The woodland caribou could be the next species to disappear in Quebec or, at best, eke out a living between herds condemned to captivity and others surviving on parts of the territory spared by industrial exploitation. This cervid, closely linked to the history and culture of the First Nations, would thus become the symbol of our inability to protect the biodiversity of the boreal forest.
Before colonization, caribou were found throughout southern Quebec, but also in what is now the American northeast. However, hunting and, above all, the progressive destruction of habitats suitable for the species have pushed it further and further north, where it continues to decline “considerably,” according to experts from the Quebec government.
As things stand now—in the absence of measures to protect critical habitat from industrial development—the path to extinction is already mapped out for 11 of the province’s 13 populations. These are in fact at “risk” of extinction due to the destruction of their habitat by logging, an international scientific study concluded earlier this year.
This prospect of an inexorable decline in the deer is, however, unacceptable for the Innu nation, whose history is linked to this emblematic species of the boreal forest. “It would be a huge loss for our culture. And particularly for young people, who have never had the chance to acquire knowledge related to this species. Because of the decline of the caribou, there is already a real rupture that is having an impact on our identity. The effects are being felt well beyond simple harvesting for food: it is the transmission of values, knowledge and language that is crumbling alongside the extinction of this species,” explains Jonathan Gill-Verreault, vice-chief and designated advisor for rights and protection of the territory of the Pekuakamiulnuatsh First Nation, in Mashteuiatsh.
He deplores the little space given to these issues in the current debate on caribou protection. Representatives from Mashteuiatsh, but also from Essipit, carried this message during the hearings of the Standing Committee on Environment and Sustainable Development in Ottawa, which last week examined the draft federal decree concerning 3 of the 13 populations.
Of the 18 witnesses, 8 were linked to the forestry industry. No expert was called to explain the reasons for the progressive extinction of the forest caribou, but a Boisaco executive took advantage of his platform to deny the fact that the species is threatened in Quebec and to question the inventories carried out.
Let us recall that the deer has been classified as a “threatened” species under Canada’s Species at Risk Act for over 20 years. “Several key biological indicators of population status, such as caribou abundance within populations, recruitment rates and adult survival rates, show worrying signs that are characteristic of populations in decline or facing imminent risk of extinction,” also indicates a document produced by experts from the Government of Quebec that deals with the causes of the “decline.”
In this context, the general director of the Société pour la nature et les parcs du Québec (SNAP Québec), Alain Branchaud, believes that the discourse maintained by certain elected officials ignores reality. “The signal we are sending at the moment is a denial of science and the knowledge we have on caribou in Quebec and a denial of the solutions that exist to stop the decline. Instead, we have an excessive listening to the forest industry lobby and a desire to maintain the status quo. Result: we see a continued decline of caribou.”
An important species
Ultimately, the risk is to lose a so-called “umbrella” species, underlines Pierre Drapeau, co-holder of the UQAT-UQAM Chair in Sustainable Forest Management. Since the woodland caribou uses large spaces, protecting its habitat includes several other animal and plant species. For example, more than half of North America’s birds depend on the boreal forest for their survival.
Even though it keeps postponing the tabling of a caribou protection strategy, the Quebec government itself recognizes the vital role played by deer. “It is an important link in the food chain in the boreal forest. In particular, it helps support populations of predators that play a role in regulating herbivore densities and controlling diseases in the natural environment. Its habitat also has ecological value, with the boreal forest providing many ecological services, such as carbon storage, water filtration, support for biodiversity, etc.,” wrote the Quebec Ministry of the Environment, the Fight Against Climate Change, Wildlife and Parks by email.
Its decline caused by human activity should therefore seriously worry us, underlines the biologist and general director of Nature Québec, Alice-Anne Simard. “The caribou is the canary in the mine. If it is declining so much, it is because the forest is not doing well.”
The ministry headed by Benoit Charette also specifies that the deer is “an indicator of the health of the forests”.
Alain Branchaud also points out that better protection of forest ecosystems conducive to caribou would allow us to move closer to the commitments to preserve natural environments made by Quebec and Canada as part of the global agreement on biodiversity signed in Montreal in 2022, during COP15.
Pierre Drapeau also advocates for prioritizing old forests, which are essential to caribou. “We would gain a lot from doing so, since the greatest biodiversity is found in the oldest forests. And we would gain from restoring the forest to preserve biological diversity.” Maintaining the last old public forests is also necessary to preserve carbon sinks, but also to promote resilience in the context of the climate crisis, according to the findings of the Expert Group on Adaptation to Climate Change, tasked with advising the Legault government.
An emblematic species
The protection of the large mammal’s critical habitat alone would be equivalent to at least 35,000 km², according to calculations by SNAP Québec. This represents approximately 7% of the territory occupied by the boreal forest.
This would be a strong gesture supporting the commitments made at COP15, says Alice-Anne Simard, specifying that “governments have legal obligations to protect endangered species.” In this context, failure to act sends a bad message on the international scene, especially since the global agreement on biodiversity commits states to take concrete action to stop the extinction of species.
Essipit Chief Martin Dufour therefore deplores the lack of ambition of the Quebec government, while the Innu have been demanding the presentation of a strategy for several years. Today, he explains, they are reduced to collaborating with the Crees to hunt migratory caribou further north in order to preserve this ancestral practice and the link that unites them to “ atik », the name of the caribou in the Innu language.
Alice-Anne Simard also points out that the caribou is also part of our culture: it has been present on our 25-cent coins since 1937. “It is an emblematic species, which is also an exceptional natural heritage. Losing this heritage would mean losing part of our identity. We should therefore not accept that such a species disappears from our territory forever.”