Ecological understanding comes from multiple areas and ways of knowing. Western scientific knowledge has one approach to understanding ecology that can be (broadly) characterized as quantitative, reductive and with an emphasis on hypothesis testing. Holders of Traditional Indigenous Knowledge, known variously as Traditional Ecological Knowledge (TEK) or Indigenous Ecological Knowledge (IEK) (Ens et al. 2015), view ecological systems more holistically, and understand ecology to be infused with culture, language and spirituality (Jessen et al. 2022; Menzies 2006; Nelson & Shilling 2018). In Mi'kmaw tradition, use of resources from the natural world was governed by netukulimk (pronounced “neh-DU-guh-limk”) – the set of customs and rituals that informed stewardship of lands, waters, animals and plants (McMillan & Prosper 2016). In the face of trying to reconcile Mi'k-maw worldviews and the colonizing influences that have had often devastating impacts on Indigenous lives, language and culture, Elders Albert Marshall and Murdena Marshall co-created the concept of Etuaptmumk (pronounced “Ed-do-up-dim-moomk”), or two-eyed seeing, with Cape Breton University professor Cheryl Bartlett. Etuaptmumk facilitates reconciliation between the worldviews of the Mi'kmaq and of western science (Bartlett et al. 2012; McMillan & Prosper 2016) and has been applied to understanding of long-term changes in river systems (Abu et al. 2019), salmon governance (Denny & Fanning 2016) and biodiversity conservation (Marshall et al. 2021).

The island portion of the province of Newfoundland and Labrador (Ktaqmkuk, pronounced “ookda-hum-gook”) has a history of Indigenous relations that is unique from the rest of Canada. The Europeans drove the first group they came in contact with, the Beothuk, into cultural extinction in 1829. When Newfoundland joined Canada in 1949, premier Joey Smallwood declared that there were no Indigenous people in the province, despite the fact that the Atlantic provinces had been home to the Mi'kmaw, a culture with strong ties to the sea, since time immemorial (McMillan & Prosper 2016). Decades of political activism by Indigenous people throughout the 20^th and early 21^st century led to the recognition of two Mi'k-maw groups, the Miawpukek (“mi-aw-pukek”) First Nation (MFN) in 1984, and the Qalipu (“hal-lay-boo”) First Nation (QFN) in 2011. The Miawpukek First Nation was granted a reserve (Conne River) in 1987. While the Qalipu First Nation does not have a reserve base, its accepted traditional territory spans the island of Newfoundland except for the Avalon Peninsula and the traditional Territory of the MFN. After years of interaction with Europeans, the legacy of colonial schools and churches, and isolation from other Mi'k-maw communities in the Maritimes, few people in Newfoundland speak Mi'kmaw. In the last few decades, however, people are striving to promote and revive Mi'kmaw cultural traditions while continuing to work with western systems of science, government and economy. For example, on the south coast of the island of Newfoundland, researchers in the federal government, academia and Indigenous Forest Guardians from Miawpukek have applied two-eyed seeing to the monitoring of rare lichens (Arsenault et al. in prep.).

Indigenous leaders and conservation activists around the world have highlighted the value of weaving together Indigenous and western perspectives to advance conservation, particularly as applied to place-based conservation (i.e., protected areas) (Fa et al. 2020; Marshall et al. 2021; Norman 2017; The Indigenous Circle of Experts 2018). In this paper, we describe a case where Mi'kmaw perspectives and local knowledge facilitated documentation of a biodiversity-rich area for lichens in a region within the context of a wider degraded forest landscape. The first three authors are Mi'kmaq, with the third (FS) straddling both worlds as a forester trained in western scientific management for over four decades. The remaining authors are all trained in western scientific perspectives. To illustrate the two-eyed seeing approach in this study, we begin by individually summarizing Indigenous and western science perspectives about the study area, specifically with regards to forest and lichen diversity, before describing how this group came together to collaborate.

Indigenous knowledge perspectives. The first three authors of this paper are all members of Qalipu First Nation who can attest to the challenges of reconciling settler and Indigenous worldviews. They remember conversations with grandparents, mostly about wildlife and hunting, but occasionally about traditional uses of plants. JH had an aunt who knew about traditional medicines and he learned from her to recognize and harvest chaga (Inonotus obliquus) and other mushrooms (e.g., Trametes versicolor or “turkey tail”) for tinctures and teas. All three note that much inter-generational knowledge has been lost due to forces of colonization. FS points out some irony of the disconnect between Mi'kmaw values and settler values. In the 18^th and 19^th centuries, European settlers mostly inhabited coastal communities and made their living fishing, while the Mi'kmaq were skilled in the woods, and were later hired as guides to developers who wanted to exploit forest resources. The resulting industrialization of forestry, and development of other extractive industries in Central Newfoundland has led to disconnection for the Mi'kmaq from their land and culture.

JH and DG are lifetime residents of the area known as “Charlie's Place,” which is named for their ancestor, Charlie Francis, a Mi'kmaw trapper who was active in the area from 1821 until his death (at age 106) in 1915. JH refers to Charlie's Place as his family's “larder” where they obtained food and fuel along with furs to trade with the settler economy. He describes his grandfather Grant Francis managing the land on his own after early European foresters (in the first half of the 20^th century) harvested areas of Charlie's Place and then left. Grant Francis talked about how he left town to work in the woods when the “snow was knee-deep” and not returning until the “grass was knee-high.” Grant's only source of income was hunting and trapping, and he shared many stories about wildlife and their habitats, as well as using roots for rope and other resources from the bush to sustain himself for months on end. JH says that for him, the trigger about the uniqueness of Charlie's Place came about 25 years ago, when he and DG were looking through photographs of their ancestors and reflecting on how hard they worked. JH remembers visiting some of these sites with them as a youth and noting how contented and peaceful they felt when they were in the woods, despite that it had been hard work to make a living there.

FS also notes the emotional and spiritual connections that people feel with Charlie's Place. He has observed that when local people visit, they exhibit behaviors and emotions “like what a religious person does when they visit an old cathedral.”

The name “Qalipu” means “caribou” in the Mi'kmaw language and all three Mi'kmaw authors have always understood that lichens are important for sustaining caribou. JH remembers his grandfather telling him stories about abundant caribou in the area and of lichens “dripping off the trees.” Recent ecological changes have interacted in complex ways to change caribou distribution (Dekelaita et al. 2022; Webber et al. 2020; Webber & Vander Wal 2021), movement (Laforge et al. 2021), and calf survival (Ellington et al. 2020; Mumma et al. 2019). Similarly, pine marten had declined since DG's father's and grandfather's time. This has prompted concerns among the new generation about how to conserve the area they and their family and ancestors have relied on since time immemorial.

In recent years, the Mi'kmaq began to notice that the forest in and around Charlie's Place looked different from other areas of central Newfoundland that they also frequented. When the first two authors showed photos of trees with the branches covered with lung lichen (Lobaria pulmonaria) to FS—who had done forestry work across the island for decades—he reflects that his reaction was, “I didn't know what I was looking at, but I knew I had not seen diversity like that anywhere in Newfoundland, except the Avalon Peninsula [another known lichen hotspot].” Based on his noticing this lichen diversity (but not knowing the species names), and his observations in his capacity as a professional forester of high numbers of black bears and caribou in the area, he started to refer to Charlie's Place as “the Amazon of Central Newfoundland.”

Western scientific perspectives. The island of Newfoundland (108,860 km²) is the insular portion of Canada's easternmost province, Newfoundland and Labrador. The island is part of the Appalachian physiographic region and contains a mix of boreal forest, tundra-like heaths (known locally as “barrens”), rocky outcrops, and abundant wetlands, lakes and rivers (South 1983). The eastern and southern coastal portions of the island are heavily influenced by their proximity to the North Atlantic Ocean, the Labrador current and the Gulf Stream (South 1983), and consequently have a humid, temperate/maritime climate. The combination of climate and lack of air pollution mean that the remnants of intact coastal forests of the island are highly suitable habitat for many lichens, including a number of rare species (Ahti & Jørgensen 1971). Early surveys for lichens by Europeans were tied to colonial activities of exploration, collecting and religious activities (Arnold 1896; Brassard 1980; de la Pylaie 1826; Eckfeldt 1895; Macoun 1902). These surveys focused on coastal communities, in line with patterns of human settlement. For example, Jean Bachelot de la Pylaie was a French plant collector based at the colony of St. Pierre-Miquelon who made two collecting trips to Newfoundland, facilitated by travelling with the French fishing fleet. Arthur Waghorne was an itinerant priest and amateur naturalist who botanized while travelling between the coastal communities under his commission (see details of his life in Brassard (1980) and summaries of his collections in Arnold (1896), Eckfeldt (1895) and Hulting (1896)). Of the early collectors, only John Macoun (1902) ventured away from the coast, and then only to Deer Lake and Grand Lake. In the latter half of the 20^th century, Finnish lichenologist Teuvo Ahti made several surveys of Newfoundland in 1956 and again in 1977–79 (Ahti 1974, 1983). Unlike the earlier surveyors, he did venture into Central Newfoundland. The amateur mycological group, Foray NL, began including lichens in their annual collection reports in 2012. Foray NL had surveys in Central Newfoundland in Terra Nova National Park (Wissink, 2012) and in Bishop's Falls in 2022/2023 (Jenkins, 2024) Recent scientific research on lichens has been focused on the central Avalon Peninsula (McCarthy et al. 2015; McMullin & Arsenault 2019; McMullin & Wiersma 2017; Wigle et al. 2021) and along the south coast (McCarthy et al. 2015) as well as the Northern Peninsula (unpublished surveys by Ahti in 2000, James Lendemer in 2007, and Andre Arsenault, 2010–present). In addition, there have been recent unique discoveries in Terra Nova National Park on the east coast (Padgett et al. 2020) and south coast (Paquette et al. 2024).

The interior of the island, the Central Newfoundland Forest Ecoregion (hereafter “Central Newfoundland”), has a more continental climate compared to the other regions of the Island and has had relatively less survey work for lichens than the Avalon Peninsula and west coast regions of the Island (J. McCarthy pers. comm). Ahti (1974, 1983) describes a few survey locations near Grand Falls and Gander from the 1970s. More recent lichen research projects that have occurred in Central Newfoundland have focused on specific targets. For example, McMullin & Arsenault (2016) visited two sites in Central Newfoundland in their survey of calicioids across the island, and Padgett & Wiersma (2020) surveyed macrolichens growing on black spruce in forested wetlands at 18 sites in Central Newfoundland. When it comes to lichen diversity, large parts of Central Newfoundland are still unexplored.

Central Newfoundland has the most extensive human footprint of any ecoregion in the province (Government of Newfoundland and Labrador and Nature Conservancy of Canada 2013), largely as a result of industrial forestry and mineral activities. It is also in this area where the highest number of fires (both natural and anthropogenic) and spruce budworm infestations have occurred (Arsenault et al. 2016). Nonetheless it has been identified as an important target for conservation and is currently under-represented by protected areas (WERAC 2020). The last six authors of this paper, all with scientific familiarity with the forests and lichen habitats in other parts of the province, admit that they had not prioritized this part of Central Newfoundland for surveys of lichen biodiversity.

Two-eyed seeing. In January 2023, the first three authors, who had learned from their parents and grandparents that the lichens in this area provided important food for caribou, started to notice unusual-looking lichens in Charlie's Place compared to other parts of Central Newfoundland. They alerted local lichen experts to the presence of a variety of cyanolichens (Lobaria pulmonaria, Lobarina scrobiculata, Peltigera spp., and Ricasolia quercizans in Charlie's Place. Although Charlie's Place is not far in linear distance from settlements, it takes effort (boat and/or 4-wheel drive vehicles) to access. The first three authors facilitated five unique visits by the remaining authors to the area between June and October 2023. They guided the western scientists to areas they knew had unique diversity of one sort or another (e.g., places they had foraged for mushrooms, medicinal plants, or areas that were productive for hunting or fishing) or where they knew from oral history that there had been little to no forest harvest. DG and JH carried out ongoing surveys through the fall of 2023 using knowledge about species identification learned through the summer from working with the western scientists. As a result of these surveys, Charlie's Place is quickly becoming recognized as a biodiversity-rich area for lichenized, lichenicolous and allied fungi within the context of Central Newfoundland. This paper represents a summary of our collective findings, to date, and highlights the conservation value of this area. This account also serves to highlight the value of taking a two-eyed seeing approach to ecological research.

Methods

Charlie's Place is the name of a region about 120 km² in area, bordered on the north by Gander Lake, and to the east and west by the Northwest and Southwest Gander Rivers, respectively. It is an area of mostly upland boreal forest, with a mix of stand types, ranging from pure conifer, one or both of balsam fir (Abies balsamea) and black spruce (Picea mariana), to mixedwood of fir and/or spruce with trembling aspen (Populus tremuloides), white birch (Betula papyrifera), mountain maple (Acer spicatum) and red maple (Acer rubrum). Stand age ranges from ∼20 years to over 140 years and includes stands with impressively large hardwoods for this region. In addition to the two rivers, a smaller watercourse (“Joe's Feeder”) flows roughly down the middle, and there are several medium to large ponds and some bogs throughout the area (Fig. 1) and a variety of habitat types (Table 1).

Figure 1.

Map of the study area known as Charlie's Place (∼120 km²). Roman numerals correspond to survey locations as listed in the annotated species list, and habitat descriptions for these areas are found in Table 1. Red triangles are new discoveries of blue felt lichen (Pectenia plumbea). Black rectangle in the inset map shows the approximate location of Charlie's Place within the island of Newfoundland, within the context of eastern North America. Forest cover data in the main map is from the Fisheries, Forestry and Agriculture (FFA) GeoHub and is licensed under the Open Government License – Newfoundland and Labrador ( https://geohub-gnl.hub.arcgis.com/pages/terms-of-use).

Table 1.

Habitat descriptions of the survey sites labelled on Figure 1.

Different sub-groups of the group of authors visited Charlie's Place at different times, guided in all instances by the two lead authors. FS & CH visited 12–14 June 2023 and CH visited again 19–20 October 2023; FS & YFW visited 14–16 July 2023; FS, AA, KD and HP made a day trip on 27 September 2023 as part of a Foray NL trip; YFW & RTM visited between 2–6 October 2023. Visits in June, July and September focused on several older stands where some of the more charismatic species and large cyanolichens were initially found (points V, VII, VIII and XVIII in Fig. 1). The visits in October focused on sampling as wide a variety of habitat types as possible, including older and younger stands, open rock outcrops, disturbed sites and beaches along Gander Lake as well as sites of traditional ecological and cultural value (Fig. 1). These were identified and located by the first two authors. Field work was carried out under a permit issued to DG, JH and YFW by the Newfoundland and Labrador Department of Fisheries, Forestry and Agriculture–Wildlife Division (Doc/2023/00436). In terms of dedicated lichen survey effort, we estimate it to be 17 total person-days by the collective group. The time spent surveying with various lichen experts gave DG and JH the confidence to recognize significant lichen species. They continued to explore Charlie's Place throughout October and November 2023, sending the other members of the team photographs and samples of interesting finds.

In each survey area, we used the “intelligent meander” approach (Newmaster et al. 2005; Selva 2003) and focused on surveying as many microhabitats as possible, such as different types of soil and rocks, trees (boles and branches) of all species and age classes, snags, rotten logs and stumps, tip-ups, and cracks and crevices in tree boles. KD's survey work focused on lichenicolous fungi. We identified species using stereo and compound microscopy along with spot tests (K, C, PD and I) and thin layer chromatography (Culberson & Kristinsson 1970), and followed various keys (e.g., Brodo et al. 2001; Brodo 2016).

The full database of specimens collected has been deposited in FigShare (doi: 10.6084/m9.figshare.25840936).

Results

The total number of lichenized, lichenicolous and allied fungi known to date from Charlie's Place is 175. Of these, 23 (13%) are cyanolichens, 108 (61%) are chlorolichens, 24 (14%) are non-lichenized fungi traditionally treated with lichens and 20 (11%) are calicioids. Nineteen species are reported here for the first time for the province (Fig. 2 & 3), and one (Ochrolechia gowardii) is a new report for the island of Newfoundland (previously reported from Labrador, Deduke et al. 2016; Fig. 2I). Another of these “new” species, Chaenothecopsis vainioana (Fig. 2G), is a new record for Canada, and a first record for eastern North America (Hardman et al. 2017). One other, Myrionora albidula (syn. Biatora albidula; Fig. 3F & G), is known from other parts of Canada, but is reported formally for the first time here. Nine species are considered to be of conservation concern (Table 2). There are multiple thalli of the blue felt lichen, Pectenia plumbea (syn. Degelia plumbea) in several locations. Eight locations of this species, indicated by red triangle on Fig. 1, were identified by DG and JH through the late fall and winter of 2023 after working with the other authors through the summer and early fall. Other notable finds include two species that have not been documented in over a century: Calicium viride (Fig. 2D), last reported by Macoun (1902), and Stictis radiata, collected by Waghorne in the late 1800s (confirmed by Sherwood 1977) and only rarely reported. When we compare total species detected from this survey to other floristic surveys in Newfoundland, Charlie's Place has the second-highest estimated number of species among the localities previously surveyed in the province (Table 3).

Figure 2.

New and notable species to the province of Newfoundland and Labrador found in Charlie's Place. A. Arthopyrenia fallaciosa, B. Bacidia schweinitzii, C. Biatora pontica, D. Calicium viride (not seen in the province since the 1890s), E. Caloplaca chrysophthalma, F. Chaenotheca stemonea, G. Chaenothecopsis vainioana (first report for Canada), H. Dictyocatenulata alba I. Ochrolechia gowardii (first report for the island part of the province), J. Raesaenenia huuskonenii, K. Stictis urceolatum, L. Nectriopsis lecanodes. White bar in all images = 1 mm, except in H = 0.5 mm.

Figure 3.

A. Intralichen sp. (growing in blackened apothecia of Lobarina scrobiculata). B. Lichenoconium erodens on Parmelia squarrosa. C. Conidia of Lichenoconium erodens. D. Lichenostigma alpinum on Ochrolechia gowardii. E. Lichenostigma chlaroterae on Lecanora cf. symmicta. F. Myrionora albidula. G. Polysporous asci and spores of Myrionora albidula. H. Rinodina polyspora. I. Rinodina subminuta. J. Sclerococcum lobariellum on Ricasolia quercizans. K. Skyttea on Loxospora elatina. White bar in all images = 1 mm, except in D, p = 0.5 mm and o, s = 25 mm.

Table 2.

Table of rare species found in Charlie's Place, with notes about criteria for designating species of conservation concern. NL ESA: Newfoundland and Labrador Endangered Species Act; COSEWIC: Committee on the Status of Endangered Wildlife in Canada; SARA: Canadian Species-at-Risk Act; S-ranks refer to rankings from NatureServe.

Table 3.

Summary of survey effort relative to survey area from three previous lichen floristics surveys.

Discussion

The area of Central Newfoundland known as Charlie's Place has a notably high diversity of lichens for the province, comparable to other well-documented areas of high lichen diversity along the south coast (McCarthy et al. 2015) and on the central Avalon (McCarthy et al. 2015; McMullin & Wiersma 2017; McMullin & Arsenault 2019). In addition to the high diversity, and the number of new reports for the province, Charlie's Place has many cyanolichens (23), which are generally more sensitive to air quality and habitat disturbance (Cameron & Richardson 2006; Merinero et al. 2014). Their presence can indicate a forest state with high ecological integrity (Cameron 2002). Similarly, high numbers of calicioids can indicate forests that have preserved biodiversity in spite of past disturbances and/or selective harvesting (Selva 2003). Several of the species we found are of conservation concern (Table 2), including Chaenotheca brachypoda, which is listed by Selva (2003) as a rare to extremely rare species indicative of late-successional forest stands. Six calicioids are considered by Selva (2003) to be indicative, in gymnosperm-dominated forests, of stands that have reached a mid-successional status (Calicium glaucellum, Chaenotheca ferruginea, Ch. furfuracea, Ch. gracillima, Ch. stemonea, Chaenothecopsis viridireagens). Eleven are indicators in angiosperm-dominated forests, of stands that have reached a mid-successional status (Calicium glaucellum, C. lenticulare, C. salicinum (corticolous), C. viride, Chaenotheca chrysocephala, Ch. ferruginea, Ch. furfuracea, Ch. gracillima, Ch. stemonea, Chaenothecopsis viridireagens, Stenocybe pullatula), according to Selva (2003).

In the conservation planning literature, there has historically been considerable emphasis on the identification of areas with high species diversity, with the suggestion that hotspots be prioritized as areas to be set aside as protected areas (Myers et al. 2000; Prendergast et al. 1993). Certainly, Charlie's Place has a high diversity of lichens, but whether or not it can be designated as a hotspot for Central Newfoundland depends on systematic surveys of the remainder of the ecoregion. During surveys of stands between the town of Glenwood and Charlie's Place, and in nearby area, we have noted that the forests surrounding Charlie's Place are quite young and do not harbor high lichen diversity (Arsenault pers. obs.).

Central Newfoundland is the part of the island most prone to wildfire (Arsenault et al. 2016). In addition, outbreaks of spruce budworm between 1972–1992 and hemlock looper between 1966–2010 have defoliated 65.9% and 14% of the ecoregion, respectively (Arsenault et al. 2016), with some of these disturbances overlapping in space. Central Newfoundland has experienced high levels of forest harvest in the last century, with 23.3% of the ecoregion being industrially harvested since 1926 (Arsenault et al. 2016). However, intensive forest harvest in Charlie's Place has been relatively limited (further details below). The areas we surveyed are dominated by large aspen trees within mixed deciduous-coniferous stands, a forest stand type that appears to be relatively rare across the island. Consequently, we suspect that this area is an outlier for lichen richness compared to most of the forest in the wider Central Newfoundland ecoregion. More extensive survey work is necessary to confirm this.

Survey effort also plays a role in assessing the potential significance of the biodiversity relative to elsewhere on the island. Compared to other forested areas of the island of Newfoundland that have been intensively surveyed for lichens (involving subsets of the authors listed here), Charlie's Place has the second highest diversity. Only Halls Gullies (on the Avalon Peninsula) is higher at 178. The high diversity in Halls Gullies is influenced by the Tuckerman Workshop survey in 2007, which brought over 30 lichenology experts to that area for a day (Pitcher & Clayden 2007). The list of 146 species from Halls Gullies published in McMullin & Arsenault (2019) is based on 10 person-days of field work by two of the authors of this paper. We spent 17 person-days surveying Charlie's Place. Moreover, KD (who spent one day in Charlie's Place) is an expert on lichenicolous fungi, and thus some of the diversity of those species (26 species total) reported here is due to her expertise, which was absent from other surveys in the province.

It is clear that the lichen species richness of Charlie's Place is comparable to other localities in Newfoundland, including existing protected areas (McCarthy et al. 2015; McMullin & Wiersma 2017) and Halls Gullies, which is a proposed Ecological Reserve (WERAC 2020). Charlie's Place also has a very high abundance (over 400 thalli enumerated) of blue felt lichen Pectenia plumbea (syn. Degelia plumbea) (see red triangles on Fig. 1), which is listed as “Special Concern” under Canada's Species at Risk Act and as “Vulnerable” under the Newfoundland and Labrador Endangered Species Act. This alone should warrant placing a high priority on protecting Charlie's Place.

An investigation of the reasons for the high lichen diversity in Charlie's Place is beyond the scope of this paper, although we can hypothesize several. First, while parts of Charlie's Place were logged, some as recently as the 1950s and 1960s, other areas appear to have been left unharvested, perhaps because they did not contain merchantable timber at the time of harvest activity, or because the areas were too rugged and/or remote for efficient harvest. These remnant forests appear to be contributing to diversity in and of themselves, and probably also have facilitated lichen re-colonization in regenerating forests over the last 60–70 years. Second, lichens can be highly sensitive to humidity (Alam et al. 2015), with cyanolichens requiring relative humidity levels of 80–90% in addition to liquid water (Phinney et al. 2019; Rikkinen 2015). Given its location between two large rivers, with a large water body to the north, Charlie's Place likely is exposed to higher humidity than other areas of Central Newfoundland. This may explain the assumed higher diversity here compared to other parts of the region. As well, many of the earlier clearcuts were probably smaller than more contemporary cutovers (due to changes in equipment and technology). Larger clearcuts and gaps are hypothesized to lower the humidity in adjacent unharvested patches, with a negative effect on lichen diversity. The smaller cutover areas here may have minimized lichen species loss in the standing forests and facilitated more rapid recolonization. A comparison of the history of forest harvest patterns in Charlie's Place in relation to other parts of the island would provide evidence to assess our hypothesis that forest harvest history has influenced lichen diversity in Charlie's Place.

The Mi'kmaq of Qalipu First Nation, specifically members of Francis Clan, have always recognized the intrinsic value of the forests of Charlie's Place. Collaboration with western scientists has validated their knowledge with empirical data on species diversity. The members of Francis Clan envision setting this area aside as an Indigenous Protected and Conserved Area (IPCA). Although the provincial government of Newfoundland and Labrador currently does not have an explicit mechanism for establishing IPCAs, community members are exploring options for other means to limit industrial development while supporting traditional access and use. Their own government (QFN) has recognized the ecological value of Charlie's Place through financial support of an Indigenous Land Guardians Program and ongoing political and logistical support of Chief and Council.

The species survey reported here represents what we plan as the start of many years of exploration and research in a unique forested area of Central Newfoundland, following the model of mutual knowledge coexistence (as opposed to knowledge assimilation) as outlined by Reid et al. (2020). Collaboration between western scientists and traditional knowledge holders will have mutual benefits; as JH says, the current model is “us working together.” Traditional land users know the area intimately and can facilitate access and identify key habitats. Learning the names of species in Charlie's Place helps the Mi'kmaq reconnect with the land that has sustained their ancestors since time immemorial, and helps connect nature and culture, and re-build knowledge about the natural world. Our preliminary work suggests that Charlie's Place provides high quality habitat for a high number of cyanolichens. We plan to collaborate going forward, combining local Indigenous knowledge and western science, to assess how forest and land use history in this area, combined with abiotic and biotic drivers, affect forest biodiversity and whether some areas have high continuity (as described in McMullin & Wiersma 2019; Wiersma & McMullin 2019). One thing is certain—the contribution of local Indigenous Knowledge held by the first three authors was critical for drawing the attention of the other authors to this region. We anticipate that continued collaboration following the concept of Etuaptmumk will enhance ecological understanding and future discoveries in Charlie's Place.