This week, there was tension in the air between the governments of Quebec and Canada. For what ? It is linked to caribou, an endangered species. We’ll summarize the situation for you.
Unfortunately, there are not many caribou left in Quebec. And every year there are fewer. In 2014, in Manicouagan, on the North Shore, we observed 719. In 2022? 319. That’s 400 less!
Why are caribou in danger?
Caribou live mainly in coniferous forests and feed on lichen. These trees are his home!
However, cutting down trees destroys its territory. Roads are also built in the forests to allow trucks transporting wood to circulate. These paths simplify the movements of caribou predators: bears and wolves. They can therefore hunt more easily.
Tick tock… a late plan
In this story, there are two ministers responsible for the environment. There is the one who takes care of it in the province of Quebec (Benoit Charette) and the one who takes care of it throughout the country (Steven Guilbeault).
In 2022, the Quebec government was to present a strategy to save the caribou. Two years later, in part because of last summer’s wildfires, it still hasn’t happened.
So, this week, Steven Guilbeault demanded that Quebec publish this strategy by May. In the event of refusal, he could impose his protection plan himself. Benoit Charette replied that he should get there. However, he wants to ensure that he protects the caribou AND the jobs of people who work in the woods.
SOS CARIBOUS
To protect the caribou, it is necessary to protect its territory, and therefore limit the cutting of trees. Steven Guilbeault proposes to protect 35,000 km2 of forest, which is approximately the size of Belgium!
There are already protected areas, and other measures are being taken to save the caribou. For example, in Gaspésie, there is currently an operation to capture females. We hope to protect baby caribou (fawns) from predators in the first months of their life, before releasing them into the wild.
According to texts by Alexandre Shields, The duty
Camille Lopez — Collaborator
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