Caribou Guardians Coalition Workshop #3: Visioning the CGC Terms of Reference (2021) and Caribou Guardians Coalition Planning Workshop #4: Building our Information (Data) Management Plan (2022).

While Indigenous people know caribou to cycle in abundance, there has been a recent dramatic decrease. Community members report fewer caribou than seen in living memory, caribou in poor health, and a damaged relationship between people and caribou. It is uncertain whether anything can be done to bring back the caribou but supporting Indigenous communities to implement a coordinated guardianship network is a start towards enhancing the survival of both the caribou, and the communities that are dependent upon them. Developing a regional network of guardian programs to care for caribou builds on what Elders and community members have been advocating for generations and what was recommended in the Bathurst Caribou Range Plan (BCRP), i.e., support Aboriginal groups in the coordinated development and use of integrated Community Guardianship Programs across the range of the Bathurst herd. The CGC has continued to gather virtually in 2021 and 2022, due to Covid-19 restrictions. Workshop #3 was held on June 8, 2021 to finalize work on the CGC Terms of Reference; Workshop #4 was held March 15-16, 2022 to discuss Data Collection & Management. These workshops are envisioned to be a series of planning workshops for Indigenous people across the range of the Bathurst caribou herd to collaboratively develop a regional guardians network.