Protect Habitat to Save Caribou

Canada's boreal woodland caribou are in trouble. Their habitat is steadily disappearing, leaving them ever more vulnerable to predators and climate change. Scientists have listed boreal caribou as nationally threatened. In some regions of the country, their populations declined by 50% from 2006 to 2014.

But with careful planning and an eye for sustainable solutions, we can ensure that caribou have the space they need to survive and thrive.

In 2012, the federal government called for all governments to have plans for protecting boreal caribou and their habitat in place by October 2017. However, most provinces and territories nave been slow to put forward solid plans, just continuing to do business as usual despite the cost to caribou.

Now is the time to act. Canada's Boreal forest contains some of the last large expanses of habitat – old growth forests and peatlands – necessary not only for woodland caribou, but for other species like wolverines, wood bison, and grizzly bears.

Protecting caribou habitat from disturbance and degradation benefits all Canadians by protecting the water we drink, improving the air we breathe, and could mitigate climate change by helping protect the huge quantities of carbon stored in the Boreal. We have the opportunity and responsibility to maintain these forests for the caribou and for future generations.

CPAWS is fighting for boreal woodland caribou in court, but we need your help to up the pressure. Tell all governments to ramp up their efforts to protect the future of caribou and the boreal forest they call home.