The boreal caribou—also known as the forest-dwelling caribou in Quebec—is an iconic species for Canadians and plays a significant role in the culture and history of the country’s Indigenous peoples. The species is found only in Canada, and responsibility for its long-term survival and recovery is shared by federal, provincial, and territorial governments.
On Wednesday, Steven Guilbeault, minister of environment and climate change, announced that the Government of Canada is initiating the process of making an emergency order to protect the habitat of the three most at-risk boreal caribou populations: the Val-d’Or, Charlevoix, and Pipmuacan.
The boreal caribou, a type of reindeer, has been listed as a “threatened” species since 2003 under Canada’s Species at Risk Act and as a “vulnerable” species since 2005 under Quebec’s Act Respecting Threatened or Vulnerable Species.
Quebec is home to approximately 15% of Canada’s boreal caribou population. The populations of Val-d’Or and Charlevoix live year-round in enclosures with nine and 30 individuals, respectively. Val-d’Or has already crossed the threshold of quasi-extinction, and Charlevoix is almost there. With fewer than 300 animals, the population of Pipmuacan could cross the threshold in around 10 years, the environment and climate change ministry said in a press release.
“The federal government is committed to protecting our country’s biodiversity and halting the degradation of our natural heritage,” Guilbeault said as he made his announcement. “We pursued a collaborative approach, waited for Quebec to table a comprehensive strategy, and it was repeatedly postponed. Faced with the imminent threat to these populations, we have a responsibility to act to ensure the recovery and sustainability of caribou.”
Originally promised in 2016, the tabling of Quebec’s strategy to protecting the boreal and mountain caribou has been postponed several times. In August 2022, the provincial government recommitted itself to publishing a comprehensive strategy by June 2023 and to implementing measures to reduce the disturbance rate of undisturbed habitat to 65% within the range of each population.
In 2023, the environment minister determined that significant portions of the boreal caribou’s critical habitat were not effectively protected in Quebec and, as required by the Species at Risk Act, recommended to the governor-in-council that a critical habitat protection order be put in place. Although the provincial government recently presented pilot projects for the Charlevoix and Gaspésie populations, no comprehensive strategy has yet been announced.
On May 10, based on an imminent threat assessment, the environment minister formed the opinion that the boreal caribou is facing imminent threat to its recovery. Section 80 of the Species at Risk Act contains provisions to protect species at risk and their habitat on non-federal land and specifies that the minister is required to recommend to the governor-in-council that an emergency order be made if the minister is of the opinion that the species faces imminent threats to survival or recovery.
In the next few weeks, the federal government will consult with the Government of Quebec, the Indigenous communities of the province, the public, and stakeholders and interested parties, including local communities and industries, on the boundaries of potential protection areas and the scope of prohibitions that would apply within them.
Following these consultations, the drafting of the order will be finalized. Once in place, the order will protect targeted areas of the best available habitat for these three boreal caribou populations by prohibiting activities such as logging and road network expansions.
In 2012, the federal government released the Boreal Caribou Recovery Strategy, which called for provinces and territories to develop management strategies, also called range plans, to protect critical habitat for the animal. Since then, all provinces and territories, except Quebec, have signed conservation agreements to support the recovery and protection of boreal caribou.
The boreal caribou is an indicator of the health of the boreal forest, an ecosystem of great importance to many threatened species. This emergency order could improve the situation of up to 80 other species that live in the boreal forest in Quebec, the ministry said in its release.
SOURCE: PR Newswire
