Collection of Traditional Ecological Knowledge Regarding Polar Bear Habitat Use in Chukotka, Russia
openNational Park Service
This funding opportunity announcement is issued to provide public notice of the National Park Service, Alaska Region intent to fund a Cooperative Agreement without competition to the Alaska Nanuuq Commission - ANC. The intended Cooperative Agreement is a continuation of an existing project that was started in 2012. The project end date is May 30, 2014. The purpose is to conduct a habitat-use study for polar bears that builds on previous studies using traditional knowledge and local observers in several villages in Chukotka, Russia. In 2012, the ANC completed a polar bear habitat use study on the Alaska portion of the shared polar bear population. In order to get a more complete picture of the changing nature of these habitats, it is essential to include the Chukotka population. Scientists and Native leaders alike recognize that the most effective management of shared Bering/Chukchi polar bears and their habitat would require active cooperation among the governments and local Native people of the United States and Russia. The ANC will work with indigenous hunters organizations in Chukotka and gather reports on environmental changes in polar bear habitats in Russian. This project will cooperatively develop a report serving to update the report Traditional Knowledge of Chukotka Native Peoples Regarding Polar Bear Habitat Use, which was conducted by ANC and the National Park Service in 2003. Updating information gathered in the `90s. The ANC study in Chukotka will benefit a large number of Chukotka Natives, agencies, organizations, and governmental entities, including the NPS. This project is mutually beneficial and the knowledge exchange is a primary objective of the project. It contributes to the larger body of knowledge on the changing habitat of polar bears on both sides of the Bering Strait, and the long-term implications for this important species. The objectives of this cooperative agreement will be: To continue work and further develop the relationship between the ANC and Native organizations in Chukotka, with the NPS facilitating the exchange of information and the process of writing international agreements. -To gather information about polar bear habitat use through the observations of indigenous people in Chukotka. The NPS will act as a liaison when needed to facilitate exchanges, enhance communication, provide translation services when necessary, assist with organizing trainings and seminars, and provide logistical support. -To assist the Native organizations in their village outreach programs of conservation education and habitat protection of polar bear. -To update the habitat use study in Chukotka through the collection of interviews, data, and TEK in Chukotka villages -To provide a written report that will be shared by the SHBP with a vast network of interested parties through the SBHP website, Facebook page, and other distribution methods including participating communities and respondents. The National Park Service agrees to: 1. Using the network of contacts in Alaska and Russia (especially in Native communities), facilitate dissemination of project results to relevant communities and organizations in Alaska and Russia. Assist with the dissemination of information; working with local park units to post information, advertise presentations, and include in interpretive programs. 2. Use the network of contacts, the program website, and the program Facebook page to share information from the final and interim reports with the participating communities and participants, public, as well as targeted audiences through the development of distribution plan for final project materials and results. 3. Assist the ANC in strengthening their relationship with Native organizations in Chukotka, with the NPS facilitating the exchange of information and the process of writing international agreements. The SBHP has experience in writing successful agreements with Russian organizations, and will provide essential support to the ANC during the negotiation and finalization of an international agreement with a Russian Native organization. 4. The NPS will assist the ANC during their process of gathering information about polar bear habitat use through the observations of indigenous people in Chukotka. The SBHP will act as a liaison when needed to facilitate exchanges, enhance communication, provide translation services when necessary, assist with organizing trainings and seminars, and provide logistical support. 5. Provide technical assistance and expertise to the project including help with travel arrangements, and safety briefings related to project and geographic location. Also will provide translation and interpretation when necessary through our network of translators, as well as bilingual staff members. 6. The NPS will also support the ANC during meetings and conferences, including inter-Commission annual gathering. By attending relevant partner meetings, the NPS will support the mission and the objectives of the project by interacting and networking with other organizations in order to strengthen the liaison role. The NPS SBHP will also support the ANC by presenting information about the project to other interested parties, as well as at the annual gathering of ANC Commissioners. 7. Connect this project with the NPS network of projects aimed at indigenous and subsistence knowledge and share how this effort is structured and the final results, to inform other preservation efforts especially those working internationally. 8. Assign Elizabeth Shea, Program Specialist for the SBHP, NPS, as the Agreements Technical Representative (ATR) for the administration of this Cooperative Agreement; and as Liaison between the NPS and the ANC for the implementation of the program(s) identified within this agreement. The Alaska Nanuuq Commission agrees to: 1. Work directly with Native organizations on the Russian side to successfully accomplish the goals outlined under this project. 2. ANC will work directly with local organizations to coordinate all overall activities for the completion of the entire study within Chukotka. 3. Authors and editors for the Final report will be selected from the local Native organizations in Chukotka by the ANC. 4. ANC will work with chosen local organizations to incorporate the project s data and results in to the greater context of the Beringia Program to show the importance of subsistence aboriginal hunting and TEK in rural and urban communities within Chukotka. 5. The designated organizations in Chukotka will work with experts on the Russian side to provide the final draft of the overall report that includes the data, surveys and interviews conducted by the local surveyors. 6. Survey team will be headed by local Russian organizations that already have contacts with local surveyors, utilizing primarily team members from the original study, wherever possible. Technical Point of Contact: Elizabeth Shea 907-644-3606.
$47K
Environmentalsustainability