Combining high-resolution remotely sensed data with local and Indigenous Knowledge to model the landscape suitability of culturally modified trees: biocultural stewardship in Kitasoo/Xai’xais Territory
Bryant C. DeRoy,
Vernon Brown,
Christina N. Service,
Martin Leclerc,
Christopher Bone,
Iain McKechnie,
Chris T. Darimont
Affiliations
Bryant C. DeRoy
Department of Geography, University of Victoria, B109, David Turpin Building, Victoria, BC V8P 5C2, Canada Raincoast Conservation Foundation, 2238 Harbour Road, Sidney, BC V8L 2P6, Canada
Vernon Brown
Kitasoo/Xai’xais Stewardship Authority, Kitasoo Band Office, PO Box 87, Klemtu, BC V0T 1L0, Canada Spirit Bear Research Foundation, PO Box 104, Klemtu, BC V0T 1L0, Canada
Christina N. Service
Kitasoo/Xai’xais Stewardship Authority, Kitasoo Band Office, PO Box 87, Klemtu, BC V0T 1L0, Canada Spirit Bear Research Foundation, PO Box 104, Klemtu, BC V0T 1L0, Canada
Martin Leclerc
Department of Geography, University of Victoria, B109, David Turpin Building, Victoria, BC V8P 5C2, Canada Raincoast Conservation Foundation, 2238 Harbour Road, Sidney, BC V8L 2P6, Canada Département de Biologie, Université Laval, Pavillon Alexandre-Vachon 1045, avenue de la Médecine, Québec, QC G1V 0A6, Canada
Christopher Bone
Department of Geography, University of Victoria, B109, David Turpin Building, Victoria, BC V8P 5C2, Canada
Iain McKechnie
Department of Anthropology, University of Victoria, B246a, Cornett Building, Victoria, BC V8P 5C2, Canada Hakai Institute, PO Box 25039, Campbell River, BC V9W 0B7, Canada
Chris T. Darimont
Department of Geography, University of Victoria, B109, David Turpin Building, Victoria, BC V8P 5C2, Canada Raincoast Conservation Foundation, 2238 Harbour Road, Sidney, BC V8L 2P6, Canada Hakai Institute, PO Box 25039, Campbell River, BC V9W 0B7, Canada
Environmental management and monitoring must reconcile social and cultural objectives with biodiversity stewardship to overcome political barriers to conservation. Suitability modelling offers a powerful tool for such “biocultural” approaches, but examples remain rare. Led by the Stewardship Authority of the Kitasoo/Xai’xais First Nation in coastal British Columbia, Canada, we developed a locally informed suitability model for a key biocultural indicator, culturally modified trees (CMTs). CMTs are trees bearing evidence of past cultural use that are valued as tangible markers of Indigenous heritage and protected under provincial law. Using a spatial multi-criteria evaluation framework to predict CMT suitability, we developed two cultural predictor variables informed by Kitasoo/Xai’xais cultural expertise and ethnographic data in addition to six biophysical variables derived from LiDAR and photo interpretation data. Both cultural predictor variables were highly influential in our model, revealing that proximity to known habitation sites and accessibility to harvesters (by canoe and foot) more strongly influenced suitability for CMTs compared with site-level conditions. Applying our model to commercial forestry governance, we found that high CMT suitability areas are 51% greater inside the timber harvesting land base than outside. This work highlights how locally led suitability modelling can improve the social and evidentiary dimensions of environmental management.
