The Fort McKay Métis Nation has collected a large amount of monitoring data through its community-based environmental monitoring programs. Effectively storing and managing this data is critical to protecting the information while ensuring it is accessible to the community.
 

Situated at the confluence of the McKay River and the Athabasca River in northeastern Alberta, the Fort McKay region is essential to the culture and way of life of the Fort McKay Métis. Growing pressures from oil and gas development, forestry and other industries have transformed the landscape in ways that affect members’ ability to practice their rights as Indigenous peoples. Also concerning to community members are the current and future impacts of climate change in the region.
 

The Fort McKay Métis Nation has established several community-based monitoring programs to monitor environmental changes in Fort McKay and the surrounding region. These initiatives have produced vast amounts of data informed by both Indigenous Knowledge and scientific observations.
 

The community recognizes the need to improve the usability of the data members collect both internally to make decisions and externally with outside partners. While there is no one-size-fits all approach to managing environmental monitoring data, the experience of the Fort McKay Métis Nation offers a few lessons:

• Develop a vision and goals for data management: It is important to develop a clear vision and goals for how data will be managed. Consider developing both short- and long-term goals to build a data management system and monitor your progress.
• Establish selection criteria for a data management platform: Develop a set of criteria for evaluating potential data management platforms. For example, is your data mainly numerical or is it text-based? Do you want to visualize or analyze your data within the platform? This will make it easier to prioritize and select platforms that suit your specific needs.
• Consider how different data platforms can work together: It is unlikely that one platform will be able to meet all data storage and analysis needs. Consider selecting data management platforms that can integrate with each other for better access and usability.
• Determine how the data will be stored securely: Consider how you will protect access to stored climate data, particularly Indigenous Knowledge information. Fire-proof safes or secure filing cabinets are options for physical data. For digital data, passwords and encryption can be used to control access.