Labrador MP Yvonne Jones says people are trying to figure out just what exactly is happening to caribou in Labrador. (Jacob Barker/CBC)

The federal government is handing over $2.2 million in funding to Labrador, with the bulk of the money — about $1.5 million — going toward research into climate change and mitigation for Indigenous communities affected by it.

"We're primarily focusing on species at risk, and in our case caribou is a big part of that," said Labrador MP Yvonne Jones.

"Everyone who lives in Labrador has been trying to wrap their head around what has happened to caribou, and we have yet to identify why it has cycled the way that it has and what the real impact has been."

Caribou populations in Labrador have dropped drastically in the last two decades. (Neil Simmons)

Including traditional knowledge and traditional awareness of the caribou migration by tapping into Indigenous communities will ultimately help the research, according to Jones.

Jones said that while the recent funding announcement was for Indigenous communities alone, there is a project coming that will pair the federal government with Newfoundland and Labrador for a long-term research project.

"Hopefully we'll be in a position to sign that agreement off and announce it, if not before the end of the year, early in the new year."

"Our homeland is melting"

"We are Labrador Inuit. We are able to climatize but our homeland is not able to do that," Nunatsiavut President Johannes Lampe told CBC News after the funding announcement.

Lampe said the conversation needs to begin on how they can counteract visible climate change.

Nunatsiavut President Johannes Lamp says there has been a noticeable shift in foreign animal and insect species migrating to Labrador. (Katie Breen/CBC)

The Nunatsiavut president says there's evidence of invasive insects, birds and fish that were previously foreign to Labrador.

"We don't know what effects that they would have to the species that have always been there," he said.

"Certainly we need to do research and to find out more … and we need help from the federal government to do that."

The rest of the funding, about $700,000, will go towards programs that help women — particularly Indigenous women — overcome barriers to economic stability.

With files from Labrador Morning

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