Indigenous-led Wildlife and Protected Area Management

Project Summary

The Arctic is a hotbed for emerging local, national, and international conservation efforts, and researchers, managers, and communities alike will benefit from improved partnerships in conservation planning, research, management, policy, and governance. This project proposes a two-day in-person workshop entitled “Facilitating Indigenous-led Wildlife, Protected Area Management, and Conservation,” in Nuuk, Greenland and will convene Indigenous scholars, Indigenous managers, and research allies in productive discussions leading to best practices for working towards conservation in partnership with Indigenous communities. Discussions of equity in research and planning among researchers, managers, and Indigenous community members improves the assessment and setting of conservation targets and goals, as well as the attainment of these goals. Clear guidance on how to engage in knowledge co-production in conservation research and planning should come primarily from Indigenous scholars, managers, and community members, however, such guidance is lacking in many regions of the circumpolar north. This workshop will culminate in a manuscript to be submitted to the 2020 IASC-funded special issue on Indigenous Methodologies, provide summary reports to Greenlandic government ministries and organizations, and publish shorter articles at international organizations and fora potentially including WWF, CAFF, Arctic Council, and the Indigenous Peoples Secretariat.