The federal government’s proposed emergency decree to protect three Quebec caribou populations would reduce the province’s annual forest potential by just 4%, according to calculations by the Chief Forester published Tuesday.
In the context of the ongoing consultations to clarify the scope of the federal decree for the protection of the Charlevoix, Val-d’Or and Pipmuacan herds, the Chief Forester analyzed the impact on the forestry possibilities for the 2024-2028 period of the “provisional zones” under consultation, i.e. the territories that are at the heart of the proposal for the draft decree.
Since the Woodland Caribou Habitat Protection Project stipulates that there would be no forestry activity in these interim areas, the Chief Forester considered them as if they were “strictly protected areas.” These cover 1.6 million hectares, of which 1.2 million hectares contribute to the forestry potential and are therefore eligible for harvest.
According to calculations released Tuesday, the industry would lose access to 1.4 million cubic metres of wood per year. Since Quebec’s “total forestry possibilities” are estimated at 34.3 million cubic metres per year, the loss is equivalent to a decline of approximately 4% of possibilities.
The volume of wood that would remain in the form of a forest, and therefore continue to play its role of carbon capture and habitat for several species, including the forest caribou, is estimated at 790,400 m3 in the Pipmuacan region. This territory, which the Innu have wanted to protect for several years, is home to a herd that is in sharp decline, due in particular to the impacts of the forestry industry on natural environments. The rate of disturbance of the caribou habitat exceeds 80%.
The imposition of measures for the protection of the caribou of Val-d’Or and Charlevoix, two herds currently placed in captivity to prevent their disappearance, would also remove a total of just over 600,000 m3 of annual forestry possibilities.
Lack of strategy
For the moment, the Legault government has not implemented a provincial strategy for the protection of caribou, nor is there a concrete plan to prevent the disappearance of the three herds targeted by the federal draft decree, which is subject to a 60-day consultation.
Quebec, however, severely criticized the federal government’s desire to impose a decree to protect three of the province’s thirteen forest caribou populations, as permitted by Canada’s Species at Risk Act.
“We are threatening to issue a decree without knowing what the impacts would be on local populations, without having assessed the social impacts,” thundered Quebec Environment Minister Benoit Charette at the time of the federal announcement in June. “The federal approach cannot be described as anything other than irresponsible,” he added.
A document from the Ministry of Natural Resources and Forests indicates that more than 2,400 workers would lose their jobs if the federal government applied its decree in Charlevoix, Pipmuacan and Val-d’Or. The Independent Commission on Forest and Mountain Caribou, set up by the CAQ government, had instead estimated the total losses in the forestry sector at 841 direct jobs, and this, for a scenario of protection of all the herds in the province.
According to a recent international scientific study, industrial logging over tens of thousands of square kilometres has seriously disrupted the habitats necessary for the species’ survival. As a result, 11 of the province’s 13 populations are now at “risk” of extinction.
The leaders of nine Innu communities have therefore urged the federal government to act to “bring the Quebec government to order” and prevent the disappearance of caribou from their territories.