App: Burning Tree Participatory Geohub
Hosted in ArcGIS Online:
- ArcGIS Hub website: https://burning-tree-participatory-geohub-dalspatial.hub.arcgis.com/
Mission Statement:
Across Canada, more than four million people live near forests. Climate change will see more frequent and more severe weather events. Higher temperatures and uncertain precipitation events mean that forests face increasing risk of fire events. The harms associated with forest fire events will be increasingly felt by Canadians. Fire events impacts are not evenly distributed across the population; a recent study found that First Nations reserves and peoples account for nearly one third of all evacuees and evacuation events from recent decades. In British Columbia, it is no surprise that First Nations communities are experiencing the front-line effects of Canada’s changing climate.
In 2021, the Government of British Columbia reported over 1600 wildfires, with over 8700 square kilometres of land burned. First Nations communities are disproportionately affected by wildfires, and recent research suspects that they are faced with tree times higher risk of wildfires than other communities in Canada.
Traditionally, First Nations managed their own lands to combat wildfires using methods of controlled burning. Controlled burns were conducted during specific times and locations based on the traditional knowledge accumulated through the generations. As stewards of the land, conducting controlled burns were a vital component of ensuring the long-term prosperity of their lands.
With the increase pressures from climate change on the natural environment, effective wildfire management and planning will be dependent on the knowledge of First Nations and their peoples. Many calls to action have surfaced from First Nation Chiefs and communities across the province of British Columbia, to revive the practice of Indigenous Fire Management; the time to facilitate the knowledge sharing between those who understand the land best and the wider Canadian population is now.
Video Presentation
Documentation
Team Members
Leah Fulton: Leah is a Master of Marine Management student at Dalhousie University in Halifax, Nova Scotia. Her research involves understanding the application of side scan sonar to detect abandoned, lost, or otherwise discarded fishing gear in benthic environments. During her undergraduate degree in urban planning and design, she gained a strong interest in landscape-level planning, structural connectivity, and conservation GIS. Combining both interests, her current work includes various projects with organizations such as Coastal Action, Dalhousie University, Parks Canada, and Ontario Parks. This is Leah’s third app challenge! Outside of school, she can be found trail running, walking her dog Echo, searching for the tastiest stout, or cooking up a storm.
Beau Ahrens: Beau is a PhD Candidate in the Interdisciplinary PhD program at Dalhousie University in Halifax Nova Scotia, under Dr. Daniel Rainham. After completing his BA and MSc at the University of Guelph in Geography, focusing on GIS and Spatial Analysis techniques and theory. He now works on various projects studying the relationships between a person’s environment and their health and wellbeing. In his PhD research, Beau seeks to leverage spatial analysis and remote sensing techniques to understand the optimal tree and greenspace characteristics in promote good health in our cities. Beau has more recently moved to Calgary, to find new outdoor adventures for himself and his two dogs (Pixie and Kobe).