Matawa Community Weather Stations

Matawa First Nations Management (MFNM) is a Tribal Council of nine member Ojibway and Cree First Nations located in Northern Ontario. MFNM was established in 1988 to provide a variety of advisory services and programs to their member First Nations that have a total combined population of over 10,000. Four Rivers was established in 2011 as an environmental services group within MFNM to provide environmental support and technical services to the Matawa member First Nation communities facing unprecedented development within their homelands.

In 2022, Four Rivers began installing community-based weather stations which provide localized real-time weather data. These stations will allow for hyper-localized climate monitoring long into the future. Without local stations, weather information is spread across a large area not giving accurate local conditions.

Learn more about Matawa’s community weather station network by visiting the StoryMap below, which highlights key topics such as needs, equipment, data management, limitations and challenges, and the network’s successes and benefits.