ADVANCEMENT OF THE PRACTICE
ing the benefits of the healthy management of acculturation can help bolster mental health and resiliency to future climate change stress (Bell et al., 2010). Agatha Napoleon described their resiliency and ability to adapt despite facing a break- down of their society: It’s not like we sit at home all depressed… we’re pretty happy people. We go out and gather whatever we can do and just be grateful for what we have and learn to adapt and work. We are adapting as much as we don’t want to. (A. Chang, personal communication, July 3, 2023)
As such, there is an opportunity to develop adaptative, nature-based solutions that are transferable to other areas and communities in the Y–K Delta. Adaptation at this scale is novel, and there is a need to develop spatially scalable solutions. The Asqinaq may be an ideal project area to demonstrate novel solu- tions as it has approximately 45 mi of coast- line along the Bering Sea and the Asqinak Mountains provide 1,250 ft of elevational relief. Success will ultimately be measured by how much land can be saved from eroding into the sea and by enhancing the productiv- ity and diversity of those lands that remain. With support from the Coastal Resiliency Program of the National Fish and Wildlife Foundation, the nonprofit Alaska Wildlife Alliance has partnered with the Native Village of Paimiut and a multivillage Environmental Consortium in Chevak, Scammon Bay, and Hooper Bay to develop a climate vulnerability assessment for 250,000 acres in the Asqinaq, “a place of calmness and beauty” on the Ber- ing Sea coast of the Y–K Delta. This project is in collaboration with tribal partners, munici- palities, state and federal agencies, and local academic institutions to: • Gather information garnered through West- ern science and Indigenous knowledge on ecological changes and climate change pro- jections in the project area. • Share the information with decision mak- ers and communities, and identify spe- cific vulnerabilities through direct com- munity engagement. • Provide resources on nature-based adapta- tion strategies that resist (until a point), accept (until a point), or direct foreseen ecological changes. • Support local decision makers in prioritiz- ing replicable nature-based solutions that provide wildlife habitats while building resilience around coastal communities. • Develop pilot projects that demonstrate the feasibility of selected climate adapta- tion strategies with metrics of success to ultimately be replicated elsewhere on the Y–K Delta. Throughout this partnership, the Alaska Wildlife Alliance and AN partners will not treat nature, wildlife, or Indigenous Peoples as objects of study but as interconnected components that define ecological health and cultural resilience that must be maintained in our rapidly changing climate. Some of the
Example of the Impact of Climate Change on Newtok Residents
with the government and make decisions that incorporate traditional native knowledge, science, values, and management practices (Behe et al., 2020). Within a co-management framework, regulations that rarely reflect the way of life of ANs could be replaced with ho- listic environmental policy that can support initiatives such as food sovereignty (Inuit Circumpolar Council Alaska, 2020b). A refo- cus on enculturation and a shift back to AN perspectives can also be beneficial to improve mental health resiliency by minimizing the stress of climate change. In addition, promot- desperate to escape from the dete - riorating village due to the storm and ensuing Qood waters that have further damaged the critical infrastructure of the village. Relocated villagers have expressed sadness about moving away from their ancestral home, family, and friends, but they are also happy to be able to live in a safer place ("im, 2019). and Economic evelopment, n.d.). After Typhoon Merbok in 2022, the remaining residents of Newtok are more evelopment, n.d.). In 2019, relocation finally began with one half of the ap - proximately 300 people moving to the new area. The relocation has been es - timated to cost over 100 million how - ever, there are still not enough homes available in Mertarvik to move the remaining people left in Newtok (Alaska epartment of Commerce, Community, An example of climate change physi- cally separating Alaska Natives from their ancestral homes is the small /upik village of Newtok. Built along the Ninglick River, the village has been heavily impacted by erosion, melting permafrost, sea rise, and storm surges for decades ("aminski, 2023). Their ancestors lived in the region of Newtok for more than 2,000 years and consist of five tightly knit villages bound by many shared traditions that have been passed down over generations. In 199, the people of Newtok voted to relocate 9 mi away to an area called Mertarvik (Alaska epartment of Com - merce, Community, and Economic
Action: What Are Local Organizations Doing?
Work of the Alaska Wildlife Alliance in the Yukon–Kuskokwim Delta The Yukon–Kuskokwim (Y–K) Delta is one of the largest river deltas in the world. Its 18 million acres support one of the largest and most diverse aggregations of waterfowl and shorebirds, critical spawning and rearing grounds for Pacific salmon, and a heteroge- neous landscape integral to a number of ter- restrial and marine species such as caribou, moose, wolves, walruses, ringed seals, and migratory whales. The Y–K Delta is also home to >40 vulnerable Yup’ik and Athabas- can communities that live a mostly subsis- tence lifestyle and rely on the stewardship of these species. Some coastal villages, such as Newtok, have drawn international attention as they erode into the Bering Sea because of a warming climate, but more than 7 million acres that are likely to salinize, flood, or be subsumed by rising seas and permafrost thaw by the end of this century have been largely ignored (Jorgenson & Roth, 2010). In the larger picture of the Y–K Delta, the landscape is clearly changing and highly vul- nerable to catastrophic loss. Even as the boreal forest is invading eastern portions of the delta, the Bering Sea is inundating western portions of the delta (Juday et al., 2015). The middle of the delta is experiencing tundra fires caused by lightening. The recent 150,000-acre East Fork Fire in the Y–K Delta is the largest tundra fire on record in an area where large fires were rare just a couple of decades ago. In this larger context, the ecological changes in the Asqinaq are manifestations of changes being seen else- where in the Y–K Delta.
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