Next year, each of the four Pimachiowin Aki communities will receive funding for a second Guardian through the Common Tern Restoration Project in collaboration with the National Audubon Society. This Project aims to restore species injured by the 2010 oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico.
“It’s enough operating money for three to five years,” says Pimachiowin Aki Director Alison Haugh. “We are very fortunate to be successful because a lot of people applied for it,” she adds.
Pimachiowin Aki Board Director William Young says that a second Guardian will address safety concerns. “Bloodvein River is a vast area for our one Guardian to monitor. The river system flows pretty fast. She’s alone and a lot can happen.”
The US federal and state agencies tasked with restoring species injured by the 2010 oil spill proposed a project to fund Indigenous Guardians to protect and manage nesting Common Terns at key colonies in Manitoba. Through hands-on stewardship and monitoring, the project aims to help 2,000 nesting pairs of Common Terns produce more baby birds that survive to fledge from their nests. More babies results in a stronger, healthier population overall that can recover from the losses that the oil spill dealt.
https://www.audubon.org/news/common-tern
Expanding the Guardians Program
Pimachiowin Aki is working to acquire funding for even more Lands Guardians positions and is positive about the future.
“It’s taking time, but we’re going to do it,” says Alison.
A proposal was submitted to the Aboriginal Fund for Species at Risk in fall 2023. If successful, funding would be used to hire more Guardians to conserve and protect species at risk in Pimachiowin Aki.
Photo: Ōtake Hidehiro
