Achievements

The BQCMB is an advisory board. When members come together to meet twice a year, flying in from Manitoba, Saskatchewan, the Northwest Territories and Nunavut, they spend much of their time discussing issues that relate to the conservation of the Beverly and Qamanirjuaq caribou herds.

If a community wants permission from their provincial or territorial government to capture a certain number of caribou for a commercial harvest, what "safe" figure would the BQCMB recommend to that government department?

If a new road is to be built somewhere in the caribou range, what route will least disturb the caribou's fragile environment?

If fire has eaten up chunks of the caribou's precious wintering range, how should governments deal with the possibility of the remaining range being overgrazed by too many hungry caribou, leading to a sick, unhealthy herd?

Of all the strides made throughout the board's history, none is more important than the improved level of trust and repect among different aboriginal and government groups that these meetings have fostered. Before, relations were uneasy as different cultures and knowledge systems collided. But both sides have made tremendous efforts to find common ground, in order to conserve caribou for the use of future generations.

Aboriginal people demonstrated remarkable courage in abandoning past positions. One was that permission to satellite-collar caribou would never be given, because such tampering of the animal was seen as disrespect, interfering with the natural cycle of the caribou's life.

Government board members have learned to be patient. They have learned to understand that aboriginal people avoid snap decisions and generally prefer decision by consensus. Aboriginal people prefer prolonged discussion that includes elders in each community.

As it happens, most of the BQCMB's decisions come about by consensus, where all board members agree on a recommendation and feel comfortable with it. Often board members from caribou-range communities return home and talk with local elders and others first before bringing those viewpoints back to the next BQCMB meeting for the final decision.

Much of the board's energy is also devoted to telling others about caribou conservation. Board members attend conferences across Canada to explain the BQCMB's work. Hunters who are board members report back to their communities, and board members employed by government departments advise their colleagues about BQCMB positions on different matters. In recent years, a board representative testified before a parliamentary standing committee on co-management.

Conserving the Beverly and Qamanirjuaq herds is also the board's reason for being, but educating the public about caribou conservation is a major part of what the BQCMB does. Since 1982, this work has manifested itself in different, tangible ways.

February 2010 BQCMB Caribou Workshop: More than 75 elders, hunters, government staff, scientists and others from Saskatchewan, NWT, Nunavut, Manitoba, Alberta, Yukon, British Columbia and Ontario gathered in Saskatoon Feb. 23-25, 2010 to explore ways to protect Beverly and Qamanirjuaq caribou and habitat. The BQCMB Caribou Workshop was organized with the help of numerous sponsors: NWT’s Department of Environment and Natural Resources, Nunavut’s Department of Environment, the Saskatchewan Ministry of Environment, Indian and Northern Affairs Canada (NWT and Nunavut regional offices), Manitoba Conservation, Prince Albert Grand Council, the Athabasca Land Use Office, the Athabasca Denesuline Negotiation Team, the Nunavut Wildlife Management Board, WWF-Canada, AREVA Resources Canada Inc., and Cameco Corp. The populations of most barren-ground caribou herds around the world are declining these days as a result of result of natural and human-caused factors, and NWT government annual reconnaissance surveys conducted on the Beverly traditional calving ground since 2007 have witnessed fewer and fewer animals on transect.

Through a series of small group discussions, participants at the 2010 BQCMB Caribou Workshop concluded that five main factors affect the Beverly and Qamanirjuaq herds today: 1) climate change 2) loss of habitat due to forest fires on the winter range 3) disturbance from human land use activities 4) harvesting, and 5) predation (especially on the calving grounds). Many ideas were suggested for taking pressure off caribou. These have been featured in reports published following the Caribou Workshop: a 26-page Overview Report and a 60-page Detailed Report that describes many workshop presentations, gives a more comprehensive account of comments about challenges facing the Beverly and Qamanirjuaq herds, and provides possible solutions. The BQCMB is developing a full list of mitigation measures based on workshop discussions and assisting with caribou-range community meetings to discuss the main issues affecting caribou. Meetings are expected to wrap up by the end of 2011. These community meetings allow many more people who rely on the Beverly and Qamanirjuaq herds to hear from the BQCMB about the caribou. They also give people a chance to share their knowledge and provide input on ways to help caribou. In spring 2012, the BQCMB will publish a report summarizing discussions from these community meetings, making recommendations to governments and others based on comments provided.

Socio-economic evaluation shows Beverly and Qamanirjuaq harvest worth of $20 million yearly: A socio-economic report by Intergroup Consultants of Winnipeg was completed in 2008, revealing that the total annual net value of the Beverly and Qamanirjuaq caribou harvest is more than $20 million. Nunavut, by far, depends on these herds the most. The jurisdictional shares of harvest are:

• Nunavut – almost $12 million

• Manitoba – about $4 million

• Saskatchewan – over $3 million

• NWT – less than $1 million.

Most caribou hunted were from the larger Qamanirjuaq herd. The report, commissioned by the BQCMB in 2006, updates and expands on data about the two herds that were last analyzed in 1990 when the NWT government assessed the domestic harvest. The Intergroup report, by comparison, determines the value of the domestic harvest and resident licensed hunting harvest using a similar meat sold in stores (beef) to calculate the value of caribou meat harvested. It also assesses the outfitting industry and the commercial sale of caribou meat, and strives to understand the social and cultural importance of caribou to Northerners.

The full report, Economic Valuation and Socio-Cultural Perspectives of the Estimated Harvest of the Beverly and Qamanirjuaq Caribou Herds, can be downloaded here. You can also read a story about the report in Caribou News in Brief.

Screech Lake, NWT uranium project squashed: In October 2007, Indian Affairs Minister Chuck Strahl accepted a rare recommendation by the Mackenzie Valley Environmental Impact Review Board to reject a development proposal – Ur-Energy’s proposed uranium exploration operation at Screech Lake, NWT, south of the Thelon Wildlife Sanctuary on key Beverly and Ahiak caribou spring migration range. The BQCMB was instrumental, along with other like-minded groups, in helping residents of Lutselk’e fight to get the precedent-settting uranium exploration application rejected. An account of those efforts can be found in the December 2007 issue of Caribou News in Brief ("INAC rejects Ur-Energy proposal").

Beverly and Qamanirjuaq Caribou Management Plan 2005 – 2012 – following public consultation, the board published a management plan in 1987 for its first 10-year mandate, a revised version in 1996 addressing its second 10-year mandate, and now a third version, taking the Board to the end of its third 10-year mandate in 2012. The plan provides a detailed framework for management decisions, and calls upon effective teamwork and patience from all groups involved in order to protect the precious caribou resource.

Important Habitats Report, CD-ROM and Data – with mining developments promising to alter the landscape of Canada's North, the Beverly and Qamanirjuaq Caribou Management Board took steps in 1996 to research and map out the most important habitats of the Beverly and Qamanirjuaq ranges. The result was the report, Protecting Beverly and Qamanirjuaq Caribou and Caribou Range, published in January 1999. A CD-ROM, Protecting Beverly and Qamanirjuaq Caribou and Caribou Range. Part 2: Map Atlas and Documentation, was released in 2000. With 75 maps of the Beverly and Qamanirjuaq caribou range, 30 tables summarizing sources of data, a water- and ice-crossings rating system, and the entire 52-page report, it is an excellent tool for people involved in land use planning, protected areas planning, and impact assessment work on the caribou range. A separate Data CD has SPANS GIS data and mapping files created for mapping caribou distribution and movements, and supporting documentation. It was created to make this information available to others to use during land use planning, protected areas planning, and impact assessment processes. Copies of the Data CD are on deposit with the Manitoba Conservation Data Centre in Winnipeg, and the Saskatchewan Conservation Data Centre in Regina. Contact information for data requests is provided on the Map Atlas CD under Part 2: Map Atlas and Documentation – Information about Data Sources.

Established Categories of Priority Use – in 1998, the BQCMB updated its methodology for determining allowable harvest of caribou. The categories are, in descending order of priority:

1. Traditional users - domestic use
2. Residential users - domestic use
3. Traditional users - intersettlement trade
4. Local use for commercial purposes
5. Outfitting
   i) traditional users
   ii) non-residents

Man and the Biosphere Acceptable Harvest Practices Study – the BQCMB guided a University of Alaska research team on this initiative gleaning viewpoints of traditional users and wildlife managers on caribou harvesting practices. This was part of a larger project comparing the management systems of Canada's Beverly and Qamanirjuaq herds with the parallel structure overseeing the United States' Western Arctic herd.

Barren-Ground Caribou Schools Program – produced between 1983 and 1985, this four-volume kit provided teachers in caribou-range communities with activity books,videos, slides and other resource material that introduced to them the world of caribou management. This was done by talking about caribou both from the perspective of traditional knowledge (from people who have used caribou for generations), and scientific knowledge.

Caribou Schools Competition – an annual event until 1999, the Caribou Schools Competition encouraged schoolchildren living on the caribou range to enter their posters, stories and other creations in a contest that focused on a pivotal aspect of these children's lives: caribou. Entries were judged by board members, and cash prizes awarded.

Caribou News – the BQCMB was born of the need for improved communication. The board's independent newspaper, Caribou News, helped to accomplish that by investigating a wide array of issues, reflecting life as it is in the caribou-range communities, and encouraging frank and open discussion from readers. First printed in October 1980, Caribou News endured until June 1996 when funding ran out (once published six times a year, it later dwindled to two issues yearly). It has since been replaced by the smaller Caribou News in Brief.

Fire Management Studies – years of effort, including time spent collecting traditional knowledge to map out priority caribou hunting areas on the range, led to the publication in 1995 of the BQCMB's Fire Management Technical Report No. 1 along with the shorter summary, Management Report No. 1. Under the direction of chief author and board member Don Thomas, the studies examined the ecological role of fire in the boreal forest and how it relates to caribou – both in good and bad ways. From these reports, governments and firefighting managers in Saskatchewan, Manitoba and the Northwest Territories learned the board's recommendations for maintaining precious winter caribou habitat.

Caribou Management Scholarship Fund – in 1988 the BQCMB established a scholarship fund to help university students studying the management and conservation of barren-ground caribou and their habitat. Administered by the Association of Canadian Universities for Northern Studies, the annual award goes up to $1,500 and is open to anyone studying barren-ground caribou in Canada, although preference is given to applicants from a caribou-range community and to those examining the Beverly and Qamanirjuaq herds.

The Beverly and Qamanirjuaq Barren-Ground Caribou – aimed at students as young as Grade 2, this colorful, 20-page illustrated booklet on caribou conservation and the meaning of co-management was printed in separate English, Inuktitut and Dene versions in 1995 and distributed to schools throughout the caribou range. "With 25 years of experience in communicating with northern communities on caribou issues, I know a good product when I see it," responded one Yukon-based caribou biologist, "and this is certainly the best yet for this purpose."

Hunters' Code of Ethics – A "Hunt Wisely" poster was distributed to caribou-range communities in 1998. The Board worked with area hunters to hammer out a hunters' code of ethics – something of a moral manual for the hunting profession that crosses provincial and territorial borders.

Target Poster and Target Competitions – improved marksmanship leads to fewer caribou being crippled by a careless shot. So in 1990, the BQCMB produced a life-size target poster to improve shooting skills, and a short time later began sponsoring shooting competitions in caribou-range communities that made use of the posters and target-shoot rules. Those competitions are still popular today, and often coincide with community festivals.

The Beverly and Qamanirjuaq Caribou Management Board : A Model of Co-Management – in 1995, the story of the BQCMB was captured in a 22-minute video by Ottawa filmmaker George Mully. The video's name comes from a tribute to the board issued in a report from a parliamentary standing committee examining co-management in Canada. Using news footage and interviews with board members, the video is an honest confession of the perceived crises that spawned the Board, the past tensions between native people and government employees, and the hard-earned strides made in bringing the two sides closer to understanding.

20th Anniversary Report: Beverly and Qamanirjuaq Caribou Management Board 1982 - 2002 – the BQCMB passed a milestone in 2002, with two decades of caribou management under its belt, strong relations between jurisdictions with a stake in the caribou range, and loyal, long-serving board members pivotal to the board's success. This 62-page full-colour report profiles the herds and people of the caribou range, the challenges facing the caribou and their habitat, and the Board's management efforts to meet these challenges. To download a PDF version of this report, click here.

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