated with industrial development and harvest in combination with the movements, abundance, health and condition of caribou and caribou habitat, the relationship between caribou and Caribou People and overall caribou well-being. – GNWT 2019: 50

Further to this recommendation, Indigenous organizations offered their support for the Caribou Guardianship Coalition2 (CGC) throughout 2018 and 2019. Funding was secured from the federal Aboriginal Fund for Species at Risk, Government of the Northwest Territories, World Wildlife Fund and Nature United to organize a workshop with interested parties. The first formal gathering of the CGC took place in Yellowknife from January 21-23, 2020 as the Caribou Guardians Coalition Visioning Workshop (herein, the workshop). It was the first in what is envisioned to be a series of planning workshops for Indigenous people across the range of the Bathurst herd to collaboratively develop a regional guardians network.

Since then, planning workshops have been held on program design, developing a Terms of Reference, information collection and management, capacity training and needs, day to day/operational planning, and more.

 Funding for the CGC has been possible by the following:
Planning Phase (2020-2023)
-Polar Canada
-Aboriginal Fund for Species at Risk (AFSAR)
-GNWT
-WWF
-Nature United Canada
-In-Kind: each partner Nation & WRRB

Operations Phase (2023-2025)
-Indigenous Centre for Cumulative Effects (ICCE)
-Environment and Climate Change Canada
-In-Kind: each partner Nation & WRRB

About the Bathurst Caribou Advisory Committee (BCAC)

The Bathurst Caribou Advisory Committee advises on the management of the Bathurst Caribou herd and its habitat to ensure the long-term sustainability of the
herd. The Advisory Committee oversaw the development of the Bathurst Caribou Range Plan and Bathurst Caribou Management Plan that sets the context for management decisions related to the herd. The Advisory Committee (BCAC) meets annually to discuss the status of the Bathurst herd and to make recommendations for management actions. It also oversees work on habitat conservation and shares common membership with the CGC that has established the following vision: “Current and future generations of Caribou People working together to guard and respect caribou and the land they need to thrive.”

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co-Chairperson
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Manager
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Expert