Title
Climate Change Effects on Wildlife and Human Livelihoods in Arctic Beringa.
Author(s)
Robards, Martin
Published
2017
Abstract
Global changes in climate, connectivity, and commerce are having profound impacts on the Arctic environment and inhabitants. In concert with these impacts, there is widespread recognition of the value of incorporating different worldviews and perspectives when seeking to understand the consequences of change. In turn, attention to local needs, perspective, and cultures is seen as essential for fostering effective conservation and adaptation planning. Factors supporting these needs, what may be termed actionable environmental intelligence, can be understood through engaging the emerging literature referring to “knowledge co-production.” This field focuses on how different models of the science-policy interface affect the organization of knowledge production and its effective application in decision-making. Such an approach goes beyond observing or assessing change from different scales and perspectives, to understanding conditions that support the co-production of actionable knowledge, and tools that can incorporate the close and dynamic relationships between people, wildlife, and habitats that straddle cultures, timescapes, and sometimes national boundaries. I demonstrate this approach through a suite of Alaskan cases studies. I demonstrate that long time-lines (a decade or more) and consistent funding are frequently required for fostering the co-production capacity necessary for understanding and responding to specific place-based problems. We highlight how co-management bodies representing Alaska Native groups, indigenous regional governments, and non-governmental organizations (often tied to specific philanthropic foundations) frequently act as boundary organizations. Individual experts are critical within these boundary organizations, providing trust as brokers of knowledge across worldviews and political or legal motivations. Over time communities of practice may form, buffering the loss of key leaders within specific efforts.

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