Yeendoo Nanh Nakhweenjit K'atr'ahanahtyaa: Environmental change and traditional use of the Old Crow Flats in northern Canada

This research project was initiated when the Vuntut Gwitchin Government invited researchers to Old Crow, Yukon to develop research questions based on the concerns of the community. This resulted in an IPY research project that seeks to integrate traditional and scientific approaches, generate new environmental knowledge of local, national and international significance, establish a legacy of community-based monitoring, create a strategic action plan to manage responses to future climate-driven effects, and serve as a useful model to other northern communities experiencing and adapting to the impacts of climate change. The goals of the project include: documenting the history of environmental change from the last interglacial to the present in Old Crow Flats; assessing the distribution and abundance of vegetation and wildlife in relation to the changing physical environment; evaluating the impact of changes in the physical and biological environment on traditional food sources of the Vuntut Gwitchin First Nation; and developing a long-term monitoring program for the Old Crow Flats to be continued by the Vuntut Gwitchin First Nation.