Climate Change Adaptation

A priority of the Land Guardian program is to monitor the effects of climate change in TRTFN Traditional Territory and to help the community to find ways to adapt. Climate changes may affect the health and abundance of fish, wildlife and traditional plants and may also make it more difficult for Tlingit to continue to access and harvest traditional resources.

The Land Guardians will work with TRT community members to identify key impacts of climate change on traditional food sources. This will be done through interviews and community workshops. The focus will be on collecting observations of changes on the land, water, and to wildlife and plants that may be caused by climate change.

In addition to collection information from community members about changes to the environment, the Land Guardians will also conduct on-the-ground assessments culturally important resources and sites that have been identified as being vulnerable to climate change. For example, Land Guardians will do assessments of Spirit Houses to evaluate how they might be affected climate change impacts like flooding, forest fires, or erosion.

These risk assessments will provide more information on how specific landscapes and resources are being impacted by climate change and will also evaluate potential could include evaluating the sites for the risk of erosion due to flooding, or evaluating forest health to determine the risk of forest fire.

Based on the information collected, the Land Guardians engage in outreach and education to prepare the community for these changes; and to identify potential adaption strategies to maintain traditional and cultural practices, protect important cultural and spiritual sites, and support traditional food security.