Research

Fisheries Research     Stone's Sheep Collaring     Grizzly Bear Paw, Research

The Muskwa-Kechika Advisory Board supports a variety of research with the intention of expanding existing knowledge and information about the Muskwa-Kechika Management Area. Each year through the Muskwa-Kechika Trust Fund, the M-KAB determines areas where research is needed, and allocates funding towards identified priority areas. Information that is acquired through research is made available to resource managers, commercial operators and industry for management and monitoring purposes.

Some research in the M-KMA is awarded to contractors through a Request for Proposal process, and some research conducted through the University of Northern British Columbia in Prince George, BC.

Research in the M-KMA focuses on the following broad themes:

• Science-based inventories (mapping, ecology, wildlife, fish, watersheds, special features etc.)
• Scientific studies (wildlife, vegetation, fish, parasites, habitat, mortality etc.)
• Traditional Ecological Knowledge (recording areas of First Nations traditional use, and cultural and spiritual significance)
• Innovative technologies (oil and gas, mining and forestry activities)

• Mapping
• Ecology
• Geology
• Wildlife biology
• First Nations Ecological Traditional Knowledge
• Wildlife, vegetation, fish, recreational and cultural inventories

Partnerships
The Muskwa-Kechika Advisory Board, in working with the Fund, may enter into partnership agreements.

An excellent example is the partnership between University of Northern British Columbia and the M-KAB, which have worked together since the inception of the M-KMA. The partnership agreement ensures collaboration between the Muskwa-Kechika Advisory Board and UNBC in support of the Muskwa-Kechika Management Area Act and Management Plan intent. As well, the partnership will work towards improving the quality of life in the region, the province and beyond by reaching the highest standards of undergraduate and graduate teaching, learning and research.

One aspect of the partnership is the appointment of a Muskwa-Kechika Research Professor who oversees the UNBC-M-KMA Research Projects, including grad and undergrad student work, as well as participating on the Muskwa-Kechika Advisory Board Research Committee.