Wildlands League has been sounding the alarm on boreal caribou for a number of years because scientists were concerned at the rate by which boreal woodland caribou were disappearing – due largely to human destruction of their habitat. Caribou are bellwethers of the Boreal Forest’s health. They thrive in landscapes that are largely untouched by industrial development.

Boreal caribou populations are highly sensitive to disturbances in their ranges and have a low reproductive rate.  Boreal caribou were re-assessed by COSEWIC (Committee on the Status of Endangered Wildlife in Canada) in November 2014 and determined to be Threatened. Much of its habitat was found to be degraded and the species is declining especially in the southern part of its range in Canada.

In October 2017, Wildlands League published the first ever progress report on whether critical habitat of the iconic boreal caribou is protected in Canada. Read more here. The Editorial Board of the Toronto Star weighed in strongly here.

Environment Canada, in its Recovery Strategy for Woodland Caribou set a maximum of 35% disturbance threshold that in turn has a 60% probability of a caribou population being self-sustaining. It cautions that even with this maximum threshold there is still a 40% chance of the population not being self-sustaining. Critical habitat protection needs to be enacted in Ontario to stem the decline of caribou populations.

Wildlands League stands up for caribou by:

• calling for stronger protection measures in national and provincial recovery strategies;
• reviewing environmental assessment plans by industry proposing to operate (or that are operating) in caribou country;
• highlighting threats to boreal caribou in Ontario;
• producing updated maps of disturbances in caribou ranges;
• putting forth solutions that protect habitat (see our work on the Cochrane Plan in the Abitibi River Forest);
• carrying out field visits to caribou country to better understand stresses on their habitat;
• supporting the documentation of Traditional Ecological Knowledge by First Nations;
• supporting new scientific research;
• seeking synergies with Indigenous Protected Areas such as the North French Watershed;
• talking to scientists to make sure we are applying the latest science on caribou conservation; and,
• when all else fails, going to court.

See the scientists’ letter here debunking the Forest Products Association of Canada’s claims on caribou.

Wildlands League is looking to the federal government to step in, under federal species law, to protect caribou habitat that Ontario is refusing to protect under provincial law.