3.1 The Workshop Process
To facilitate indigenous-science and
trans-disciplinary interactions, workshop plenary presentations
were limited, with the bulk of the workshop's schedule allocated
to working group sessions. Capturing key themes of the study of
human reindeer/caribou systems, the workshop was organized around
six foci:
· hunting systems
· herding systems
· rangeland and habitat protection
· minimizing industrial impacts
· keeping indigenous cultures strong
· responding to global change
(See www.dartmouth.edu/~arctic/conf/
for a listing of the plenary sessions and poster and presentation
abstracts.)
An important design feature of the
work was the inclusion of a forum in which Arctic residents shared
their perspectives on the problems and concerns facing resource
users, and identified perceived needs for future studies. Users
of resources are often keenly aware of condition~ are relevant
to the advancement of knowledge the research needed to inform
public processes. Arctic peoples' involvement in workshop also
reflected an appreciation resource users are most likely to be
affected the findings and implications of research. A Human Role
in Reindeer/Caribou Systems Workshop, special attention was devoted
to concerns and needs of indigenous reindeer and caribou users
whose cultural identity and economic we depend on the sustainability
of reindeer/cat resources.
The Rovaniemi Workshop concluded
reports from each of the six working groups. Following the workshop,
eight workshop participants reviewed and coded working group transactions
to identify cross-cutting themes and directives of the Rovaniemi
research planning process. These are presented in the sections
that follow, along a summary of Native plenary panelists' comments
noting their implications for research planning,
4. The Research Plan
4.1. A long and intimate relationship
Reindeer and caribou grazing systems
have been exploited for food and other subsistence commodities.
The relationship between reindeer/caribou and people extends back
to prehistoric times through an ecological process that is among
the most complex of any system in the biosphere. Many of the diverse
indigenous cultures spanning the Arctic and sub-Arctic have co-evolved
with reindeer and caribou, which provide food, shelter and transportation.
These peoples include (but are not limited to): in Eurasia, Saami,
Nenets, Komi, Khanti, Dolgan, Nganasan, Yukagir, Even, Evenk,
Sakha (Yakut), Chukchi, Koryak and Chuvan; and in North America,
Gwich'in, Dene, Metis, Cree, Chipewyan, Innu, Naskapi, Yupiit,
Inupiat, Inuvialuit, Dogrib, Koyakan and Inuit.
Today, Arctic residents face a combination
of dramatic changes to the biological resources that are crucial
to their physical and cultural survival. Indigenous societies
of the circumpolar region define themselves largely in relation
to their use of particular living resources (e.g. caribou, reindeer,
marine mammals) that historically have been and remain critical
to their physical, economic and spiritual well-being. Among these,
caribou and reindeer feature prominently in the oral traditions
of hunting and herding peoples, and continue to serve as links
to their past traditions and future ambitions.
4.2. Urgent and important issues
Potential and current changes to
human-reindeer/caribou systems are today multi-dimensional. Large-scale
non-renewable resource development projects are occurring or planned
in many regions of the Arctic and sub-Arctic. Long-range transport
of pollutants from outside of the region is considered to be causing
habitat changes and has generated significant fear among those
who are regular consumers of reindeer and caribou. Climate change,
which is likely to be greatest in polar regions, raises questions
regarding its effects on the growth and distribution of forage
plants, the distribution and movements of animals, its implications
for insects which affect caribou and reindeer energy reserves,
and users' access to and movement with animals at important times
of the annual cycle.
Fundamental changes in political
and legal structures have also been dramatic, and are affecting
indigenous Arctic residents who depend on reindeer/caribou resources.
In the Russian North, the demise of many state farms and the rise
of the market economy and privatization are changing the roles
that indigenous peoples must play and the rules by which they
must operate. The former state supported economic and supply system
of distribution has collapsed, creating a need for new methods
of marketing, distribution and herder support. In some cases these
problems are coupled with the unscrupulous decisions of government
officials whose interests are at odds with reindeer herding peoples.
In Canada, creation of new political entities like Nunavut and
implementation of numerous land claim settlements have altered
relations between local indigenous communities and the state,
and at the same time transformed communities that are a part of
these arrangements.
It has been argued that increasing
human needs for stability in food availability, clothing and transportation
in the Eurasian North put pressure on wild reindeer in Eurasia
and, in combination with changes in climate, brought about the
shift from dependence on wild reindeer hunting to reindeer husbandry.
Whereas the transition to reindeer herding added stability and
sustainability to the antecedent hunting societies, conversion
from a subsistence economy to commercial reindeer husbandry in
this century added new and difficult challenges to modern resource
management of these northern grazing systems.
The current status of reindeer herds
across the Russian North is by no means uniform. On the Yamal
Peninsula, the population of semi-domesticated reindeer has risen
steadily in the post-Soviet period, resulting in serious questions
regarding the capacity of remaining rangelands to support the
herds. In contrast, semi-domesticated herds on the Chukchi Peninsula
have dwindled while wild reindeer herds have increased, making
it extremely difficult for herders to prevent their stocks from
joining wild herds.
For the northern peoples of Canada
and Alaska who depend on hunting of caribou, a major issue is
how the influence of the western industrialized world has changed
their relationship to the resource. North American hunters have
always experienced shifts in the size and distribution of caribou
herds. Prior to this century, the use of a suite of resources,
trade networks and geographically broad social relationships
eased the effects of fluctuations. Now commercial opportunities,
wage employment and government welfare also buffer changes in
resource availability.
Indigenous rights and local involvement
in resource management are important issues tied to caribou and
reindeer grazing systems. Increased access to these Systems by
southern populations, enclave developments, and culturally inappropriate
management policies have spurred northern peoples to seek clarification
of their rights and to reassert their role in management of both
wild and domesticated herds. The results of these efforts are
reflected in passage of new laws, recent court decisions, land
claims agreements and the establishment of co-management regimes.
The long-term effects of these changes on the sustainability of
caribou and reindeer grazing systems are largely unknown.
Reindeer herding and caribou hunting
societies developed a body of knowledge about these northern grazing
systems and adapted to the presence and absence of animals through
opportunistic, mobile hunting strategies. Arctic industrial
development in this century led to the expansion of the Arctic
human population, establishment of permanent settlements away
from the coast, adoption of new technologies and the addition
of wage work. Many a new settlement and industry across Siberia
depended on reindeer herders for meat and, originally, for transport
as well. The Soviet authorities thus "industrialized"
reindeer herding to facilitate the development of the Soviet North.
Now, privatization and the shift to a market economy in Russia
pose new challenges for indigenous herders. These changes have
added new complexity and pressures to the relationship of humans
to Arctic ecosystems. Overall, these changes have made the Arctic
grazing system more dependent upon the global economy. Modem science
has greatly expanded understanding of the relationships among
Arctic species. There has, however, been little integration of
knowledge about trophic levels with ecosystem and landscape level
studies, nor an appreciation of the value of local and traditional
knowledge in understanding these systems. Increased pressure for
exploitation of ungulate populations and pressure for changes
in patterns of reindeer husbandry in the North have been generated
in recent decades without development of an understanding of
the complexity of human-reindeer/caribou systems sufficient to
enable planning and management for their sustainability.
4.3. Local and regional perspectives
and their implications for research planning
Perspectives of indigenous user
panelists at the Rovaniemi Workshop provide a more intimate account
of important and urgent problems of human-reindeer/caribou systems,
and offer insight on how forces for changes manifest themselves
in the daily lives of hunters and herders. The concerns expressed
by Native workshop participants also reflect how conditions
differ by region, while concurrently reflecting problems associated
with initiating a circumpolar research planning effort.
Among the most striking and desperate
concerns expressed in Rovaniemi were those from Russia. These
participants spoke of the abject poverty in which many herders
currently subsist, the disarray at the local level which has followed
from the collapse of former state-controlled management systems,
the absence of recognized rights for indigenous herding people,
and the increased industrial activity which has resulted from
current open-access conditions. Following from this situation
have been dramatic declines in habitat forage quality and emergent
pressures on local herders to abandon traditional herding ways
of life for more urban-based lifestyles. Anthropologists working
in the region framed these conditions in more blunt terms - as
a "crisis." Alexey Polezhaev, an ecologist from the
Institute of Biological Problems of the North, put the conditions
in more political terms of "local control" by speaking
to the need for "political and social measures to regain
the social and economic life of reindeer husbandry." These
desperate concerns, described both by state and private reindeer
users of Russia, raise the question of how people incurring such
conditions can concern themselves with a circumpolar research
planning process when their basic survival needs are in question.
Clearly, making the link between herders' immediate social, economic
and political needs and research is critical.
Fenno-Scandian Saami participants,
on the other hand, highlighted problems in their region of decreasing
viability of reindeer herding and multiple forms of encroachment
by non-reindeer users on important pasturelands. Described in
pragmatic terms, this situation is related to acquiring adequate
financial resources to "survive" in modern society,
while facing the reality that reindeer husbandry is maintained
at low levels of productivity. From the indigenous perspective,
the problem of low productivity is the result of herders being
forced into smaller pasturelands, resulting in heavier grazing
pressures due to encroachment of development on grazing areas
and hi-national policies on fencing and trans-border herd movements.
Johan Matis Turi, President of the World Reindeer Herders Association,
spoke particularly of the efforts of Saami peoples to organize
and become a viable political force, and the need to view Native
herders as part of the heritage of Arctic natural systems. In
spite of considerable efforts in this area, securing adequate
rights from central governments to sustain herding remains elusive.
Native users of Alaska spoke of
a different set of concerns. Vera Morris of Kiana, a small and
remote village in north-western Alaska, described past conditions
in which declines in caribou populations were perceived by biologists
and managers as being primarily the result of Native over-hunting
and waste. Native Alaskans today live with imposed state government
hunting regulations, and limited formal rights when working with
agencies in managing caribou and restricting urban-based sport
hunters who presently have political dominance over the Alaskan
state legislature. As a result, most local families must modify
the traditional rules by which Native Alaskans relate to wildlife.
As Morris put it,
My son is fifteen and his dad is teaching
him to hunt. Jim [his dad] learned from his father where to find
caribou, about gun and boat safety, about butchering animals.
Now, as we're teaching our son, there's a lot more to it. We have
to talk with him about sports hunters, boundaries and regulations,
about diseased animals and protecting rights for the future.
Echoing similar issues, Davie James,
Director of the Natural Resources Department of the Council of
Athabascan Tribal Governments in north-western Alaska, spoke of
his organization's nascent efforts to increase community research
capacity, and how this goal is being undertaken through acquisition
of grants in spite of limited government agency support. Concerns
driving community-controlled research agendas in his region include
environmental health, long-range transport of contaminants, low-flying
military and civilian aircraft, and the loss of elders along with
their rich knowledge of land and caribou.
For Native Alaskan workshop participants,
these political and environmental conditions have direct implications
to the research planning process initiated in Rovaniemi. Following
from the protracted political conflicts of Alaska, today there
is limited trust among researchers, managers and indigenous resource
users and, therefore, great suspicion about collaborative projects
involving non-locals.
Canadian caribou hunters who have
considerable experience working through a myriad of newly established
land claims settlements indicated a set of research related concerns
from a slightly different perspective. Joe Tetlichi, Chair-man
of the Porcupine Caribou Management Board, noted that while some
communities have undertaken their own documentation of traditional
knowledge, it remains uncertain whether such projects will carry
weight with territorial and federal agencies when enacting management
policy. Violet Camsell-Blondin, a leader of the Dogrib First Nation
in Northwest Territories, expressed concerns regarding development
projects that are typically reviewed in impact assessment processes
individually, and not adequately assessed at a landscape level.
As she stated, "We are concerned about the cumulative effects
of all activities - mines, hydro, roads, outfitters, and
fishing lodges . . . We have to be sure we do not sacrifice our
environment, as caribou is our food."
Canadian First Nations people pointed
out that language is fundamental to knowledge, and raised the
problem of finding common constructs in research, as well as when
framing the Rovaniemi Workshop's objectives. Alice Legat, an anthropologist
who works on traditional knowledge projects with the Dogrib First
Nation of NWT, spoke to the limitations of translating indigenous
concepts into western languages and the problems of "mining"
indigenous knowledge systems as data sources without regard for
their underlying cultural perspectives.
Canadian participants went on to
point out that the term "science plan," as used by the
workshop organizers, is perceived as exclusionary to many indigenous
hunters, and limits participation of those who identify their
system of knowledge as distinct from the scientific methods of
western inquiry. Anthropologist Igor Krupnik added that there
are also hazards in generalizing a monolithic notion of "western
science," and not recognizing the diversity of traditions
of learning among and within the many academic disciplines. In
response, Rovaniemi Workshop participants agreed to dispense
with the use of the term "science plan" and in the future
refer to the group's engagement in a "research planning process."
4.4. Cross-cutting themes of
workshop transactions
Cross-cutting themes of the Research
Plan represent broad categories of concern that emerged in workshop
discussions. In many cases, these themes do not provide the detail
necessary for actual research planning of specific study projects.
They do, however, serve as guiding principles by which research
should be formulated, implemented and evaluated (Table 4). As
noted, these themes were identified through a coding exercise
undertaken by a subgroup of participants after the close of the
workshop. It is recommended that these themes be cross-referenced
with the individual working group reports.
|
Table 4. Guiding questions for future
research.
|
|
· How does the
research improve the ability to anticipate and respond to
change?
· Will the research
add to our understanding of how the system functions?
· To what extent
does the study advance methodological practices?
· Does the research
provide resources that facilitate better communication among
key players?
· Does the research
help to organize people into a stronger and better coordinated
network?
· Does
the research re-frame the problem in a way that speaks to
current needs and revises outdated paradigms?
|
4.4.1. Improve the ability to anticipate
and respond to change: Today's unprecedented socio-economic,
environmental, and political changes in the Arctic and the role
of humans in reindeer and caribou systems underscore the need
to investigate more thoroughly and articulate more clearly the
loss, risks and benefits associated with specific policy choices.
Today's changes are both novel and multi-dimensional, and thus
require research initiatives to examine social and economic responses
to the physical and biological landscapes, as well as to new economic
structures. There is a need to advance knowledge of the indicators
of change in order to predict critical levels of impact and the
thresholds for cumulative effects. These research efforts should
not, however, overestimate our existing knowledge base. While
much knowledge has been gathered about the relationship between
humans and reindeer/ caribou, there remains great uncertainty
in many important areas. As pointed out in Rovaniemi, many management
boards with access to relatively good data struggle to answer
their most basic questions (e.g. Should hunters harvest a decreasing
population? When should managers attempt to manipulate a population?
Do radio collars affect caribou behaviour?).
4.4.2. Understand better the functionality
of human-reindeer/caribou Systems: Understanding systems'
functionality is the most discussed theme of research among professional
researchers, and a key focus of inquiry for determining how best
to respond to change. Working groups stressed this theme, though
each elaborated different aspects of the system. Those focusing
on minimizing the impacts of industrial development spoke of the
need to identify pathways of contaminants and the functional response
of organisms at lower trophic levels. The rangelands and habitats
working group, however, discussed the relative importance of complexity
with respect to cumulative effects on critical habitat, while
social scientists and resource managers highlighted the need to
examine the effectiveness of different institutional arrangements,
to reduce or at least coordinate jurisdictional complexity, and
to build social capital. In order to understand how human-reindeer/caribou
systems function, the particular focus of each field of research
must be developed and each field of research must be cognizant
of the others.
To advance understanding of human-reindeer/caribou
systems there is today a dire need to build more and better databases
of information sources (i.e. meta-databases) that provide for
more in-depth analyses. Future data collection efforts are recommended
through the development and maintenance of regional and circumpolar
monitoring tools. For monitoring of human-Rangifer systems
to be useful, data collection protocols need to be established
and integrated with other research programmes. Two models for
exchanging data and making regional comparisons of particular
note for Arctic researchers are the Arctic Monitoring and Assessment
Programme (AMAP, see www.grida.no/amap) and the International
Tundra Experiment (ITEX, see www.systbot.gu.se/research/itex/itex.html).
The use of remote sensing offers another area of research that
has considerable potential for contributing to the development
of circumpolar monitoring tools (e.g. satellite imagery and the
use of normalized difference vegetative index [NDVI]). There has
been some initial advancement in the integration of resource users'
knowledge into ecosystem monitoring systems, but more methodological
development is needed. These elements of a monitoring programme
offer much promise, particularly if used in tandem with geographic
information systems (GIS) mapping, and to calibrate, validate
and refine simulation models through both retrospective analysis
and special case studies.
Utilizing comparative methods in
circumpolar studies of human-reindeer/caribou systems offers special
opportunities, both with single discipline and interdisciplinary
research endeavours. A comparative approach could potentially
contribute to our understanding of system functionality by contrasting
wild and domesticated reindeer herds, disturbed and undisturbed
landscapes, and different institutional environments such as
different community-state power sharing management regimes. The
comparative method also offers the advantage of lending itself
to quantitative and qualitative analysis, as well as hybrid approaches
that are interdisciplinary in nature and incorporate combinations
of the two.
Comparative analysis also offers
rich opportunities to address important theoretical problems.
For example, circumpolar comparisons raise the question of the
extent to which findings can be extrapolated across populations,
regions and regimes, and the extent to which investigators can
scale local findings up to landscape and regional levels. From
a somewhat more applied perspective, there are potential benefits
from testing the assumptions, constructs, methods and findings
of sensitive habitat identification, both between wild and domestic
populations and between local knowledge and research science.
Finally, the study of the human
role in reindeer/caribou systems should take more seriously the
role of culture as a determinant of system behaviour and human
response to change. While reindeer and caribou research has typically
focused on "natural systems" and viewed human communities
as exogenous in its analysis, formal and informal social institutions
(i.e. rules in use), levels of trust between parties, the flow
of information, and groups' access to financial resources and
political power affect ecosystem dynamics and resource conservation
practices as well. Bridging the gulf between these behavioral
elements of human society with the biophysically-oriented dimensions
of a grazing system remains one of the greatest challenges to
future researchers.
4.4.3. Develop new methods for doing
research:
Participants of the Rovaniemi Workshop
repeatedly raised the point that while the substance of research
findings is critical, so are the methods used in achieving them.
Central to understanding complexity and functionality of human-reindeer/caribou
systems is the use of methods that are holistic in approach. Today,
while holism is commonly espoused as a goal for research, most
projects fail far short of being interdisciplinary; few models
of research are readily available for achieving interdisciplinary
objectives. Mentioned as an example of working towards these objectives
was the Sustainability of Arctic Communities Project, funded
by the US National Science Foundation and involving 22 researchers
of different disciplines and four Native caribou hunting communities
of Alaska and Canada. This integrated assessment has drawn on
research science and local knowledge to produce simulation models
for the purpose of improving the ability of scientists and locals
to understand and discuss how forces of change may affect communities
meeting their sustainability goals (see www.taiga.net/sustain).
Comparative circumpolar research
also requires advancements in methodological approaches for comparing
case studies, so treatment of data sets collected with differing
methods may be compared and analyzed. New sources of data derived
from remote instruments (e.g. satellite imagery) offer considerable
promise, although improved methods are needed to ground-truth
findings, understand the relationships with Rangifer population-level
response, and account for regional and local variability.
Methodological advancement towards the
co-production of knowledge by indigenous communities and researchers
was also a key theme explored in Rovaniemi. Indigenous people
and researchers alike called for methodological development that
results in future studies that are both rigorous and useful, as
well as less intrusive. Issues of power and power sharing ate
important in this enterprise, both with respect to allocation
of research resources (e.g. human expertise, access to funds),
as well as the terms with which local knowledge is perceived to
be legitimate. The debate on this topic revealed two camps. One
group proposed a co-production process in which specific cultural
perspectives on change would be exchanged and mutually included
in common projects. Others were less sanguine about collaborative
projects, stating a preference for the segregation and distancing
of local and science-based research initiatives, with exchanges
con-fined to discursive interactions.
Three substantive research questions
illustrate the issues surrounding intrusiveness of research, the
use of local people's knowledge and the achievement of holistic
studies:
· Is it possible to assess a reindeer/caribou
population without counting the herd and, if yes, how?
· What incentives foster good interdisciplinary
inquiry among scientists?
· How might user communities best be
involved in research so as to respect locals' traditions, ensure
rigour and relate findings to a public policy process?
On another front, there is a need
for advancement in methods for documenting subsistence uses of
herds and hunters, especially those that identify the territories
and resources used by indigenous peoples and that provide data
essential to protect their rights to land and resources.
4.4.4. Facilitate better communication
among key players: Conventionally, researchers view communication
as outside the domain of their research activities, and necessary
only among key players in the "peer review" of publishable
articles. This approach has proven problematic in the areas of
reindeer and caribou studies, especially as related to risk assessment,
but also in the achievement of effective shared decision-making.
In Rovaniemi, researchers, managers
and resource users alike called for an increased emphasis on
information exchanges that make research activities and their
findings more accessible to lay people, and enable residents of
the Arctic and those beyond to understand, contribute to and use
research findings. While the World Wide Web is an emergent vehicle
for achieving better information exchange, people at the margin
are typically without such services and are culturally oriented
to face-to-face interactions. Regardless of the medium of exchange,
it is clear that information transfers are important, both in
allowing resource users access to the findings of the research
community and in creating meaningful dialogue between groups that
promote mutual understanding, respect and new discoveries.
Assuming that communication is best
when it is two-way, there is a need to foster research projects
that bring greater prominence to the voice of resource users and
legitimacy to their perspectives on ecological, social and economic
systems. Participants of the Herding Systems Working Group suggested
a set of projects, entitled "Let the People Speak",
to provide resource users their own stage for voicing their perspectives
and presenting historical data in their own way. Others, seeking
to blur the distinction between the subjects of research and the
investigators, called for a set of "Natives Study Natives"
projects, using video ethnography that supports region-to-region
circumpolar learning and cooperation. Most important, these
ideas speak to the fundamental principle that those directing
research, whether they are indigenous or not, should include hunters
and herders in all phases of research, and look to them when defining
normative measures (e.g. defining community well-being and sustainability).
Such efforts should not be confined
to indigenous peoples studying other indigenous peoples' approaches
to problem-solving. The scientific community has much to gain
from exchanges of ideas about research methods, and for promoting
such exchanges are needed. As noted by those in Rovaniemi, this
is particularly evident for professional scientists of Russia
where financial resources and access to higher technologies are
limited.
4.4.5. Organizing into a stronger
and better coordinated network: The workshop in Rovaniemi
was the first gathering of scientists, reindeer and caribou users,
and mangers to address research in human-reindeer/caribou systems
in an interdisciplinary forum. Today, the interest in the human
role in reindeer/caribou systems is widely dispersed, although
there is increasing focus on achieving greater collaboration.
The benefits of a stronger and more coordinated network of those
interested in the study of human-reindeer/caribou systems include
new opportunities for circumpolar comparisons, exchanges of research
methodologies and the identification of common patterns of change
and proven strategies for coping with them. Moreover, this coordination
can be used in acquiring greater recognition of funding needs.
Clearly, such efforts depend on the creation the exchange of information
via an effective network.
4.4.6. Re-framing the issues and
revising the paradigm: Fundamentally, the Rovaniemi human-Rangifer
Research Plan calls for a rethinking of conventional approaches
to planning and carrying out research in a way that embraces the
complexity of Arctic Systems, their rapid state of change, and
the increasing threats to human reindeer/caribou relationships.
As indicated in the cross-cutting themes outlined above and the
individual reports of working groups, below, this shift in thinking
requires that underlying assumptions of many conventional research
efforts be questioned and re-framed. In many cases, future research
should reflect better the chaos that is part of all natural systems,
and accept disequilibrium as a natural dynamic of Arctic systems.
Shifts in paradigm in the policy sciences are also in order, requiring
a re-framing of political analysis which has historically looked
at human needs to one that accounts for rights and duties of social
institutions, organizations and social networks, and their emergent
patterns of behaviour. Yet in many respects, a tremendous body
of knowledge is currently available, and serves as the basis for
expanding our horizons to meet the present-day challenges of people
and reindeer/caribou. The challenge requires more an adaptation
to new conditions, rather than an abandonment of all that has
been accomplished before.
4.5. Working group reports
Six topic areas were the subject
of working groups in Rovaniemi. They are: hunting systems, herding
systems, minimizing industrial impacts, habitat and rangeland
protection, pr9tection indigenous cultures, and responding to
global change. Each group grappled with its respective problem
area to identify key issues and important questions, and to generate
research recommendations. No specific format was provided for
each group to follow, so the reports from each group differ. In
the sections that follow, report summaries are presented in point
form for brevity and readability.
4.5.1. Hunting Systems Working Group
report: As technological advances make their way in society,
cultural traditions and hunting systems change. The challenges
these changes create are related to working out alternative strategies
that ensure future survival of cultural systems, rather than a
one-dimensional preservation of old ones. With this general theme
in mind, the Hunting Systems Working Group identified five major
problem areas, and within each noted research questions, comments,
arguments and possible research priorities. For the most part,
these discussions focused on barren-ground Rangifer, although
it was acknowledged that considerable hunting of caribou and wild
reindeer occurs at more southern latitudes. The members of the
Hunting Working Group expressed discomfort with the lack of circumpolar
representation in their group, as only two Europeans were present
and no Russians attended the session. Thus, important issues relating
to hunting as occurring in these regions are likely to have been
overlooked. Below is a list of some of the key points of the working
group, organized by topics.
Hunting concerns regarding the transformation
of hunting systems
·
The conflicts and increasing competitions between sport (i.e.
urban-based recreational hunters) and indigenous subsistence
hunters raise questions regarding the extent to which they can
co-exist and how future conflicts will be resolved. In some areas
of Alaska, the conflicts are resulting in acts of violence.
·
To understand the current conditions and overall dynamics of hunting
systems, there is a need to document more completely hunters'
participation in hunting economies. Specifically, there is a need
to acquire better measures of the time individuals, families and
households devote to hunting, the geographic areas traveled by
individuals, the effect of jobs on these activities, the conditions
in which collective hunts are implemented, and the extent to which
collective hunts meet the needs of communities and households.
·
There is a need to identify changing hunting patterns and relate
these changes to regions and cultural orientation.
·
Changing societal values at large are critical for anticipating
the future security of bunting peoples' way of life. Changing
societal values raise questions about how caribou and wild reindeer
hunting can best cope with anti-hunting groups, the work of extreme
"animal rights" organizations, and gun-control legislation;
and how to shape public opinion to ensure that hunting rights
are protected.
Biological issues related to caribou
management in hunting Systems
·
Answers to some of the most basic caribou management questions
are lacking. When should a group manipulate a population? What
is the best method for estimating annual mortality? Is it possible
to implement and then measure a hunting strategy that corrects
for natural morality? Is it possible to monitor abundance without
counting animals and, if so, how?
·
Industrial activities, eco-tourism and sport hunting activities
suggest a need to understand better one of the most mysterious
aspects of caribou ecology - the environmental forces affecting
annual and seasonal herd movements and distribution.
·
Crippling rates of hunted caribou have been based historically
on the subjective assessment of managers and biologists and used
in projecting changes in herd population. Methods for establishing
crippling rates need to be evaluated.
·
Management of caribou for hunting requires a closer assessment
of the fundamental concepts. For example ecological variability
(e.g. variability in snow cover) is not well understood in caribou
management.
·
Many hunting people state that caribou and muskoxen "do not
get along." In some regions expanding muskoxen numbers are
negatively correlated with caribou numbers. Do caribou and muskoxen
compete for forage or do they avoid each other?
Hunting and research methods
·
Hunting peoples' traditional values regarding caribou use call
for respectful treatment of animals. Some hunters feel that there
is a need to develop less intrusive methods for assessing population
parameters.
·
There is a need to develop new ways for social and natural scientists
to interact in the study of game management. Both have the potential
of complementing each other.
·
The inclusion of "traditional ecological knowledge"
(TEK) in caribou studies and wildlife management is commonly recommended,
but the methods for achieving this end are not well developed.
Subsistence economies
·
Changing economies in Russia raise the question of the possible
blends between hunting and herding reindeer and caribou.
·
What are the social and ecological problems related to transition
from wild to domestic management systems?
·
What are the most important drivers of change in the transformation
of a subsistence economy?
Policy studies: institutions and jurisdictional
complexity
·
Several regions face problems related to inconsistent jurisdictional
policies applied to fugitive Rangifer resources. What are
the design principles in resource regimes that account for successful
(or unsuccessful) jurisdictional coordination?
·
When are formal rules and regulations necessary, and in what areas
and in what conditions is it best for the system to function with
informal institutions? From a slightly different frame, what is
the effectiveness (and appropriateness) of basing management on
tribal laws vs. state laws vs. federal laws when applied to indigenous
hunting?
·
How do social institutions affect hunting traditions and hunting
patterns? What is the circumpolar experience in this area?
·
What are the traditional and contemporary philosophies and management
strategies of hunting societies in game management (e.g. predator
control), and how might they contribute to a public policy
process?
·
What is the relationship between the context in which management
occurs and the appropriateness of a formal board-oriented (i.e.
co-management) arrangement? What is the relationship between
contextual features of management and success in the different
functions of management?
4.5.2. Herding Systems Working Group
report: Herding Systems are part of the larger whole that
comprises northern Systems, and reflect changing physical, socio-economic
and institutional environments that are affected by individual
and group aspirations. Cognizant of these conditions and with
greater interaction with other non-local populations, herders
increasingly express the need to "know." Knowledge of
these conditions has utility to herders in coping with change.
Holistic approaches to knowledge acquisition are of special value
to herders. The Herding Systems Working Group drew on these overarching
concerns to identify research and methodological issues related
specifically to herding systems.
Research themes
·
The high diversity of reindeer herder peoples and their respective
systems of pastoralism represent an area of strength for herders,
but also uncertainly. There currently exist no central information
source that serves as a central database on herding people. Workshop
participants identified the need for a circumpolar herding "census."
·
Documentation cases (examples) of herding societies throughout
the circumpolar North are needed.
·
Documentation of projects should reduce the role of non-herding
people in telling the story of herding people, and to the greatest
extent possible should draw on the words of herders themselves.
"Let the Herders Speak" is the recommended title of
this set of projects.
·
Comparative studies that blur the distinction between research
subjects and researchers should be associated objectives.
Methodological issues
·
There is a great deal that can be done with existing knowledge,
and without the collection of new primary data.
·
The research processes of making new discoveries, continuing with
and drawing from current initiatives, collating existing data
and disseminating available findings are necessary and should
not be overwhelmed with efforts to launch new research programmes.
·
The framing of past research questions has been conducted with
limited direct consultation with local herders research; formal
and information systems are needed to establish closer links between
these groups so the framing of questions are informed by herding
peoples.
·
Beyond the problem of framing specific research questions are
underlying theoretical concepts of science that are at times culturally
foreign and in some cases inappropriate to herders who are the
subject of research. Research endeavors should be sensitive to
these differences and, where possible, incorporate the categories
and terminology of herders.
·
Formal organizations like the World Reindeer Herders Association,
as well as more local herder organizations, should assume a formal
liaison role in this process.
Herding/hunting conflicts
·
With increased range pressure and greater interaction among reindeer
herders and wild caribou hunters, there is a need to identify
mitigative measures for reducing conflicts. This is particularly
true in North America where the interaction of greatly expanding
wild populations and herders' stocks has resulted in economic
losses to herders.
4.5.3. Rangeland and habitat protection
working group report: The quality of grazing rangelands and
the potential degradation of habitat conditions represent an aspect
of human-reindeer/caribou Systems research that has historically
been under-appreciated. In the modern-day context, this topic
emerges as the single most important and controversial area of
conflict. Conditions which lead to change in range conditions
can result from a density-dependent response to increases in herd
population (as has been described for rangelands in Russia and
the George River Herd in eastern Canada), but also the result
of shifting human land use patterns (e.g. hydrocarbon development
and roads). Concurrent with these can be shifting climatic forces.
In some cases, the cumulative effects of these forces add to the
system's complexity, thus rendering current methods of analysis
ineffective. Participants of the Rangeland and Habitat Protection
Working Group grappled with these issues to address five key topic
areas. Specific project recommendations were also identified to
address attendant problems. Issue areas identified are understanding
habitat stability, creating monitoring systems of habitats, identification
of critical habitats, understanding spatial integrity and understanding
animal-habitat interactions.
Range/and habitat stability and projects
·
While on a local level there is a need to focus on human effects
on ecosystem processes and their relationship to habitat productivity,
at the regional level there is a need to understand better cumulative
effects and their expression as local impacts. Scaling to the
global level also needs to be understood better, considering climatic
and pollution related effects and feedback.
·
These three levels of analysis - local, regional and global -
translate into three recommended research projects that would:
1) determine the scalability of site-level results to landscapes
and regional levels; 2) determine the implications of landscape-level
changes to Rangifer productivity, while addressing the
implications of change to management; and 3) determine the importance
of habitat complexity for cumulative effects.
Monitoring systems
·
There is a need for regional and circumpolar habitat monitoring
tools that are improved with calibration, validation, refinement
of models, retrospective analyses and special case studies.
·
Monitoring systems for human-reindeer/caribou systems need to
be integrated with other existing programmes to ensure adequate
transfer of information and knowledge. Projects like ITEX and
AMAP offer good examples and opportunities for rich interdisciplinary
exchange.
·
Remote sensing and local knowledge represent two areas in which
monitoring tools can be advanced.
·
A specific need is to develop a large-scale monitoring tool for
lichen-dominated communities.
Identification of critical, sensitive
and important habitats
·
Formal and standard criteria are needed for this identification
process. Elements should include animal use and value by humans,
ecological performance and habitat productivity. Critical habitat
identification needs t6 be applicable at the herd level and integrated
with classic scientific and local knowledge Systems.
·
Advancing the state of knowledge in this area can be achieved
through a comparison of critical habitat identification concepts,
methods and results (not limited to Rangifer, nor the Arctic),
a comparison of local and scientific knowledge systems for wild
Rangifer, and a comparison of key habitat selection for
domestic Rangifer populations.
Problems of spatial integrity
·
Understanding the value of spatial integrity in the performance
and health of grazing systems is especially important in light
of current trends towards increased habitat fragmentation through
economic development.
·
The research needs in this area have special significance in addressing
corridors between critical habitat, in maintaining those connections,
and in identifying mitigative policy options in the face of proposed
habitat modifications.
·
Associated with such research is the need to view caribou populations
as super-organisms, and to understand carefully the thresholds
at which cumulative effects are apparent.
·
A recommended approach in addressing these research problems
is to model the effects of mitigation options on critical habitat
connectivity, including ecological, economic, sociological and
political phenomena.
Animal-habitat interactions
·
Identification of potential pathways is needed to assess better
human risk and functionality of grazing systems. Nitrogen cycling,
disease and their relation-ships to human health and herd productivity
are examples. Projects that compare undisturbed and disturbed
landscapes would serve to identify detectable feedback.
·
Comparisons of wild and domestic herds may provide insight into
the relative strength of feedback mechanisms in different systems
and help to identify the strengths and differences among these
systems.
·
Qualitative assessment tools are needed to understand habitat
state effects on animal performance. Integration of local knowledge
and science to assess these should be a central feature of this
inquiry.
4.5.4. Minimizing the Impacts of
Industrial Development Working Group report: Industrial development
within the ranges of the reindeer and caribou populations is expanding
at a dramatic rate, raising questions about their ultimate impacts
and how development activities can be modified to minimize negative
effects on grazing systems. Participants of this working group
completed a cursory comparison of development activities within
different regions (e.g. large-scale gas development in the Yamal,
the Prudhoe Bay and Kuparuk oil fields, smaller scale oil development
in the National Petroleum Reserve of Alaska, expansive diamond
and other mineral mines in the Bathurst, the Bluenose and Beverly
Herd ranges, and the extension of road, tourism and power line
corridors in Norway.) These discussions highlighted current fragmentation
of knowledge and opportunities for comparative studies.
Cumulative effects and existing development
·
There is a need to summarize and synthesize understanding of
cumulative effects from existing developments in order to project
what may be expected from future proposed developments of a similar
nature (i.e. oil/gas fields, open pit mines, etc.) Such studies
would best be undertaken where there is a reasonably long history
of development under presumed restrictions to minimize environmental
impacts, such as the Prudhoe Bay Oil complex and Quebec hydroelectric
development
·
Studies should try to determine what criteria are valuable in
assessing disturbance and cumulative effects.
·
Specific investigations would monitor ongoing development to
categorize and chronicle the cumulative effects as they occur,
from preinitiation through termination and rehabilitation. While
long-term funding commitments from responsible agencies are necessary
to accomplish this, it is recognized that obtaining this type
of project sponsorship is difficult.
·
Comparative research of existing development projects and their
impacts of grazing systems are highly recommended. Three types
of comparative studies are proposed: a) similar developments in
different countries (e.g. diamond mining in Northwest Territories
Canada and Russia); b) different types of development (e.g. oil
production and mining); and c) industrial development in markedly
different environments.
·
Cumulative effects are recognized as an area of study that is
central to the study of existing development activities, and which
requires greater clarification both with respect to conceptual
development and formulation of research methodology.
Behavioural responses of caribou/reindeer
to industrial activities
·
Behavioral studies are needed to identify the responses of caribou/reindeer
to a variety of development activities and structures under a
variety of environmental conditions. Studies of this type have
been and are being done (e.g. Prudhoe Bay, Dempster Highway, hydro
development in Norway), and should be continued and broadened
to include situations not yet covered, including seasonal differences.
·
Studies should address questions regarding the degree of habituation
possible in caribou and reindeer to specific disturbances (e.g.
roads, traffic, low-flying aircraft, pipelines, hikers and skiers
in calving areas, etc.) in different terrain, vegetation (forested
vs. tundra), seasonal conditions (presence or absence of snow),
and the presence or absence of predators, including humans.
Societal responses to effects and
integrated assessment of industrial development
·
Studies should explore the effectiveness and deficiencies of
legally mandated impact assessments through the testing of "models"
as predictive tools.
·
Comprehensive interdisciplinary studies of the full impacts of
development on a particular geographic/political region are needed.
These studies should be undertaken as retrospective analyses to
delineate differences and similarities of impacts. These studies
offer special promise, especially if they include adequate detail.
Case studies of impact assessments
·
Research is needed to analyze present forms of impact assessment
with the objective of highlighting their pitfalls and deficiencies,
and moving towards more adaptive approaches.
Research capacity analysis
·
Methodological problems exist where professionals in particular
regions are not able to identify, analyze and communicate regional
problems. This is particularly problematic in Russia, where a
wealth of data is available but access to sophisticated analytical
tools is limited. Studies in these regions should best be undertaken
by teams of researchers focusing on a regional basis, but ideally
completed on a country-wide basis, with one or more of the team
coming from outside the region and sharing experience with development
assessment under more controlled conditions.
Protected areas
·
Research is recommended to focus on the principal components of
establishing protected areas or a protected areas network (where
"protected area" means a geographically identified region
that is managed according to a set of sensitivity criteria). Components
of these studies could include: a) documentation of caribou/reindeer
seasonal movements and use of ranges and a review of possible
changes associated with climate change; b) means of assigning
"values" in an ecological, cultural and economic terms,
with psycho-social studies investigating risk perception and transformation
of values, for people residing in both rural and urban areas;
c) documentation of existing institutional approaches toward caribou/reindeer
habitat protection; and d) analysis of the means for recognizing
and exploiting decision-making authorities/regimes.
·
The product of protected habitat studies should be the identification
of critical habitat units that can provide the basis for guiding
and/or constraining development to avoid habitat degradation.
Such studies should also provide the background necessary for
demonstrating the relative importance of critical habitat to grazing
systems - including the people dependent upon them - to policy
makers.
Comparison of "useful" information
·
Studies are needed to evaluate the relative utility of various
types of information needed in impact assessment and habitat
protection. A central aspect of this area of research is to identify
the minimum information needed in advance of authorization of
a development project.
Institutional management effectiveness
·
Research is needed to explore a range of existing institutional
arrangements with respect to their appropriateness and effectiveness
in managing human-caribou/reindeer systems in the face of development.
Studies should assess the appropriate role of user communities,
industry, government, NGOs and non-locals in the application,
exploration, extraction and restoration phases of development.
Pollution and contaminants
·
The working group defined pollution as "matter that arrives
from near or far which is absorbed by the biota to contaminate
the environment." With regard to long range pollutants,
there is a need for studies and monitoring that identify the origins
and levels of long range pollutants that affect caribou. Examination
of specific pollutants, their pathways and their longevity in
the system (e.g. the half-life of radio nuclides) should be a
part of this process.
·
Vegetation studies are especially important for understanding
the effect of pollution on forage, particularly lichen. Related
to this area of inquiry are studies on lichen physiology to understand
how they respond to pollutants. Knowledge of the effects of pollution
on Arctic and alpine vegetation was characterized as low, with
lichen physiology described by workshop participants as a black
box when compared to the knowledge of vascular plants. Background
level studies should determine existing or native levels of common
contaminants. For example, cadmium levels may be the result of
geo-chemical anomalies of specific sites.
·
Caribou/reindeer ecology and pollution. Specific studies are need
to relate range ecology (e.g. seasonal movements/forage) to types
of pollutants and how they affect animals. These studies would
include duration of exposure to site-specific pollutants, considering
range use patterns and harvesting activities, seasonal variation,
and exposure due to change in diets. Leaching of pollutants into
the environment is also important.
·
Studies are deemed necessary to understand the effects of nitrogen
pollution on plants, ozone and changes in geo-chemical cycles,
especially as nitrogen pollution relates to increased sensitivity
of plants to abiotic stresses. It was noted that nitrogen pollution
may go hand in hand with climate warming, increasing growth of
some plants through fertilization and warmer or longer growth
season that may be detrimental to other plants which thrive under
low nutrient availability and cool conditions (e.g. lichens and
sedges - both important seasonal forages for reindeer and caribou).
·
Major changes in plant communities may result with birch shrub
of low forage quality increasing to the detriment of high quality
forage species. Increasing ultraviolet-B (UV-B) due to thinning
of the atmospheric ozone layer at high latitudes will affect plants
differentially. Those that cannot adapt (e.g. leaf thickening
to protect active photosynthesizing tissues) may die out and those
that can adapt may be of lower forage quality. Studies have been
initiated in this area in northern Sweden, but more effort should
be directed.
·
There is a need to identify key indicators of pollution levels
that are important to grazing systems and human uses of reindeer
and caribou.
·
Studies are required that examine the intake, transformation and
bio-accumulation of pollutants/contaminants in reindeer/caribou.
These are important because not all pollutants are potential contaminants
and some that may have no significant effect on plants or reindeer/caribou
may move through the food chain to humans, where they may become
contaminants.
Human health and contaminants
·
Existing information on human health risks from contaminants are
insubstantial and inappropriate for the Arctic. Medical studies
relevant to the Arctic and its. people are required regarding
health risks from exposure to contaminants. Existing and new medical
research centres in the North need to focus on this important
issue.
·
Human contamination should be monitored and the sources and pathways
identified.
·
Studies should determine appropriate and effective means of communicating
health risks of contaminants to northern people. There is a specific
need for sociologists and psychologists with experience working
in northern communities to undertake these studies.
Lichen studies
·
Lichen were recognized as a key species in grazing systems, yet
little is known about the ecology of these plants.
·
There is a need to investigate the dynamics of the structure and
function of lichen-dominated communities. (Cross reference with
Habitat Protection and Range Use Working Group.)
Disturbance recovery
·
Studies would follow recoveries of post-disturbance systems to
illustrate potentiality for recovery following particular disturbance
events. Studies could address ecological, sociological, economic,
cultural and political aspects of post-disturbance response and
recovery
Indigenous Cultures Working Group
report: Cultural studies on the human role in reindeer/caribou
Systems, unlike single disciplinary approaches, offer a unique
opportunity for holism. Workshop interest in this topic area was
substantial, with the Indigenous Cultures Working Group proving
to be the most well attended and the most diversely composed,
with respect to both geographical as well as disciplinary representation.
Epistemological questions regarding knowledge and cultural systems
were at the heart of many of the discussions, as it was recognized
that indigenous peoples continue to redefine their identity in
modern-day contexts by asserting the uniqueness of their perspective,
and advancing their political stature by contributing knowledge
in resource management and other public policy processes Knowledge
was expressed by members of this working group as a process of
learning, including the transfer of knowledge through time and
between individuals. Loss of knowledge was identified as fundamental
to culture change, with its maintenance linked to the protection
of reindeer/caribou societies. The extensive transactions of
this work group were distilled into a set of four pressing areas
of research:
1) What are the mechanisms and processes
by which knowledge is transmitted between generations and adapted
to changing conditions in reindeer/caribou societies? This question
ad-dresses social stability, continuity and flexibility, and questions
the concepts of traditional and modern. In particular, attention
needs to be paid to rapidly changing gender roles.
2) What is the range of cognitive, philosophical,
moral and practical presuppositions embedded with the diverse
ways of knowing that come to bear on reindeer/caribou societies?
3) How is different knowledge used in
arriving at decisions affecting reindeer and caribou people? This
question includes the study of political, legal and economic systems
of dominant societies as well as indigenous societies. Comparative
studies are recommended as the preferred method of analysis.
4) Comparative studies are needed in
the construction of knowledge and worldview of reindeer/caribou
people as they concern variability in the reindeer/caribou populations
and behaviour. This includes understanding knowledge as a process,
the role of cosmology and symbolism, and the distinction between
knowledge as information and knowledge as wisdom.
4.5.6. Responding to Global Change
Working Group report: The Global Change Working Group focused
on a broad set of topics that allowed comparison of differing
perceptions of change in different regions. While North American
researchers stated their keen interest in and concern about climate
as a driver of change, Europeans and Russian researchers argued
that overgrazing and habitat degradation are more critical forces.
Participants agreed that anthropological (i.e. globalization
of economies, changing social structures, transformation of political
power) and institutional issues (formal and informal policies,
rules in use, conventions, norms influencing behaviour) were significant
in all cases. In an attempt to capture differing forces for change
in different regions for analysis in circumpolar research, the
group developed a three-dimensional framework (Fig. 1). Several
key issues and questions were articulated:
·
A meta-database (i.e. source of information sources) is needed
that provides the basis for regional comparisons of change, as
well as methodological techniques that will modify available data
to make them comparable.
·
Institutional dimensions were identified as an under-represented
element of most global change studies.
5. Beyond Rovaniemi: outstanding questions
and follow-up initiatives
How should the energy generated
at the Human Role in Reindeer/Caribou Workshop and the ideas articulated
in this Research Plan be best directed? Clearly, the ideas expressed
in this document have no future if ways are not identified to
incorporate them into existing research initiatives and implement
them in some form as a coordinated circumpolar project. Current
financial limitations as well as political barriers make establishment
of a full-blown international office for study of the human role
in reindeer/caribou systems research unlikely in the near future.
Perhaps more appropriate is a call to build informal links among
interested parties, and explore new ways to share resources, exchange
ideas and launch collaborative studies.
To date, several major research
initiatives that focus on reindeer and caribou systems are striving
to realize these goals. (See www.rangifer.net/rangifer/resresources/
programs.cfm for a listing of research projects.) These initiatives
are expanding our knowledge of:
i) the ecosystem relationships of caribou
and reindeer in specific areas of the Arctic;
ji) the human connections to these Arctic
rein-deer/caribou systems, including their cultural, social and
economic importance;
iii) the effectiveness of different Systems
of management of the caribou and reindeer populations and their
forage resources; and
iv) the political and legal issues facing
land use in the Arctic and their importance to reindeer/caribou
systems.
The Rovaniemi Workshop has already
generated several important research proposals, including a comparative
analysis of North American caribou herds and hunters, an initiative
by CAFF to include a Rangifer systems component in its
biodiversity monitoring programme, a circumpolar UNEP programme
including the assessment of the impacts of infrastructure on grazing
systems, an ethnographic video exchange between Kola herders of
Russia and Gwich'in hunters of Canada, and a large participatory
European study of reindeer herding systems involving herders and
scientists.
Whereas these research initiatives
represent a significant start in fulfilling essential research
needs, they are not comprehensive in their coverage of the Arctic,
nor in filling the critical information gaps that exist. At present
there is no circumpolar assessment of rates of industrial encroachment
on sensitive Rangifer habitat, no overview assessment of
encroachment impact on hunting and herding systems, and no single
source of information on the status of North American barren-ground
Rangifer populations and their hunting communities. While
extensive data on reindeer grazing in Russia exist, no single
source provides high-resolution maps of pasturelands. Such maps
are essential for industrial interests and foreign investors as
well as those researchers and resource users preparing social
and environmental impact assessments of proposed development.
Additionally, there is currently no Arctic-wide monitoring and
assessment programme to provide an indication of the environmental
health of reindeer and caribou as a subsistence and commercial
resource.
To begin meeting the objectives outlined
in this research plan, three initial follow-up activities are
proposed: 1) establishment of a web-based resource on the human
role in reindeer/caribou systems; 2) the creation of a "Profile
of Herds" initiative for use in future comparative studies;
and 3) convening of working groups to address specific topic areas
identified by workshop participants as worthy of special attention.
5.1. An interactive, web-based
human-reindeer/caribou Systems resource
A clear directive from those participating
in the Human Role in Reindeer/Caribou Systems Workshop was to
maintain the newly established network and research planning process
initiated in Finland. To this end, the Institute of Arctic Studies
at Dartmouth College has established a web-based resource located
at www.rangifer.net (Fig. 2). The website's components
include:
·
"Research plan" - a posting of this research plan with
a feedback function, allowing readers to comment on its parts
and access the comments posted by others.
·
"Join the discussion" -invites readers to join an e-mail
discussion forum, as well as the Network of People in Human-Rangifer
Systems.
·
"Events and news" - a posting of current events and
news, e.g. information about conferences.
·
"Rangifer resources" - annotated links with selected
web-based resources such as those connected with current and
past Rangifer research, human uses of reindeer and caribou,
caribou co-management arrangements, agency research programmes,
reindeer herding organizations and educational resources.
·
"Profile of Herds" - intended to provide an overview
of circumpolar human-reindeer/caribou systems, including population
estimates of animals, sensitive habitats, management regime,
groups of resource users, government jurisdictions, historic
record of harvest levels, regions-specific conflicts etc.
·
"People in Rangifer Systems" - listing of individuals
involved in research, including indigenous leaders, managers,
academics and others.
At the time of this printing, the website
represents more of an opportunity than a fully developed resource.
Its success depends upon the contributions of members of our community
and the availability of resources to maintain the effort. The
website's utility remains limited to those with access to computers
and the Internet; thus a high priority for development aid must
be the enhancement of telecommunication infrastructure. Until
such time outlying communities have such access, materials will
also be distributed in printed form.
5.2. The Profile of Herds initiative
Compilation of a database and a meta-database
related to human-reindeer/caribou systems represents a key first
step in undertaking future circumpolar comparative analyses. The
database and meta-database should include (but not be limited
to):
·
historical population trends and current status
·
productivity
·
status of important habitat
·
key areas of management uncertainty
·
reported use levels
·
user groups
·
herding and hunting culture groups and uses of reindeer/caribou
·
government agencies with management jurisdiction
·
management regime characteristics
·
relevant legislation
·
past, current and potential future industrial development
·
past and current management conflicts
·
current regional research priorities
·
active researchers and their organizational affiliations
·
key regional contacts
At present, the www.rangifer.net
website provides a placeholder for this information. We propose
that key resource people from different circumpolar regions collaborate
to compile the database, and that information be made accessible
to researchers, students and the general public. This compilation
will be undertaken in close cooperation with CAFF's biodiversity
monitoring initiative. We envision that as new innovations to
the World Wide Web emerge (e.g. better use of audio and video,
new analysis tools, faster connections), there will be considerable
opportunities to develop and broaden this resource.
5.3 Circumpolar working groups on
special topics
We also propose that several small working
groups, each addressing specific topics identified in Rovaniemi,
be convened to facilitate future circumpolar discussions and research
planning. Based on the transactions in Rovaniemi, several topic
areas are worthy of consideration. Their foci include:
·
evaluation of methods for assessing cumulative effects of industrial
activities on reindeer/caribou and hunting and herding societies;
·
the transition of knowledge among and between reindeer and caribou
user culture groups;
·
transformation of herding and hunting economies
·
principles of effective institutional design in sustaining human-reindeer/caribou
relations;
·
nested and linked programmes for monitoring and assessment of
human-reindeer/caribou systems.
This list of topics serves as a starting
point for further discussions. In presenting it, we acknowledge
that resources from more affluent countries are needed to support
the participation of the less affluent, and that such reallocation
and sharing are only way in which a stronger circumpolar network
can be achieved.
6. Conclusion
The Human Role in Reindeer/Caribou Systems
Workshop was an historic event in its focus and mix of participants.
While its Research Plan sets an importantresearch agenda, it also
illustrates a new model in circumpolar research planning. Innovative
and important, the workshop and the Plan call for the rethinking
of conventional research concerning human-caribou/reindeer relationships
and improving efforts to resolve urgent and important problems.
The success of this enterprise ultimately hinges on:
·
finding resources - building and empowering research teams, locating
the requisite funding to finance and disseminate their work;
·
taking risks - being less territorial, more collaborative, less
parochial and more interdisciplinary;
·
showing respect - learning to learn collectively, sharing the
outcomes of collective learning, and recognizing the differing
contributions of all.
Acknowledgements. - Although the
authors assumed primary responsibility for drafting the Research
Plan, it was the participants of the Human Role in Reindeer/Caribou
Systems Workshop who provided its content.
Figures
Fig.1. Three-dimensional framework for the comparative
study
of global change in human-Rangifer systems.
Fig.2. The home page of www.rangifer.net,
the Internet site established
by the Institute of Arctic Studies at Dartmouth College.
