After acquiring an old fishing lodge on Park Lake, Sheshatshiu Innu First Nation (SIFN) in central Labrador are beginning a 10-year process to clean up and improve the lodge site to run a 100% Innu owned and operated tourism lodge, just south of Akami-Uapishkᵁ-KakKasuak-Mealy Mountains National Park Reserve.
Water First is working with SIFN to develop a long-term fish habitat monitoring program for Park Lake, as well as fish habitat restoration to improve areas where garbage was left from the old lodge.
Our first visit to the community involved an opportunity to meet the managers of the lodge, the guides who operate it, and the youth apprentices being trained. Together, the group explored water quality and climate change monitoring, along with opportunities for knowledge exchange.
During this visit, the group also collected water and sediment samples to send for lab analysis to see the extent of the contamination that may have occurred from the old lodge waste. This monitoring will continue for 3 years.
