Uncertain Future: Woodland Caribou and Canada's Boreal Forest

Posted on May 29, 2006

Download the report (PDF, 700K)

Ottawa - As the number of Canada's Boreal woodland caribou continues to dwindle, federal, provincial and territorial governments are failing to take action that could safeguard their survival, according to a study being released today by the Canadian Parks and Wilderness Society (CPAWS) and Sierra Club of Canada.

Canada's forest-dwelling woodland caribou were declared "threatened" under the federal Species At Risk Act (SARA) in 2002. There are an estimated 184,000 members of this species left. This emblematic species depends on intact forested ecosystems and is a key indicator of the health of Canada's boreal forest.

Woodland caribou need very large ranges -- on average 9,000 km2 per herd -- to thrive. They don't adapt to changes in the forest caused by activities like forestry, mining and energy development, and even low levels of industrial development within a woodland caribou range may threaten the viability of a herd. As a result of the expansion of industrial resource extraction, woodland caribou have already lost at least one-half of their historic range.

"With industrial incursion into Canada's remaining intact northern boreal forest region growing yearly, woodland caribou will go the way of the coastal rainforest's spotted owl unless governments take bold action now. We've concluded that no jurisdiction is even close to having adequate measures in place," say Gillian McEachern of CPAWS and Rachel Plotkin of the Sierra Club, co-authors of "Saving Canada's Woodland Caribou."

"The status report reveals that there are two critical things that need to happen: the establishment of a formal network of large, protected areas of intact boreal forest and wetlands that are off limits to industrial development, and better resource management in tenured areas," add McEachern and Plotkin.

The researchers reviewed specific actions by provincial, territorial and federal governments that, if taken, would optimize chances of survival for Canada's boreal woodland caribou. They assessed governments' records of establishing legally protected caribou habitat, adopting land use plans that incorporate caribou habitat needs before allocating intact wilderness to industry, policies and regulations within the managed forest and recovery plans mandated under SARA and drafted by provincial governments. .

"By and large it's a disappointing picture. So far none of our governments has made a commitment to protect woodland caribou's remaining intact boreal habitat, and in most provinces, land use decisions are being made before plans for large-scale ecosystem conservation have been created. In other cases, such as Alberta, governments are ignoring the advice of their own advisors and permitting new industrial development that will assign woodland caribou populations to the history books," say the authors.

The researchers did note a few encouraging signs. For example, Ontario adopted a policy in 1999 that requires forestry companies to maintain caribou habitat within the forest open to logging. In Labrador, a government-approved land use plan for one large area developed in partnership with the Innu Nation, incorporates the objective of protecting that region's still healthy woodland caribou herds.

They also point to key opportunities for progress in the coming year, such as the proposed expansion of the Nahanni National Park Reserve to include the entire South Nahanni watershed, which would protect nearly the entire range of the herd in that region.

"It's not too late for governments to reverse the forest-dwelling woodland caribou's fate--in fact, there is a tremendous opportunity in the north to show the world that we can be leaders in big-scale wilderness conservation--if we act now. But current management approaches clearly aren't working," say McEachern and Plotkin.

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Contact: Ellen Adelberg
CPAWS Director of Communications
Office: (613) 569-7226 ext 234
Cell: (613) 292-2875

Executive summary and full report available at www.cpaws.org

CPAWS is Canada's community-based, non-profit wilderness protection organization. With 13 chapters across Canada and 20,000 members, it has helped to conserve over 40 million hectares of Canada's most treasured wild places since 1963. It is a signatory to the Boreal Forest Conservation Framework, along with other leading conservation organizations, resource companies and First Nations.
Sierra Club of Canada has been active in Canada since 1963. The national office was established in Ottawa in 1989 and has four major campaign areas: Health & Environment, Protecting Biodiversity, Atmosphere & Energy, and Transition to a Sustainable Economy.