Guardians program sees results
Stewardship in the Deh Cho has 2.5-fold return on investment: report
April Hudson
Northern News Services
Thursday, November 10, 2016
DEH CHO
Stewardship initiatives from Dehcho First Nations and Lutsel K'e have already paid off for the Northwest Territories, according to a new report.
Elders Sarah Chicot, left, and Therese Simba share traditional place name stories on Aug. 22 during a Dehcho First Nations youth camp in Kakisa. - NNSL file photo
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The report, commissioned by Tides Canada and the Indigenous Leadership Initiative - a group advocating for funding for a national guardians program - uses the Deh Cho's Dehcho K'ehodi program and Lutsel K'e's Ni Hat'ni Dene program as case studies for the social impact guardians programs have.
With $4.5 million invested in the programs, the report found a social return of $11.1 million - a two-and-a-half-fold return on investment. If more money is invested in the program, that value could rise to $3.7 for every $1 invested.
The amount of money invested in the program by Dehcho First Nations was not available.
Some of those social benefits include a reduction in crime and enhancement of cultural activities.
Dehcho First Nations Chief Herb Norwegian said he thought that statistic is a "fair assessment" of the program but added not all the value of social impacts can be quantified.
"When I take a look at it, there's another value - the moral value - that's not there," he said, adding that moral value comes from cleaning up after oneself when on the land and hunting responsibly.
"If you measure that, that's just an incredible return because you're ... making sure somebody's taking care of Mother Earth."
While the Ni Hat'ni Dene program has been running since 2008, Dehcho K'ehodi began in 2014 as a response to devolution which put a pause on protected-area-strategy work in the North.
That prompted Deh Cho communities - almost all of which are working on protected area strategies - to begin working together on a joint stewardship program.
During the summer of 2016, Dehcho K'ehodi began active programming by holding youth camps in Jean Marie River and Kakisa. One focus of those camps was recording place names and stories from elders who grew up in those areas.
Norwegian said the report provides a way to measure what is happening on the water and land and with animals in the Deh Cho.
He added the report can be used to pursue more aggressive initiatives from Dehcho First Nations, such as monitoring hunters and fishers to make sure they harvest responsibly. That could include local hunters as well as hunters who come from other regions.
"Of course, our own hunters too - even though we're Dene, we're just as sloppy as the people who live in downtown New York City, getting rid of garbage, throwing stuff right by their campfires," he said.
"We need to be out there and we need to be part of making sure the land stays intact."
One way to do that could be to set up a checkstop at the Jean Marie River bridge to stop people during hunting season. Norwegian said Dehcho First Nations has been talking about setting up a trailer near that location.
"What we need to do is let hunters be aware we're there," he said.
"Even the boats coming through, we need to monitor ... I think our people would be in support of that."
The report was compiled by Social Ventures Australia, which compares guardians programs in the Northwest Territories to those in Australia. The report was developed through interviews with 34 stakeholders in the North, including some from Dehcho First Nation's Aboriginal Aquatic Resource Ocean Management and the Dene Zhatie Indigenous Language Revitalization program.
