Climate Change and Health & Well-Being: A Policy Primer

Annex 4: Climate Change and Health & Well-being Adaptation Case Studies (Continued)

Region: North

Issue: Vulnerable Populations

The Northwest Territories Status Ranks of Wild Species Program

Background:

In 1998, the Wildlife and Fisheries Division of the NWT Department of Resources, Wildlife and Economic Development began a project to monitor the status of wild species throughout the Territory. The program was initiated in response to the Accord for the Protection of Species at Risk in Canada, agreed to in 1996 by the Wildlife Ministers in Canada. The primary goal of the program is "to maintain biodiversity by ensuring that no species become extinct as a consequence of human activity". The program is designed to monitor the status of all wildlife species in the geographical scope of the territory in order to:

• create a priority list of species that requires further assessment and possible protection efforts;
• increase awareness of the status of wildlife species that are sensitive to anthropogenic activity and require more information;
• encourage public input into a common knowledge base;
• provide a reference tool to be used by decision-making bodies and all northerners when making decisions regarding wildlife.

Although monitoring and information gathering of wildlife species is not new in Northern Canada, this is the first attempt to coordinate the efforts and develop a provincial system that will be of use to all communities and other sectors. The system will aid in setting conservation priorities, throughout the NWT, the North and Canada.

Link to Climate Change:

The socio-economic well-being of Aboriginal populations is critically linked to the health of wildlife species in Northern Canada for food, income and cultural traditions. The Northwest Territories is largely made up of undisturbed habitat, but northern ecosystems are already experiencing pressures from climate change. Increased temperatures resulting from climate change will lead to changes in habitats and shifting population distributions of wildlife throughout Northern Canada. Monitoring the status of species in the NWT will allow northerners to detect changes in species distribution, populations and threats.

Key Activities:

The intended end result of the program is to suggest candidate species to the federal Committee on the Status of Endangered Wildlife in Canada, for more detailed assessment. This is carried out through the following activities:

• Information is gathered on wildlife species from printed information and knowledgeable persons.
• Information is inputted into the NWT Species Monitoring Infobase.
• The species'; status is ranked as undetermined, secure, sensitive or may be at risk, according to seven indicators (population size, number of occurrences, distribution, trend in population, trend in distribution, threats to population, and threats to habitat).
• All species deemed 'May be at risk'; have a detailed status report created.
• May be at risk'; species are then designated as endangered or threatened (at risk) or not endangered or threatened.

This information is then used to further monitor the species and manage human activities. The initial report on the status ranks of wild species, the species monitoring infobase, species at risk fact sheets, and population status reports are made available to the public on the Department';s Web site. The report will be updated every five years, with information that will be continuously added to the monitoring infobase.

This program will facilitate the coordination of monitoring between existing, ongoing efforts, and will provide valuable species data to other sectors, such as tourism and forestry. Future plans will encourage and facilitate the use of community-based monitoring and the adaptation of national tools and standards to the northern perspective, as well as the creation of new tools.

Partners:

The Report on the Status Ranks of Wild Species was edited and published by the Department of Resources, Wildlife and Economic Development, Government of the Northwest Territories, in collaboration with Sahtu Renewable Resources Board, Gwich';in Renewable Resources Board, Wildlife Management Advisory Council (NWT), Fisheries Joint Management Committee, and the Government of Canada (Department of Fisheries and Oceans, Canadian Wildlife Service, Environment Canada).

There were over 65 individual contributors and participating agencies involved in the project.

References:

For a full list of contributors to the Report and for more information on the project, please visit the Department of Resources, Wildlife and Economic Development';s Web site at www.nwtwildlife.rwed.gov.nt.ca

All information for this summary was taken from the following Web site:www.nwtwildlife.rwed.go v.nt.ca/NWTwildlife