Abstract

Community-based monitoring (CBM) is widely recognised as a cost-effective alternative to conventional externally-driven, professionally executed monitoring. It has the potential to improve understanding of wildlife and ecosystems, enhance local authority and capacity, and contribute to the inter-generational transmission and cross-cultural exchange of knowledge. CBM can take a variety of governance approaches, including three categories of CBM involving indigenous communities: contributory monitoring (limited to local inputs); collaborative monitoring (roughly equal partnerships); and community-led (local control over all aspects). Unfortunately, few assessments of local indigenous perspectives are available within the field of CBM. This thesis addresses this gap by drawing upon the experience of a James Bay Cree First Nations community with one of the longest running subsistence fisheries monitoring programs ever conducted in the Canadian north. Specifically, we identify the benefits and challenges experienced as a result of twenty-three years of the Wemindji Coastal Fisheries Monitoring Program. The study uses semi-structured interviews and participant-based observations to facilitate the identification of program components, with a strong emphasis on the perspectives of local Cree program participants and administrators. It is hoped that my findings can contribute to the design and implementation of locally meaningful, and culturally appropriate, CBM programs that simultaneously maximize knowledge and labour inputs from local indigenous resource users.