Industrial logging carried out in Quebec over tens of thousands of square kilometers has seriously disrupted the habitats necessary for the survival of the woodland caribou, notes a new international study which concludes that 11 of the 13 populations in the province are today at “risk”. » of disappearance.
The scientific study, published by the publisher MDPI and in which Quebec researchers participated, made it possible to count the logging carried out in the boreal forest in Ontario and Quebec between 1976 and 2020. It thus reports cuts which affected just over 82,000 km2 only in Quebec, mainly in what was previously the oldest forests in the province.
“The net loss in mature and old forests is quite significant, because most of the time, harvesting is done in forests that have reached a certain maturity,” explains Pierre Drapeau, professor in the biological sciences department at UQAM, expert in forest ecosystems and co-author of this study.
However, it is these forests, where we find lichen on which the caribou feed, which represent the preferred habitat of the species, specifies the researcher. Experts from the Quebec government are of the same opinion, since they affirm that deer show “a marked preference for mature coniferous forests and old-growth forests.”
The disappearance of these forest stands, usually more than 100 years old, therefore causes a decline in habitats considered essential to the survival of the caribou, by increasing the rate of disturbance of these habitats.
According to the researchers’ conclusions, which were published Thursday in the New York Times11 of the 13 populations of woodland caribou found in Quebec are today exposed to a “high” (seven populations) or “very high” risk of extinction, due to disturbances caused by the forestry industry.
The populations of Charlevoix and Val-d’Or, whose herds have been placed in enclosures to avoid its disappearance, but also that of Gaspésie (which has around thirty animals) and that of Pipmuacan are the most seriously threatened, according to the study.
The aerial inventory carried out in 2020 over 28,000 km2, for the caribou population of Pipmuacan, an important territory for the Innu, made it possible to estimate the population at only 225 animals. “Habitat disturbances” are too great, “the population is in an extremely precarious state and its capacity for self-sufficiency is unlikely under current conditions,” concluded the government experts.
” Extinction “
As for the seven populations exposed to a “high” risk, we find in particular those of Manicouagan and Outardes, segments of which are already on the path to “extinction”, according to experts from the Quebec government. The data collected for the Bustard population is unequivocal: for the 2018-2021 period alone, the average annual decline of this population reached 11%, due to high mortality and too few births. It is estimated that this population would number at best 1180 animals.
The Notaway herd is also in a “high” risk position and is also at risk of impacts from the mining industry. The federal government in fact approved last year a mining project which is located in a “critical habitat” of this population which today numbers at most 240 to 282 animals, a decline of around 8%. at 28% over a period of barely six years, noted a report published last year by Quebec.
In this context, Pierre Drapeau hopes that the caribou protection strategy promised by the government since 2019, and postponed many times, will make it possible to question the model of “total cuts” which currently prevails. According to him, it is important to preserve ancient forests, which also serve as habitat for several other animal species, but also to reduce the volumes of felling in a given territory, in order to leave mature trees in place.
The researcher emphasizes that the forest fires of 2023 demonstrated the vulnerability of a boreal forest which has been “rejuvenated” by industrial logging. “When the time interval between two fires on the same territory becomes shorter and shorter, the trees do not have time to reach maturity, and therefore to regenerate. Regeneration accidents therefore occur,” explains Mr. Drapeau.
In its report published in 2022, the Independent Commission on Forest and Mountain Caribou — set up by the Legault government — raised the “urgency to act” in the matter and recommended the creation of new protected areas.
According to the Society for Nature and Parks of Quebec, at least 35,000 km should be protected2 of territory in the province to hope to stop the decline of the woodland caribou. The Legault government has not yet revealed details regarding the upcoming strategy, but it is promised that the document, which will then be submitted to consultations, will be published shortly.