Protéger le patrimoine bio-culturel

The document examines how the W8banaki Nation integrates traditional knowledge with science to adapt to climate change in the Ndakina territory. It highlights three projects: the conservation of the lake sturgeon, the management of medicinal plants and invasive species, and the assessment of riverbank erosion. The study argues that successful adaptation requires 'bottom-up' planning, flexible and stable funding, and the active involvement of knowledge holders to ensure cultural continuity and territorial integrity.

• Climate change is negatively impacting the W8banaki Nation's traditional activities and cultural transmission by altering the abundance, health, and distribution of wildlife, fish, and plants. Specific observations include disrupted hunting and fishing cycles, dangerous winter travel due to fragile ice, decreased populations of species like the perch, and reduced quality of medicinal plants due to higher temperatures and drying.
• The lake sturgeon project in the Saint-François River demonstrated that integrating W8banaki traditional knowledge with Western science leads to better conservation outcomes. The project identified that poor water flow management at hydroelectric plants and extreme weather events like droughts and floods negatively affect sturgeon reproduction, leading to the establishment of management plans and a fishing sanctuary in collaboration with Hydro-Québec and provincial authorities.
• Climate change and the proliferation of invasive species, such as common reed and Japanese knotweed, are threatening the availability of medicinal plants in southern Quebec. This endangers the transmission of ethnobotanical knowledge to younger generations, a vulnerability exacerbated by colonial history. Adaptation efforts include creating community gardens, producing educational videos, and pairing elders with youth to foster intergenerational knowledge transfer.
• Accelerated erosion and sedimentation on the Alsig8tegw (Saint-François River) and W8linaktegw (Bécancour River) due to climate change threaten important archaeological and cultural sites, as well as fish habitats. The Nation has responded by developing vulnerability indices and monitoring sheets for dozens of zones with archaeological potential to better plan mitigation actions.
• Standardized, 'top-down' provincial planning processes for climate adaptation are often ineffective for Indigenous communities because they prioritize quantification over traditional knowledge and offer short-term funding that precludes actual implementation. The W8banaki Nation advocates for a 'bottom-up' approach aligned with community priorities and the practical needs of members.
• High-quality climate finance for First Nations must be stable, flexible, and specifically targeted to Indigenous needs. The document notes that current federal mechanisms often lack the flexibility to fund species that are culturally priority for the Nation (such as moose, lynx, perch, and sturgeon) if they are not officially listed as endangered by government agencies.

APA

Canadian Climate Institute (2021). Protéger le patrimoine bio-culturel. https://institutclimatique.ca/publications/proteger-le-patrimoine-bio-culturel/

Chicago

Canadian Climate Institute. Protéger le patrimoine bio-culturel. 2021. https://institutclimatique.ca/publications/proteger-le-patrimoine-bio-culturel/.

Wikipedia

{{cite report |author=Canadian Climate Institute |title=Protéger le patrimoine bio-culturel |date=29 September 2021 |url=https://institutclimatique.ca/publications/proteger-le-patrimoine-bio-culturel/ |access-date=23 October 2026 |via=Climate Insights Directory}}

BibTeX

@techreport{canadianclimateinstitute2021protger, author = {{Canadian Climate Institute}}, title = {{Protéger le patrimoine bio-culturel}}, institution = {Canadian Climate Institute}, year = {2021}, month = sep, url = {https://institutclimatique.ca/publications/proteger-le-patrimoine-bio-culturel/}, urldate = {2026-10-23}, note = {Indexed by Climate Insights Directory} }