Kivalliq Inuit Association calls for wider caribou habitat protection

The Kivalliq Inuit Association says it supports “mobile protection measures,” which refer to a 25 kilometre buffer around core calving areas in the region. (FILE PHOTO)

The Kivalliq Inuit Association wants to see caribou calving grounds protected, but also the species’ water-crossing areas and migration routes.

The Inuit organization added its voice to opposition against the Government of Nunavut’s position in favour of opening caribou calving grounds to potential mining activities within the Nunavut Land Use Plan.

In a letter addressed to the Kivalliq Wildlife Board March 11, KIA president David Ningeongan expressed surprise and disappointment at the GN’s sudden policy change on caribou habitat, announced during Nunavut Planning Commission technical meetings in Iqaluit last week.

The KIA said Kivalliq Inuit agree with the KWB’s position that “core” calving grounds need protection, referring to the areas caribou use most frequently to calve.

The KIA supports “mobile protection measures,” which refer to a 25 kilometre buffer around core calving areas and strict mandates on any Inuit-owned land parcel.

But Ningeongan said that the protection of caribou water crossing areas and caribou migration routes are equally important to ensuring sustainability of the herds in the region, areas where mobile measures can also be applied.

“These mobile measures would allow case-by-case examination and regulation of potential exploration to ensure that caribou are not disturbed when most sensitive to disturbance,” Ningeongan wrote in the March 11 letter.

The KIA added that it “has and will continue to stop any activities during that time.”

The KWB has called the GN’s decision “irresponsible” and accused them of failing to consult local communities.

For its part, the GN said that any development in the territory must undergo a strict review and through the regulatory process used by the Nunavut Impact Review Board.

“It is up to Inuit to decide what developments occur on our lands,” Premier Pater Taptuna told the legislature last week.

But Kivalliq Inuit have accused territorial leaders of gambling with their livelihood and a major source of food security in local communities.

A petition posted by Baker Lake resident Hilu Tagoona, which had amassed 325 signatures as of March 14, has asked the GN to reconsider its position.

“We are concerned it will negatively affect the sensitive caribou population,” the petition reads.

“We ask the Government of Nunavut to listen to the people they represent and support the prohibition of mineral exploration and mining on caribou calving grounds.”

“I am signing because there is clearly no consideration for the effect this will have on then nutritional food availability of Inuit, especially Inuit who are already struggling to get enough food at all!” wrote one of the petition’s signatories.

“What is the compensation plan for them?”

Kivalliq Inuit Association letter on caribou protection by NunatsiaqNews