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Good afternoon, and welcome to Globe Climate, a newsletter about climate change, environment and resources in Canada.

Today, we take a closer look at a photo essay of Dene researchers drawing on tradition to study (and save) caribou in the North.

Now, let’s catch you up on other news.

1. Ecojustice: Activists challenge B.C.’s backing of plans for natural gas pipeline
2. Carbon removal: Vancouver-based Arca partners with Carbon Direct to expand carbon credit sales
3. Farming: Spending cuts close organic research program, sparking concern for farming sustainability
4. Indigenous rights: Indigenous leaders say they’re an afterthought in Ottawa’s new sovereign wealth fund
5. Wildlife: Woodcocks, oddballs of the bird world, are drawing fans to their nesting grounds

For this week’s deeper dive, we highlight a story from Underexposed, a photojournalism series dedicated to shedding light on the unseen lives of Canadians in every province and territory. Learn more and share your thoughts with The Globe.

In the 1980s, the Bathurst caribou herd had a population of nearly half a million animals. Today, fewer than 4,000 Bathurst caribou roam the tundra, and that number continues to fall.

For the Underexposed Series, Pat Kane interviewed and photographed Dene researchers who are trying to save a dwindling herd in the Northwest Territories.

An entire generation of Indigenous children are growing up without any connection to the caribou their ancestors co-existed with for thousands of years, they told him.

Scientists are stumped by the population decline of caribou in the region. Some say the creation of diamond mines have disrupted their migration patterns and calving grounds. Others blame climate change for an increase in predators such as wolves and grizzly bears. Others blame overhunting.

An Indigenous-led research program called Ekwǫ̀ Nàxoèhdee K’è uses a mix of traditional Dene tracking techniques and Western research methods to study the herd, their habitat, predators and industrial disturbances.

The Tłı̨chǫ phrase Ekwǫ̀ Nàxoèhdee K’è refers to the movement of the caribou herd throughout the year, from the calving grounds to the forest and back again. The program’s methodology is to “do as hunters do,” which is to watch everything and listen to what the land is telling you.

Researchers walk for hours to record details about caribou. It is a slow and patient way to study caribou and collect information. But it also allows for rich collaboration. The team spends weeks together and makes sure everyone is fed, safe from wildlife and rested.

The Ekwǫ̀ Nàxoèhdee K’è program is founded on the belief that local people who rely on the land are in the best position to determine the health of barren-ground caribou.

“The elders have always said that if we respect the caribou and speak positively about them, they will return,” says Jocelyn Zoe, one of the program monitors.

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