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Good afternoon, and welcome to Globe Climate, a newsletter about climate change, environment and resources in Canada.
Today, we take a closer look at a photo essay of Dene researchers drawing on tradition to study (and save) caribou in the North.
Now, let’s catch you up on other news.
Noteworthy reporting this week:
- Ecojustice: Activists challenge B.C.’s backing of plans for natural gas pipeline
- Carbon removal: Vancouver-based Arca partners with Carbon Direct to expand carbon credit sales
- Farming: Spending cuts close organic research program, sparking concern for farming sustainability
- Indigenous rights: Indigenous leaders say they’re an afterthought in Ottawa’s new sovereign wealth fund
- Wildlife: Woodcocks, oddballs of the bird world, are drawing fans to their nesting grounds
A deeper dive
Barren-ground caribou make their way across the tundra in Lac du Sauvage, NWT.Pat Kane/The Globe and Mail
Drawing on tradition to study
For this week’s deeper dive, we highlight a story from Underexposed, a photojournalism series dedicated to shedding light on the unseen lives of Canadians in every province and territory. Learn more and share your thoughts with The Globe.
In the 1980s, the Bathurst caribou herd had a population of nearly half a million animals. Today, fewer than 4,000 Bathurst caribou roam the tundra, and that number continues to fall.
For the Underexposed Series, Pat Kane interviewed and photographed Dene researchers who are trying to save a dwindling herd in the Northwest Territories.
An entire generation of Indigenous children are growing up without any connection to the caribou their ancestors co-existed with for thousands of years, they told him.
Barren-ground caribou roam the tundra near Contwoyto Lake, NWT, while researchers look on.PAT KANE/The Globe and Mail
Scientists are stumped by the population decline of caribou in the region. Some say the creation of diamond mines have disrupted their migration patterns and calving grounds. Others blame climate change for an increase in predators such as wolves and grizzly bears. Others blame overhunting.
An Indigenous-led research program called Ekwǫ̀ Nàxoèhdee K’è uses a mix of traditional Dene tracking techniques and Western research methods to study the herd, their habitat, predators and industrial disturbances.
Ekwǫ̀ Nàxoède K'è researchers scout the landscape near Contwoyto Lake for caribou.PAT KANE/The Globe and Mail
The Tłı̨chǫ phrase Ekwǫ̀ Nàxoèhdee K’è refers to the movement of the caribou herd throughout the year, from the calving grounds to the forest and back again. The program’s methodology is to “do as hunters do,” which is to watch everything and listen to what the land is telling you.
Researchers walk for hours to record details about caribou. It is a slow and patient way to study caribou and collect information. But it also allows for rich collaboration. The team spends weeks together and makes sure everyone is fed, safe from wildlife and rested.
Janelle Nitsiza and Bobby Migwi of Ekwǫ̀ Nàxoède K'è, a caribou conservation initiative, scout and take notes during an expedition.Pat Kane/The Globe and Mail
The Ekwǫ̀ Nàxoèhdee K’è program is founded on the belief that local people who rely on the land are in the best position to determine the health of barren-ground caribou.
“The elders have always said that if we respect the caribou and speak positively about them, they will return,” says Jocelyn Zoe, one of the program monitors.
What else you missed
- Drought and water woes mark the beginning of B.C.’s wildfire season
- Three women in San Francisco, the childless city, on why they opted out of parenthood
- PEI resort redefines sustainable luxury amid rising global demand
- Orphaned sea otter forms mother-daughter bond in aquarium’s surrogacy program
- Colombians are divided over the euthanizing of hippos linked to Pablo Escobar
- Mexico City is sinking so quickly, it can be seen from space
Opinion and analysis
After the fire, another disaster lurks for Lytton
The best of intentions in Lytton may turn into kindling for a new fire, a slow-burning financial one in the years to come.
— The Editorial Board
Joining a hiking club gave me a sense of possibility and joy that has taken me around the world
What began as getting outdoors and exploring local hikes grew into a passport stamped with trekking adventures around the world.
— Louise Langlais
Business and investing
Responsible investing holding ground in Canada despite geopolitical uncertainty, survey indicates
Retail investors are sticking with securities that have sustainable attributes, and many aim to increase their holdings, despite the geopolitical uncertainty roiling markets, a new survey reveals.
In addition, many are boosting their investments in Canadian-based companies as investors pursue assets that fit with their values, according to the research commissioned by the Responsible Investment Association.
- More investing: Not all clients want responsible investments, but asking can be a way to deepen relationships.
- More pipelines? Trump signs order authorizing pipeline from Canada to Wyoming, potentially reviving parts of Keystone XL.
Photo of the week
Cattle graze under solar panels at a farm in Christiana, Tenn., on Tuesday.Joshua A. Bickel/The Associated Press
Guides and Explainers
- We’ve rounded up our reporters’ content to help you learn about what a carbon tax is, what happened at COP30 and just generally how Canada will change because of climate change.
- We have ideas to make your travelling more sustainable, your lifestyle at home more ecofriendly, and to talk to your kids about climate change.
- In a series of essays from writers exploring the role The Globe and Mail has played in Canada’s history, A Nation’s Paper, also highlights the journey of the newspaper’s green evolution.
Catch up on Globe Climate
- Wildfire reflection and protection
- A fiery debate over dead trees
- Growing your own food
- The wisdom of flowers