State of the park report 2012

Table of contents

• Recommendations and approval
• Acknowledgements
• In memory
• 1.0 Introduction
• 2.0 Co-operative management
• 3.0 State of the park
• 4.0 Summary of the park’s performance rating
• 5.0 Summary of key issues
• Appendix

© Her Majesty the Queen in the Right of Canada, represented by the Chief Executive Officer of Parks Canada, 2012.

Library and Archives Canada Cataloguing in Publication:

• Parks Canada.
• Sirmilik National Park of Canada state of the park report.
• Sirmilik National Park of Canada state of the park report [electronic resource]. Type of computer file: Electronic monograph in PDF format.

Recommendations and approval

Sirmilik National Park of Canada State of the Park Report

Recommended and original signed by:

Acknowledgements

In memory

Other elders have also had an important role in the history of the park and its surrounding.

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1.0 Introduction

The purpose of this State of the Park Report (SoPR) for Sirmilik National Park is to:

• Provide a snapshot of the state of the park;
• Report the park’s achievement in meeting its performance expectations, as well as its contribution to the Agency’s strategic outcome;
• Report the results of the park’s efforts to maintain or improve the state of the park;
• Identify key issues facing the park for consideration in management planning.

The SoPR serves as a tool to report to Parks Canada’s Chief Executive Officer and to help inform decision makers and to communicate to stakeholders and the general public. It can also provide an opportunity to initiate external discussions at the onset of the development of the park’s management plan.

This State of the Park Report for Sirmilik National Park was prepared co-operatively with the Sirmilik Park Planning Team and the Joint Inuit/Government Park Planning and Management Committee (JPMC)^{Footnote 1} based on existing information. It includes information provided by elders of the communities of Mittimatalik (Pond Inlet) and Ikpiarjuk (Arctic Bay), as part of the Inuit Knowledge Project (2005-2010) and as part of other meetings. This State of the Park Report was approved by the Joint Park Management Committee.

2.0 Co-operative management

Sirmilik National Park is located in the North of Baffin Island, near the communities of Mittimatalik and Ikpiarjuk. At 22,200 km², it is among the largest national parks in Canada. It was established in 2001 and is co-operatively managed by Inuit and Parks Canada in accordance with the Nunavut Land Claims Agreement, the Inuit Impact and Benefit Agreement of Auyuittuq, Quttinirpaaq and Sirmilik National Parks and the Canada National Parks Act. The park is divided into four separate parcels: Bylot Island, Borden Peninsula, Baillarge Bay, and Oliver Sound.

Inuit of the communities of Mittimatalik and Ikpiarjuk carry the collective experience of the many generations who have been living in and around the area now known as Sirmilik National Park, for the past 4,000 years. The need to know and protect the environment has been essential for the survival of the people of Mittimatalik and Ikpiarjuk. Their food, and therefore their life, have depended on it. The communities’ collective knowledge of the regional environment is based on that long history of necessity.

Through collaborative projects with the two communities, Parks Canada has begun to learn from that collective knowledge about important cultural and ecological areas, traditional land use patterns and their extensive knowledge of the environment. Some of that knowledge has been captured through oral history projects and place names work. Key findings are presented in this State of the Park Report; they highlight the importance of Inuit knowledge in the implementation of Parks Canada’s mandate in the area.

The following map illustrates an extensive land use pattern and familiarity with the regional environment which is based on the collective knowledge of the Inuit of the communities of Mittimatilik and Ikpiarjuk:

During discussions with community members of Mittimatalik and Ikpiarjuk (as part of the Inuit Knowledge Project, the development of this State of the Park Report, Park Planning Team meetings, JPMC meetings, meetings with the Hunters and Trappers Organizations and community information sessions), several general concerns have been raised:

• Working together: There is a strong desire from the communities to inform research and management activities. Key projects have assisted in building the relationship between Parks Canada and the communities of Mittimatalik and Ikpiarjuk and have increased Parks Canada’s understanding of the park’s ecosystems, cultural resources and cultural context (oral histories, Inuktitut place names and Inuit knowledge projects). However, there is a sense that more can and should be done.
• Perceived interference: Some research, monitoring and management actions in the Park have been viewed as interfering with Inuit use of the park and the park’s health, and more communication is needed with the communities of Mittimatalik and Ikpiarjuk on regulations and policies that apply to the park.
• Building capacity: Parks Canada maintains an office in Mittimatalik but does not have a regular presence in Ikpiarjuk. Maintaining a Parks Canada presence in the associated communities and employing local people in the operation and management of the park is considered a basic requirement for long term success.

These concerns are important to the communities and critical to future collaborative work.

3.0 State of the park

This is the first State of the Park Report for Sirmilik National Park and data was not available to rate a number of indicators. Indicators that were rated showed that the state of the park is overall good but that the state of some ecosystems is in decline due to global stressors.

The State of the Park Report uses the following symbols to communicate the state of ecological integrity, cultural resources, visitor experience, outreach and education in a park and the extent to which the park has achieved its park-level performance expectations:

Table 1 below summarizes the state of the park’s ecological integrity, cultural resources, visitor experience and the state of public appreciation and understanding of the park based on available information.

4.0 Summary of the park’s performance rating

Sirmilik National Park does not have a management plan yet. This State of the Park Report is being completed as part of Sirmilik National Park’s first management planning cycle. Performance ratings relating to Sirmilik National Park’s contribution to achieving recent Parks Canada Corporate Plans commitments are summarized in Table 2.

The first evaluation of the Inuit Impact and Benefit Agreement for Auyuittuq, Quttinirpaaq and Sirmilik National Parks is being completed in 2011. The results of that evaluation, however, were not yet available at the time of writing this State of the Park Report.

5.0 Summary of key issues

The preparation of this State of the Park Report has identified the following key issues:

Community relations

The cooperative management of Sirmilik National Park by Inuit and Parks Canada relies on the knowledge and engagement of the communities of Mittimatalik (Pond Inlet) and Ikpiarjuk (Arctic Bay).

• The establishment of the park has resulted in the operation of the park’s Joint Inuit/Government Park Planning and Management Committee, a new office in Mittimatalik, employment of Inuit from Mittimatalik and Ikpiarjuk, as well as exhibits in both communities.
• Further relationship building is needed on various components of park management.
• Parks Canada maintains an office in Mittimatalik but does not have a regular presence in Ikpiarjuk.
• Building the capacity of community members, including employees, has been identified as a need to better support visitor experience, public and education and ecological integrity and cultural resources programs.
• Inuit need to go to the land and sea ice – especially the floe edge^{Footnote 3} and glacier areas – to share their knowledge and culture, and they wish to involve youth in the process.
• Oral histories relating to the park have been collected in Mittimatalik but not in Ikpiarjuk.
• The communities adjacent to the park are interested in educating the public about Inuit culture and traditional way of life but are also concerned about filming and photographing of Inuit hunting activities in and out of the park.

Protection of the park’s ecosystems and cultural resources

The protection of the park’s ecological integrity and cultural resources is an integral part of the relationship between Parks Canada and Inuit. It relies on conducting inventories, obtaining information from the communities of Mittimatalik and Ikpiarjuk and on that knowledge being shared through outreach and education programs and products.

• Parks Canada’s ability to effect improvements to entire ecosystems within Sirmilik National Park is limited because of the size of ecosystems and because most stressors are global or regional.
• Active management targets have not been identified yet to improve ecological integrity in Sirmilik National Park.
• Local and regional stressors have been identified by members of the communities of Mittimatalik and Ikpiarjuk.
• Many areas of the Park remain unexplored for cultural resources by Parks Canada and implementation of the cultural resource management program has been spread over time.
• A Cultural Resource Value Statement is needed for the Park.
• Outreach and education programs and products on the park’s ecosystems and cultural resources are currently limited.

Opportunities for visitor experience

Sirmilik National Park provides a high arctic/arctic visitor experience, with a breathtaking and diverse landscape, a relatively high density of wildlife and a rich Inuit culture and history. Travel costs to reach Sirmilik National Park are higher than for Auyuittuq National Park to the south, but much lower than what it costs visitors to explore Quttinirpaaq National Park to the north – both parks that have higher visitation and are within the Nunavut Field Unit.

• A Memorandum of Understanding concerning the Natinnak Visitors Centre in Mittimatalik is being updated.
• Cruise ship tourism has the potential to increase visitation to the park but has raised community relationship concerns.
• Outfitters are interested in being able to carry firearms to protect themselves and their clients in the park.
• There are no specific hiking or skiing or other routes currently advertized for visitors to the park.
• Visitor experience programs and products relating to Inuit culture and the park need development.
• Visitor safety is of great importance to the communities of Mittimatalik and Ikpiarjuk.
• A need was identified for more visitor information and more promotional materials on the park.

Monitoring programs

Monitoring programs on the state of the park’s ecological integrity, cultural resources, visitor experience and public outreach and education have been initiated but there are gaps for some indicators.

• Reliable information is available from Inuit knowledge and research for some ecological integrity indicators, but there are gaps for other indicators.
• Most of the ecological research and monitoring conducted in Sirmilik National Park since the 1980s has been done by universities and other organizations. Their work has contributed significantly to the assessment of the state of the park.
• There are 66 recorded archaeological sites in Sirmilik National Park and the cultural resource evaluations and monitoring program for the park is in its early stages of development and implementation.
• Many of the measures for Visitor Experience indicators could not be rated because the data was not available.
• Monitoring of outreach and education programs and products is in early stages of development.

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Appendix

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