Abstract
A factor that has long complicated the enactment of conservation policies in Canada is that First Nations harvesting data are often missing or incomplete. Consequently conservation policies are based on population estimates that First Nations often regard as excessively precautionary and economically, politically, and racially motivated. We present the results of a regional study documenting the extent to which First Nations households from 13 First Nations communities in the Peace River region of British Columbia and Alberta participate in subsistence moose (Alces alces) hunting. Since the 1990s, the moose population in the Peace River region has exhibited episodic decline. This is a particular concern to First Nations who depend on moose as their primary source of wild food and a critical component of their culture and identity. First Nations leaders are now calling upon provincial governments to engage with them directly in a form of collaborative conservation that can build trust, cross-cultural competencies, and the co-production of new knowledge that can inform conservation policies that protect rather than restrict First Nation subsistence rights.
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Data Availability
The datasets generated and analysed during the current study are not publicly available to ensure the privacy and confidentiality of the survey participants but are available from the corresponding author on reasonable request.
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Acknowledgments
We gratefully acknowledge the First Nations whose lands this research was conducted on. Your generosity and guidance made this research possible.
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Global Institute for Food Security, University of Saskatchewan.
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This research (Ethics Number: 17–253) was reviewed by the University of Saskatchewan Behavioural Research Ethics Board (Beh-REB) and was found to be in full compliance with the current version of the Tri-Council Policy Statement (TCPS): Ethical Conduct for Research Involving Humans (TCPS 22018). Ethical requirements for informed consent in research involving Indigenous Peoples are consistent with Article 9.1 of the TCPS for protecting the welfare of Indigenous communities. This research was further guided by individual Research and Information Sharing Agreements signed between the PI and respective First Nations Governments.
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Natcher, D., Ingram, S., Bogdan, AM. et al. Conservation and Indigenous Subsistence Hunting in the Peace River Region of Canada. Hum Ecol 49, 109–120 (2021). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10745-020-00210-z
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10745-020-00210-z