##  [The Importance of Continuous Dialogue in Community-Based Wildlife Monitoring: Case Studies of Dzan and łuk Dagaii in the Gwich’in Settlement Area](/resource/importance-continuous-dialogue-community-based-wildlife-monitoring-case-studies-dzan-and) 

Organization

[University of Maine](/organization/university-maine)

[Environment and Climate Change Canada (ECCC)](/organization/environment-and-climate-change-canada-eccc)

[Simon Fraser University](/organization/simon-fraser-university)

[Gwich'in Renewable Resources Board](/organization/gwichin-renewable-resources-board)

 

 

Resource Type

[Peer reviewed article](/taxonomy/term/37)

 

 

Author(s)

Rachel Hovel

Jeremy Brammer

Emma Hodgson

Amy Amos

Trevor Lantz

Chanda Turner

Tracey Proverbs

Sarah Lord

 

 

Original Authors

Rachel Hovel

Jeremy Brammer

Emma Hodgson

Amy Amos

Trevor Lantz

Chanda Turner

Tracey Proverbs

Sarah Lord

 

 

Contacts

[Rachel Hovel](/contact/rachel-hovel)

[Jeremy Brammer](/contact/jeremy-brammer)

 

 

Resource Date:

2020

 

Page Length

19

 

 

Rapid environmental change in the Arctic elicits numerous concerns for ecosystems, natural resources, and ways of life. Robust monitoring is essential to adaptation and management in light of these challenges, and community-based monitoring (CBM) projects can enhance these efforts by highlighting traditional knowledge, ensuring that questions are locally important, and informing natural resource conservation and management. Implementation of CBM projects can vary widely depending on project goals, the communities, and the partners involved, and we feel there is value in sharing CBM project examples in different contexts. Here, we describe two projects in the Gwich’in Settlement Area (GSA), Canada, and highlight the process in which local management agencies set monitoring and research priorities. Dzan (muskrat; *Ondatra zibethicus* (Linnaeus, 1766)) and łuk dagaii (broad whitefish; *Coregonus nasus* (Pallas, 1776)) are species of great cultural importance and are the focus of CBM projects conducted with concurrent social science research. We share challenges and lessons from our experiences, offer insights into operating CBM projects in the GSA, and present resources for researchers interested in pursuing wildlife research in this region. CBM projects provide rich opportunities for benefitting managers, communities, and external researchers, particularly when the projects are built on a foundation of careful and continuous dialogue between partners.