I work in the western Canadian Arctic. There's a caribou herd called the porcupine caribou herd. I mentioned in my testimony the knowledge hub of the porcupine caribou herd. This effort, which goes beyond just my own research program, brings all the people together who have an interest in that caribou herd. Each year, we meet and we discuss how climate change is playing out and influencing the herd, how vegetation is changing, but also how people are harvesting the herd and what the population levels are. One of the really good-news stories in the western Arctic is that the herd's population levels are healthy at the moment. However, surrounding that herd are other populations of caribou that are not doing as well. We are trying to understand why some caribou herds do well and others don't. We're really thinking forward to the future and whether the porcupine caribou herd will start to decline. All of that research is coming together to help inform local communities as to how to manage that herd.
On May 30th, 2024. See this statement in context.