A Tlicho-led program is monitoring caribou using the traditional knowledge of Indigenous elders and harvesters.

The project, named Boots on the Ground, is designed to keep track of the Bathurst herdSA国际影视传媒檚 summer range by studying how the land, the caribou and predators are being affected by industrial disturbances.

A team of researchers, elders and harvesters spend weeks at Contwoyto (Koketi) Lake and Fry Inlet, where they travel by boat on the tenth largest lake in Nunavut.

The program is centred around SA国际影视传媒渉aving the Tlicho people out on the land to see the caribou herds and the wolves and ecosystems with their own eyes and their type of knowledge,SA国际影视传媒� said Petter Jacobsen, a researcher with the Boots on the Ground program.

SA国际影视传媒淚t's set up for their voice to be heard, to study and analyze their ecosystem based on traditional knowledge,SA国际影视传媒� he said.

The Bathurst herd has declined from approximately 475,000 in the mid-1980s to around 16,000 animals today.

SA国际影视传媒淭he Tlicho chiefs wanted to have their own people out on the land to look with their own eyes,SA国际影视传媒� said Jacobsen.

SA国际影视传媒淗unters, over thousands of years, figured out exactly where to meet the caribou because they always go to the same places,SA国际影视传媒� he said.

The monitoring crew sets up in the fashion of a traditional hunt.

SA国际影视传媒淲e're six people and we're able to pack up camp quickly and be very mobile and move around according to where caribou move around,SA国际影视传媒� said Jacobsen.

Seventy-three-year-old Joe Zoe is from Gameti and has been involved with the program for two years.

SA国际影视传媒淚t's good to let people know what we're doing and its good for young kids to let everybody know why are the animals very important to us,SA国际影视传媒� said Zoe.

SA国际影视传媒淲e've grown up with the caribou hunting and right now they are shutting down all the hunting and we want to know why,SA国际影视传媒� he said.

SA国际影视传媒淭he caribou are very important for people. Right now if you buy food from a store, like meat, you boil it or fry it and it doesn't taste good and costs too much money,SA国际影视传媒� he said.

Koketi is southwest of the Bathurst caribou calving grounds, and the areas around the lake forms part of the post-calving and summer range of the Bathurst caribou.

The lake, which borders the NWT and lies in the Kitikmeot region covers 982 kilometres of shoreline, which allows the crew to cover ground quickly and dart inland when needed.

Koketi Lake is southwest of the calving grounds of the Bathurst caribou and forms part of the post-calving and summer range for the herd.

The shape of the lake drives caribou to cross it and establish annual caribou trails.

The team travels the lake and the surrounding landscape within a daySA国际影视传媒檚 walk from the shoreline.

The program is backed by the Tlicho Government, the GNWTSA国际影视传媒檚 department of environment and natural resources, the WekSA国际影视传媒檈ezhii Renewable Resource Board and Dominion Diamond Mines.

The 2018 monitoring season started on July 17 and wrapped up today. The program is expected to continue well into 2021.

Two inactive mine sites SA国际影视传媒� Lupin and Jericho SA国际影视传媒� are in the monitoring area, alongside active mines including Ekati, Diavik and Snap Lake, which is expected to file a closure and reclamation plan in 2019.

No animals are harvested by the monitoring program because of strict regulations on the Bathurst caribou herd. Instead, team members consume fish.

The teams study water crossings, which are SA国际影视传媒渃rucial to understanding caribou migration,SA国际影视传媒� the 2017 Boots on the Ground report states.

Topography, surface materials and underwater hazards reveal clues about herd movements. The team also uses old hunter's campsites close to crossings to avoid interrupting caribou movement.

Daily, they hiked on eskers, which are long winding ridges, to watch the land from above and found archaeological evidence of previous tent sites and arrowheads.

While travelling by foot, they were careful to avoid any caribou trails for two to three days after a herd used them to avoid disrupting caribou scent on the trails, in the event other herds were following behind.

One mining camp is located directly in the path of a migratory route along the eastern shoreline of Contwoyto.

The report states that SA国际影视传媒淎bandoned fuel drums and fuel containers have a high probability of contaminating soil, surface water and groundwater with hydrocarbons and heavy metals.SA国际影视传媒�

Bathurst caribou have historically migrated from calving grounds near the Arctic Ocean south to the treeline where they stay during the winter months.

In recent years, the report states, the herd has stayed largely above the treeline and barren lands during both summer and winter.

SA国际影视传媒淭he presence of caribou on the barren land, and specifically on the post-calving range throughout the year provides a secure and steady supply of available meat for the wolves in the area, like never before,SA国际影视传媒� the report states.

Mining infrastructure between lakes and migratory routes force caribou into more difficult terrain, exposing them to predators like wolves, which use the infrastructure to their advantage.

SA国际影视传媒淲e've also seen some of the mining infrastructure in the area and how it alters the migration routes.

The barren lands are full of lakes and the Tlicho had this word call tataa SA国际影视传媒� which means land crossing. This is a central constant of understanding caribou migration. When mining infrastructure and roads are put on the tataa or between the lake, caribou are forced to move in different ways if they have to cross mining infrastructure,SA国际影视传媒� said Jacobsen.

The Boots on the Ground team members saw caribou being predated by wolves while crossing mining infrastructure, said Jacobsen.

SA国际影视传媒淭he caribou are more vulnerable and are easier to prey on. Caribou can't walk through boulder fields or big hills and they have to avoid water bodies. If you put roads or mining infrastructure, they need to stop or go in a single line through these areas,SA国际影视传媒� he said.

Near the Jericho mine site, caribou attempted to cross at the narrowest point, where they were targeted by a wolf.

After three attempts to pass the mine through the valley, the herd stopped its southern migration SA国际影视传媒渢o avoid further wolf attacks,SA国际影视传媒� the report said.

The team identified signs of climate change, including the early spring melt and new species appearing on the calving range.

Of the 40 days spent on the land in 2017, they spotted 13,224 caribou, six grizzlies, 18 wolves and four bald eagles.

Bald eagles, scooter and mallard ducks, ladybugs, grasshoppers and red squirrels were all recorded as news species to the area, states the report.

The team also observed higher spring temperatures and an absence of snow cover in early July, where snow patches covered crevasses or shaded slopes in previous years.

Overall, the herds are healthy with a high calve to cow ratio, said Jacobsen.

SA国际影视传媒淚t was positive to see a normal calve population. When there's a decline of a whole population you would expect less calves but what you see is more calves,SA国际影视传媒� he said.

Boots on the Ground uses the information it gathers to influence management of the Bathurst caribou range, said Jacobsen.

SA国际影视传媒淚t's their own people so if you have respected hunters and elders out there watching then its a legitimate source of information for the community,SA国际影视传媒� he said.

SA国际影视传媒淲e're describing the story of what's happening,SA国际影视传媒� said Jacobsen.

Caribou meat has been central to Tlicho peoples diets and some people are frustrated with the ban, said Zoe.

SA国际影视传媒淢aybe some day the caribou will change,SA国际影视传媒� said Zoe.

SA国际影视传媒淧etter asked me, 'Are you happy to see the caribou one more time?' Before we carried on back home, we saw three caribou. I told the caribou, 'Goodbye and I will see you again. Good luck wherever you walk,SA国际影视传媒� said Zoe.