Public-private research program wrapping up
Richard Gleeson
Northern News Services
Yellowknife (Dec 18/00) - The focus of the West Kitikmeot Slave Study has switched from baseline research to the future of the organization.
The organization's board of directors has approved in principle a proposal to start planning how the organization, or one like it, would meet new research needs.
Those needs are associated with initiatives such as the Protected Areas Strategy and the development of a cumulative effects monitoring framework.
The West Kitikmeot Slave Study was initiated in 1996 to provide baseline information on the mineral rich area between Great Slave Lake and the Arctic coast. Baseline information is used to monitor changes to the environment.
The WKSS has funded more than $6 million in both scientific and traditional knowledge research. Funding comes in the form of private donations matched dollar-for-dollar by the territorial and federal governments.
WKSS last week released its annual report for 1999-2000. The report will go beyond the year to summarize the accomplishments of the WKSS since it was created in 1996. The study officially wraps up March 31, 2001.
"(The report) will be part of a proposal that will go forward to our own partners and others, looking for support for a planning process to develop a proposal for a (new) WKSS-like structure," said study director John McCullum.
The funding formula got more complicated when Nunavut came into being. The Inuit government is not part of the funding agreement, said McCullum. This year the eastern territory made its first contribution to the study -- $187,500.
The GNWT has lowered the cap on its contribution from $750,000 annually to $375,000.
This year the partnership will generate $1.6 million for research.
McCullum said the funding will be enough to cover costs this year. The proposals being sent out are to generate funds for a year of planning work.
