Caribou bull © Robert McCaw
About
Of the 51 populations of boreal caribou recognised in the 2012 federal Recovery Strategy, 37 were identified as not “self-sustaining”. These declining boreal caribou populations are a warning that northern forest ecosystems are in trouble.
In Ontario and nationally, boreal caribou are classified as threatened with extinction. They need vast tracks of older, conifer forest to avoid predators. Forest fragmentation, primarily caused by resource extraction and associated access roads, is a dominant threat to the boreal caribou’s survival in Ontario’s managed forests.
Boreal caribou are considered an umbrella species, meaning protecting their habitat benefits a wide range of other plants and animals that rely on boreal forest ecosystems.
Boreal caribou © Mati Kurg
What We Are Doing
- Protecting boreal caribou’s critical habitat by engaging policy discussions that impact boreal caribou.
- Collaborating with progressive partners to adapt forestry practices to protect critical caribou habitat.
- Holding decision-makers accountable – including implementing long overdue range plans for this threatened species.
Woodland caribou © Bubba55 BY-NC-ND 2.0