Labrador's north coast getting $3M in funding for climate change projects

Nunatsiavut Inuit may soon have more opportunities to return to their Northern homelands and significant sites, following thefederal government's announcement of $3 million in projects to monitor the effects of climate change.

On Tuesday in Nain, Environment and Climate Change Minister Steven Guilbeaultannounced$1.8 million forthe federal government's Indigenous Guardians Fund to get more Inuit families out on the land throughout Nunatsiavut to connect withtheir culture and collectdata on how the lands are changing. The data will be usedto inform future conservation and land-use improvements.

Nunatsiavut President Johannes Lampe said the Inuit are already seeing the effects of climate change and their way of life will continue to be affected in decades to come.

"Where Inuit live in the Arctic, and the Inuit across the Inuit homeland, certainly, having lived here for thousands of years, are the ones that are most aware of the changes that are happening," Lampe said. "We are watching the land, the climate changing."

About $706,000 will also be spent on creating a hazard map of ice conditions, derived from interviews currently being done in Labrador, that people will be able to use on GPS devices. Another $355,000 is set to pay for a program that monitors the ptarmigan, an important Inuit food source, and $225,000 has been set aside to help Nunatsiavut Inuit travel to the Torngat Mountains base camp and spend time in the Torngats National Park.

Receding sea ice is a main concern, but the Inuit are working to adapt, Lampe said.

"As the world climate is getting warmer day by day, we will have no more ice and most certainly our way of life will be impacted and most certainly the wildlife, the fish and the birds," Lampe said.

For example, Lampe said, polar bears are having a difficult time staying healthy and keeping their cubs healthy. Lampe said they are seeing more polar bears that are becoming accustomed to people and even attacking Inuit in the North.

In July, a young underweight polar bear attacked a tent with three people inside on the Quebec side of the border outside the Torngats National Park. One of the people shot the bear and its head was sent to the Quebec Ministry of the Environment. Two people were seriously injured and required medical attention.

Jim Goudie, Nunatsiavut's deputy minister of land and natural resources, said there will be an application process for Nunatsiavimiut to access the new funds, similar to their current programming.

"We've got a number of culturally significant sites throughout Nunatsiavut. We've got a very wide geographical both terrestrial and marine area that we need to, you know, make sure we understand what's going on in our environment," Goudie said.

"Having our people out at all times of the year reporting back out to the Nunatsiavut government of what they see real time in our environment will be just outstanding."

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