Abstract
The Nunavut Land Claims Agreement Act of 1993 established a wildlife co-management regime that recognizes the need for an effective role for Inuit in all aspects of wildlife management, including wildlife monitoring and research. This study explores the nature and extent of current state efforts to involve the Nunavut public in wildlife monitoring, and examines practical issues in public engagement from the perspective of technical wildlife professionals responsible for designing and conducting wildlife population and harvest monitoring in Nunavut. Archival field research was conducted in lqaluit, and in-depth interviews were carried out with a spectrum of technical wildlife professionals across Nunavut to document the rationales and goals for public engagement, the mechanisms by which citizens are involved in monitoring activities, the core issues and dilemmas in public involvement, and the means to evaluate public involvement in monitoring. Research primarily addressed local involvement in wildlife field studies and harvest monitoring conducted to manage local harvesting of large mammal populations (polar bears, caribou, small whales). (Abstract shortened by UMI.)