Climate Change (Aanjigiizhigad Akinoowining)

Climate Change and Health Adaptation Program

The Anishinabek Nation has received funding under the Climate Change and Health Adaptation Program of Indigenous Services Canada to conduct a targeted multi-region vulnerability assessment for food security. The project involved research and community engagement to understand and respond to the impacts of climate change on food security in First Nation communities. The project identified climate change-related food security impacts on health and well-being, and collected and share local and traditional knowledge, with an aim to build improved community resilience in the face of climate change and strengthen the support system for the Anishinabek Nation and First Nations.

This project helped the Anishinabek Nation to:

• Understand community vulnerabilities to inform adaption guidance that promotes sustainable development and community resilience;
• Anticipate where impacts may be greatest within the Anishinabek Nation, set priorities for targeted regional assessments of climate change impacts, develop adaptation strategies, and build capacity to monitor the effects of climate change on staple food sources, etc.;
• Develop guidance and adaptation tool kits for the First Nations to plan for vulnerable areas, sectors, and groups, as well as take action to reduce climate change risks; and
• Develop a food security strategy to help ensure more people can access sufficient, safe, nutritious, and culturally appropriate food that meets their dietary needs.

Up North on Climate Speaker Series

The School of Environment at Laurentian University in Sudbury is working towards building community capacity about the current and future impacts of climate change in partnership with First Nation communities and their Tribal Councils in the Far North of Ontario. For more information, please visit their webpage, Up North on Climate.

Chronic Wasting Disease

Chronic Wasting Disease is a fatal neurological illness occurring in North American cervids (members of the deer family; deer, elk, moose, etc.). It is in the same family of diseases that includes bovine spongiform encephalopathy (BSE, i.e. mad cow disease) in cattle and Creutzfeldt-Jacob disease (CJD) in humans. It is caused by a misfolded protein called a prion.

The Anishinabek Nation participates in meetings of the National Boreal Caribou Knowledge Consortium (NBCKC) which includes the NBCKC Chronic Wasting Disease Knowledge Network.

This group is a forum for knowledge sharing on the status of research, surveillance and activities to reduce the potential for CWD transmission to caribou.