Overview

The Advisory Committee for Cooperation on Wildlife Management (ACCWM) was created to share information and coordinate wildlife management between inter-jurisdictional wildlife management boards, with a particular focus on the management of trans-boundary caribou herds. 

Mandate

The Committee shall, as its members deem appropriate, exchange information, help develop cooperation and consensus and make recommendations regarding wildlife and wildlife habitat issues that cross land claim agreement and treaty boundaries.  As per the MOU, the Committee’s mandate includes the following trans-boundary issues:

1. The development of a management plan for the Cape Bathurst, Bluenose-West, and Bluenose east caribou herds;
2. The development of sub-plans for different aggregations of caribou within these herds;
3. The discussion of total allowable harvests;
4. The discussion of non-quota limitations on harvesting;

5. The discussion of measures for the protection of calving and post-calving grounds.

The ACCWM meets, at minimum, once per year (usually in November) to discuss the status of the three caribou herds and coordinate management actions across their ranges. For more information click here.

Membership

• Gwich'in Renewable Resources Board
• Ɂehdzo Got’ı̨nę Gots’ę́ Nákedı
• Wek’èezhìi Renewable Resources Board
• Kitikmeot Regional Wildlife Board
• Tuktut Nogait National Park Management Board
• Wildlife Management Advisory Council (NWT)

Taking Care of Caribou Management Plan

•   pdf Taking Care of Caribou (2.68 MB)
•   pdf Taking Care of Caribou - Technical Report (8.35 MB)
•   pdf Taking Care of Caribou - Community Report (5.10 MB)

Many environmental research and monitoring programs and projects are underway in the Sahtú Region, and the need for this work is expanding with the emerging shale oil play in the Tulı́t’a District. On November 5-7, 2013, a meeting including representatives of Sahtú organisations, government and industry reached a consensus that such programs and projects should be well coordinated, with strong input from Sahtú communities.

As a consequence, Sahtú organizations and the Government of the Northwest Territories (led by the Department of Environment and Natural Resources) have agreed to create a Forum that will support research and monitoring proponents and Sahtú organisations in sharing priorities, plans and proposals, providing feedback and guidance, coordinating objectives and activities. The aim is to more effectively address important issues in the Sahtú.
Vision: Environmental monitoring and research programs and projects in the Sahtú are coordinated and conducted in ways that reflect regional and community priorities, engage communities, value both western science and traditional knowledge, and support wise decision-making.

Purpose

The Nę K’ǝ Dene Ts’ı̨lı̨ Forum (formerly Sahtú Environmental Research and Monitoring  Forum) will support environmental research and monitoring by providing a venue for discussing plans and accommodating the priorities and traditional knowledge of Sahtú communities.

Objectives

The Forum will address the following objectives in supporting environmental research and monitoring in the Sahtú Region: Identify regional priorities and research gaps; build cross-cultural understanding; support and protect traditional knowledge processes; support regional and regulatory decision-making; identify opportunities for: collaborative research involving communities, communication, information-sharing, and cross-cultural interpretation of research results.

Research Priorities

The Forum considers both community and regional research priorities, as well as priorities developed by organisations with responsibilities for guiding research in the Northwest Territories and beyond. The Forum reviewed these priorities at a workshop in January, 2014. More information about regional research priorities can be found in Nę K’ǝ Dene Ts’ı̨lı̨ Forum activity reports as well as Sahtú Research Results Workshop reports. 

Past Meetings

The Sahtú Youth Network is an idea that has grown from numerous points of feedback recorded during research projects conducted in the Sahtú area with the Sahtú Renewable Resources Board. The network is made up of youth from each of the five communities in the Sahtú. 

Website: https://sahtuyouthnetwork.squarespace.com/youthgatherings 

The Conference of Management Authorities is the group of wildlife co-management boards and governments that share management responsibility for the conservation and recovery of species at risk in the NWT.

The Conference of Management Authorities provides direction, coordination and leadership on species at risk. The group operates by building consensus among Management Authorities. It respects the roles and responsibilities of Management Authorities established under and claim and self-government agreements. For more information, see http://nwtspeciesatrisk.ca/en/CMA/CMA.

Team Members

• Michael Neyelle, Ɂehdzo Got’ı̨nę Gots’ę́ Nákedı

• Deborah Simmons, Ɂehdzo Got’ı̨nę Gots’ę́ Nákedı

 Funders

Environment and Natural Resources, GNWT

A new Wildlife Act for the Northwest Territories was passed by the Legislative Assembly in October 2013, and is scheduled to come into effect in November 2014. Regulation changes are needed to bring the new Wildlife Act into force. To implement the new Wildlife Act, current regulations need to be updated and new regulations need to be developed. The regulations are being developed through an extensive review of existing regulations; results of consultation and public engagement undertaken over the past twelve years; and input from the same collaborative Wildlife Act Working Group (with representatives from Aboriginal governments and renewable resources boards) and Stakeholders Wildlife Act Advisory Group (SWAAG) that helped develop the new Act.

Regulation changes will be done in three phases:

• Phase 1 – immediate changes needed to bring the Act into force. This includes changing current regulations that are inconsistent with the new Act, and making sure regulations are in place so people can continue to harvest and use wildlife in a safe and sustainable manner. The remaining regulations will stay in place until reviewed during later phases.

• Phase 2 – regulations to implement some of the new concepts in the Wildlife Act. These include regulations respecting the import of harmful species, the release of alien species into NWT habitat, wildlife management and monitoring plans for developers, and harvest reporting and hunter training requirements.

• Phase 3 – ongoing; regulations will be developed as the need arises. This includes developing regulations to designate conservation areas to protect wildlife or wildlife habitat, and refining regulations to address specific concerns or regional issues.

Team Members

•          Deborah Simmons, Ɂehdzo Got’ı̨nę Gots’ę́ Nákedı
•          Michael Neyelle, Ɂehdzo Got’ı̨nę Gots’ę́ Nákedı

•          Raimond Taniton

Funder

Environment and Natural Resources