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Caribou habitat protected on the shores of Great Bear Lake

I’m so excited! This week the Environment Minister Jim Prentice announced permanent protection for Saoyú - ?ehdacho National Historic Site. This has been a long time coming! My neighbours in the community of Délįne and the CPAWS NWT Chapter have been working tirelessly for years to get this site protected as part of the NWT Protected Areas Strategy (PAS). In fact Saoyú - ?ehdacho is the first PAS site that has received PERMANENT protection.

Saoyú and ?ehdacho are two large peninsulas in the southwestern corner of Great Bear Lake and are cultural and ecological hotspots. They are cultural landscapes, where place names and rich oral histories are tied directly to the land, and where deep links between the history and culture of the residents of Délįne have been made.

It is also important habitat for my Boreal caribou cousins in the north. It’s a unique area as it’s right smack in the middle between the taiga and tundra ecosystems.

This is a significant and important step in protecting my Boreal forest home so me and my caribou cousins will survive over time.

You can read more on the CPAWS website.

PS - Can’t figure out how to pronounce Saoyú - ?ehdacho? Phonetically, it would be spelled (Saw-ewey et da cho)

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Apr 16, 2009 Comments (0) Tags: good news, NWT

You did it! Thank you!

Absolutely huge news out of Ottawa today! The federal government has released a scientific report on the Boreal population of Woodland caribou, a nationally threatened species. The report identifies critical habitat needed for the survival of Boreal woodland caribou.

Why is this report so important? Well, it shows that nearly 2.5 million sq. km of the Boreal is considered critical habitat. That’s a lot of Boreal forest. In fact it supports CPAWS’ position that at least half of Canada’s Boreal forest should be protected.

Now that this report is out and we know where the scientists say where critical habitat is, the next urgent step is for the federal government to consult Aboriginal Canadians and their Traditional Knowledge, and move quickly to release the national recovery strategy for woodland caribou. In fact, this is a requirement under the Species at Risk Act (SARA).

I'll let you know how you can help. In the meantime, why not send a note to Environment Minister Jim Prentice? He's responsible for the report's release, and will have a large say in how the government deals with its obligation to uphold SARA. You can let him know you care about caribou and remind him that the recovery strategy is an important next step.

CPAWS and their partners have been pestering the government to release this report for months. Thanks to everyone (more than 10,000 of you!) who signed the petition and postcards for caribou. You helped make it happen! Now help us on the next step in protecting Canada’s woodland caribou and their Boreal forest home.

Check out the details of the report and background info here.

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Apr 09, 2009 Comments (0) Tags: alberta, British Columbia, good news, manitoba, Newfoundland and Labrador, NWT, Ontario, quebec, saskatchewan, yukon

Caribou got a big boost in Ontario, and so did you!

On July 14, Premier Dalton McGuinty announced that 225,000 km² of northern Boreal forest would be protected through a land use planning process. That's an area roughly the size of the United Kingdom!

You also got a big boost because the plan will also help in the fight against climate change. Woodland caribou habitats are carbon-rich ecosystems and Ontario's plan states that "priority will be given to protect lands with key ecological features such as habitat for endangered species or important carbon sinks."

CPAWS is now looking to other provinces and territories to follow Ontario's leadership and help us move towards our goal of protecting fifty percent of Canada's public wilderness. We're also hoping that Ontario will show the same leadership in protecting woodland caribou and carbon-rich ecosystems in the southern Boreal, which is under current threat from logging and mining.

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Aug 12, 2008 Comments (0) Tags: good news, Ontario