Community-Based Monitoring and Indigenous Knowledge in a Changing Arctic: A Review for the Sustaining Arctic Observing Networks. Final report to Sustaining Arctic Observing Networks.

Abstract

This review of community-based monitoring (CBM) in a changing Arctic is based on a multi-year initiative launched in 2012 as a task under the “Sustaining Arctic Observing Networks” (SAON), a network of Arctic observing networks. The goal of the task was to better understand the current state of CBM in the Arctic, with a particular interest in monitoring and observing based on Indigenous Knowledge (IK), and to make recommendations to SAON and the Arctic observing community more broadly about how to support engagement and development of CBM. The task began with the creation of a searchable, online inventory of CBM and IK programs, projects, and initiatives: the Atlas of Community-Based Monitoring and Indigenous Knowledge in a Changing Arctic (www.arcticcbm.org). The Exchange for Local Observations and Knowledge of the Arctic (ELOKA) developed this web-based atlas infrastructure on the Nunaliit Atlas Development Framework (http://nunaliit. org). The Atlas geolocates these various initiatives, visualizes the networks of communities that are involved, and shares metadata provided or verified by program staff. Identification and recruitment of CBM and IK initiatives to join the Atlas involved a number of strategies. We intentionally did not pre-define CBM, but adopted an inclusive approach that encompassed programs with different levels of community involvement as well as IK projects with relevance to long-term observing. We conducted initial outreach to a number of Indigenous organizations and government and academic researchers engaged in monitoring and observing activities. At the pan-Arctic level, Arctic Council Permanent Participants (PPs), and the SAON and Conservation of Arctic Flora and Fauna (CAFF) boards were briefed and asked to refer programs. Once programs were identified, program staff were asked to fill out a questionnaire to provide metadata about their initiative. In some cases, phone interviews were conducted and program staff were asked to approve a pre-filled questionnaire. Completed questionnaires were reviewed and entered into the Atlas by a trained member of the research team to ensure consistency of entries. As of September 2015, the Atlas included 81 program entries.1 The second component of the SAON task was to analyze these entries alongside information gathered from participation of several of this review’s authors in a series of workshops on CBM and IK held in 2013 and 20142 ; this analysis informed the development of the review. The goal of the review is to provide a snapshot of the methods, approaches, and practices of CBM and IK initiatives, and to present recommendations for next steps in supporting the continued development of CBM as an important approach to Arctic observing. The intended audience of this review includes CBM and IK program practitioners and interested community members, scientists and researchers interested in different approaches to Arctic observing, individuals engaged in developing approaches and networks for data sharing and coordination, and municipal, state/territorial, and national government agencies interested in community-based approaches to monitoring. The review contains the following sections: General overview of programs in the Atlas; Specific issue areas; Good practices; and Next Steps.