Indigenous-led conservation: Pathways to recovery for the nearly extirpated Klinse-Za mountain caribou

Abstract

Indigenous Peoples around the northern hemisphere have long relied on caribou for subsistence and for ceremonial and community purposes. Unfortunately, despite recovery efforts by federal and provincial agencies, caribou are currently in decline in many areas across Canada. In response to recent and dramatic declines of mountain caribou populations within their traditional territory, West Moberly First Nations and Saulteau First Nations (collectively, the "Nations") came together to create a new vision for caribou recovery on the lands they have long stewarded and shared. The Nations focused on the Klinse-Za subpopulation, which had once encompassed so many caribou that West Moberly Elders remarked that they were "like bugs on the landscape." The Klinse-Za caribou declined from ~250 in the 1990s to only 38 in 2013, rendering Indigenous harvest of caribou nonviable and infringing on treaty rights to a subsistence livelihood. In collaboration with many groups and governments, this Indigenous-led conservation initiative paired short-term population recovery actions, predator reduction and maternal penning, with long-term habitat protection in an effort to create a self-sustaining caribou population. Here, we review these recovery actions and the promising evidence that the abundance of Klinse-Za caribou has more than doubled from 38 animals in 2013 to 101 in 2021, representing rapid population growth in response to recovery actions. With looming extirpation averted, the Nations focused efforts on securing a landmark conservation agreement in 2020 that protects caribou habitat over a 7986-km² area. The Agreement provides habitat protection for >85% of the Klinse-Za subpopulation (up from only 1.8% protected pre-conservation agreement) and affords moderate protection for neighboring caribou subpopulations (29%-47% of subpopulation areas, up from 0%-20%). This Indigenous-led conservation initiative has set both the Indigenous and Canadian governments on the path to recover the Klinse-Za subpopulation and reinstate a culturally meaningful caribou hunt. This effort highlights how Indigenous governance and leadership can be the catalyst needed to establish meaningful conservation actions, enhance endangered species recovery, and honor cultural connections to now imperiled wildlife.

Keywords: endangered species; indigenous protected and conserved area; rights and title.

FIGURE 1

Map of British Columbia's Central Group (unshaded, with subpopulations named) of Southern Mountain caribou (subpopulation boundaries circa ~1990 onwards). The Klinse‐Za subpopulation is the focus of Indigenous‐led conservation and can be found at the top. West Moberly First Nations and Saulteau First Nations communities are found on the shores of Moberly Lake. Inset map shows the western portion of Treaty 8 territory as a white line and the contested line from the British Columbia (BC) government is shown as white dashed line. Boreal and mountain caribou subpopulations not considered here are filled with dark gray. Extirpated caribou subpopulations are filled with red. The extent of the main map is shown as a dashed red line on the inset. The 12 functionally extirpated subpopulations are as follows (north to south): Scott West, Burnt Pine, George Mountain, Maligne, Banff, Duncan, Allan Creek, Purcell Central, Monashee, Purcell South, and South Selkirk (Environment and Climate Change Canada, ; Sittler & Mcnay, ; Wittmer, McLellan, et al., 2005). Abbreviations: Can, Canada; AB, Alberta

FIGURE 2

Human‐induced disturbance (logging, roads, mining, and hydroelectric reservoirs created by damming) within and adjacent to caribou subpopulations (outlined in black, extirpated subpopulations outlined in red) in British Columbia's Central Mountain Group of Southern Mountain Caribou (unshaded). Logging shown in red was conducted during the time of Indigenous‐led conservation of the Klinse‐Za caribou (2013–current), shown in more detail on right

FIGURE 3

(a) Summary of the actions taken to recover the Klinse‐Za caribou, and why they were successful. (b) Population estimates and trend for Klinse‐Za caribou over a 25‐year period between 1995 and 2021, from McNay et al. (2022) integrated population model. Shaded area represents the 90% credible interval. Further details on the demographics of the Klinse‐Za caribou can he found in McNay et al. (2022). (c) Photos showing, top left (photo credit Emilee Gilpin, National Observer), Julian Napoleon, an SFN member, biologist, hunter, trapper, and Indigenous Guardian at the maternal pen. Top center (photo credit Emilee Gilpin, National Observer), Naomi Owens‐Beek, an SFN member, biologist, Director of Saulteau Treaty and Lands Department, and member of the Nîkanêse Wah tzee Stewardship Society. Top right (photo credit Wildlife Infometrics), 62 caribou calves have been released from the maternal pen between 2014 and 2020. Bottom left (photo credit Emilee Gilpin, National Observer), Ryan Desjarlais overlooks the maternal penning area. Ryan is a WMFN community member who has been trapping Treaty 8 territory since he was young. Bottom center (photo credit Wildlife Infometrics), caribou are fed twice daily in the pen and acclimatize well to being in the pen. Bottom right (photo credit Wildlife Infometrics), a group of biologists, scientists, veterinarians, and Indigenous Guardians work together to safely capture and transport female caribou to the maternal pen

FIGURE 4

Chief Roland Willson, West Moberly First Nations, holds a caribou antler from the recently extirpated Burnt Pine caribou as he speaks about the importance of the Partnership Agreement at the signing on 21 February 2020 in Vancouver, BC. During his speech, Chief Willson said that the Agreement was for the younger members of his Nation, and their grandchildren, who he hoped would one day be able to harvest and utilize a caribou in their traditional ways. Photo Credit: B.C. Government https://www.flickr.com/photos/bcgovphotos/49566853891/in/album‐72157686474934255/

FIGURE 5

The levels of habitat protection afforded by the Partnership Agreement for (a) the Central Group of Southern Mountain caribou and (b) each subpopulation. Black dashed line in the Klinse‐Za subpopulation shows the extent of the co‐managed Klinse‐Za protected area expansion