Recommendations

CHALLENGE There is mistrust between Arctic Indigenous peoples and scientists, and scientists often lack adequate preparation for working cross-culturally.

POTENTIAL ACTIONS AND OPPORTUNITIES Increase opportunities for cross-cultural learning, understanding, and trust building.

CHALLENGE There is no consistent approach to working with Traditional Knowledge and Wisdom.

POTENTIAL ACTIONS AND OPPORTUNITIES Create best practices through demonstration projects and on-the-ground work, including an evaluation of past projects and analysis of what worked and what didn’t.

CHALLENGE Very complex and dynamic systems.

POTENTIAL ACTIONS AND OPPORTUNITIES Effective partnerships and/or a formalized system of sharing among Arctic Indigenous peoples and scientists would more effectively engage human intelligence to deal with issues, for example utilizing Traditional Knowledge and Wisdom as early warnings of environmental change

CHALLENGE Fragmented research, lack of people working across disciplines.

POTENTIAL ACTIONS AND OPPORTUNITIES Traditional Knowledge and Wisdom can provide information that may indicate connections between phenomena; it can assist the scientists and researchers in developing ecosystem approaches to monitoring, research, and management.

CHALLENGE Research is not year-round and data gaps are many in the remote Arctic.

POTENTIAL ACTIONS AND OPPORTUNITIES Traditional Knowledge and Wisdom can fill data gaps since observations are year-round and often draw on long time frames

CHALLENGE Funding is inconsistent, often leaving out the involvement of Arctic Indigenous peoples.

POTENTIAL ACTIONS AND OPPORTUNITIES Funding aimed at actively engaging Indigenous peoples and organizations in scientific activities and to improve the understanding and use Traditional Knowledge and Wisdom

CHALLENGE It can be difficult for researchers to understand Traditional Knowledge and Wisdom, how it is validated, how to best apply it, especially elder wisdom, and how to effectively partner.

POTENTIAL ACTIONS AND OPPORTUNITIES Encourage equal partnerships and participation throughout biodiversity assessment projects that affect Indigenous peoples.

CHALLENGE Institutional structures can marginalize other forms of knowledge.

POTENTIAL SOLUTION/AUTHOR RECOMMENDATION Work to remove institutional barriers and improve processes for the effective use of Traditional Knowledge and Wisdom and involvement of Arctic indigenous peoples.

Encourage equal partnership and participation at the outset and throughout research projects that affect Arctic Indigenous peoples.

Suggestions for Wetlands Planning, Research, and Management.

1. Document Indigenous wetland resource use to allow management authorities to make decisions that respect and accommodate Indigenous resource use by ensuring that subsistence activities are not unnecessarily impeded by management actions. Information may be collected on subsistence species, types of subsistence practices, levels of reliance, and legal access.
2. Develop protected area participation plans to specify cooperative objectives, participating entities, and terms of evaluation so that management authorities can continue to engage Indigenous Peoples when experiencing turn-over.
3. Broaden wetland research priorities to further the goals of biodiversity conservation and Arctic food security by (1) conducting research with Indigenous knowledge holders on wetland ecosystems, (2) examining the intersection of wetland biodiversity and Arctic food security, and (3) prioritizing species of both conservation and subsistence interest.
4. Support community-based wetlands monitoring to help researchers and managers partner with Indigenous knowledge holders, identify ecosystem services, monitor for rapid environmental change, support year round sampling, support collection of current and historic observational information, and reinforce results from scientific studies.
5. Connect beyond wetlands so as to explore the interactions between and beyond inland and coastal wetlands and examine opportunities between CAFF projects such as RMAWI, the Salmon Peoples of the Arctic, the Seabird Working Group, and the Arctic Migratory Bird Initiative to further facilitate research on Indigenous relationships with Arctic biodiversity.
6. Foster engagement in wetlands management productively by (1) approaching Indigenous participation as an opportunity, (2) seeking to build partnerships with Indigenous governments, organizations, and communities, (3) engaging Indigenous leadership and communities at the beginning of the process, and (4) welcoming elders to participate while actively recruiting Indigenous youth to contribute to management and conservation decisions.