Researchers with the Canadian Wildlife Service are hard at work on the conservation and recovery of British Columbia’s Southern Mountain population of Woodland Caribou, and are turning to a time-tested source of information about the iconic ungulates: indigenous languages, knowledge and perspectives.
Dr. Jean Polfus is a Senior Species at Risk Biologist with the Canadian Wildlife Service – Pacific Region, a division of Environment and Climate Change Canada. He is leading the work to re-vamp the recovery strategy with a focus on the deep connection between caribou and Indigenous identity, language, and knowledge.
CJSF’s Jesse Wentzloff spoke with Dr. Polfus after her presentation “Indigenous Voices in Conservation: Language as a foundation for collaboration in a caribou recovery process” at Simon Fraser University in Burnaby.
[Photo Credit – Jesse Wentzloff, CJSF 90.1FM, Burnaby]
