The provincial government recently released a 10-year boreal woodland caribou recovery strategy that aims to help the endangered species in its 15 identified ranges in Manitoba, with those in management units ranked as high conservation status to be the first to have action plans completed.
“This comprehensive strategy will help government make decisions that balance the demand for boreal forest resource use with caribou conservation,” said Conservation and Water Stewardship Minister Tom Nevakshonoff Oct. 15, the day the recovery strategy was publicly released.
Five of the nine management units for boreal woodland caribou in Manitoba, including some in the province’s north, are ranked as high conservation status, such as the Wabowden management unit, which encompasses the Wabowden and William Lake ranges, as well as the Partridge Crop management unit, which includes the Harding, Wapisu-Wimapedi and Wheadon ranges.
Boreal caribou, which were listed as a threatened species under the federal Species at Risk Act in 2003 and under Manitoba’s Endangered Species Act in 2006, used to be found from the Manitoba/Minnesota border in the province’s southeast to approximately 57 degrees latitude, though they no longer occur south of the Winnipeg River in Southeastern Manitoba, or southwest of the Porcupine Mountains in the province’s western portion. It was estimated in 2006 that there were between 1,500 and 3,100 boreal caribou in Manitoba, though the recovery strategy says this may be a low estimate because it is not the result of systematic surveys.
Because they prefer mature forest areas with low densities of moose and white-tailed deer – the primary prey species for wolves – away from manmade disturbances like roads and power lines, caribou require large areas of undisturbed habitat or, failing that, connecting links between seasonal use areas for winter and summer foraging, calving and calf-rearing, rutting and migration corridors.
Habitat disturbances that disrupt boreal caribou include logging and forest fires, the building of roads and trails, over-hunting, disease and increased numbers of predators.
“The strategy’s objective of protecting large areas of habitat is what caribou need to survive and thrive,” said Ron Thiessen, executive director of the Canadian Parks and Wilderness Society (CPAWS) Manitoba chapter, which released a petition with more than 10,000 signatures calling for the province to keep its commitment to protecting large intact boreal caribou habitat two days before the release of the recovery strategy. “In fact, it’s what we all need, as Manitoba’s boreal forest is an essential part of the world’s largest source of unfrozen fresh water, the northern lungs of the planet and Earth’s largest carbon storehouse, which helps curb global climate change.”
The province has a goal of developing management unit action plans for the Wabowden and Partridge Crop management unit areas, as well as the Interlake, Naosap and Owl-Flintstone management units by 2016, with action plans for the other four management units completed by 2018.
Thiessen said in an Oct. 15 press release that although government biologists are doing good work to ensure boreal caribou survival, the province needs to invest more resources in the area.
“We were hoeful that the province would meet national requirements to develop action plans by 2017 at the latest,” he said. “The test of this strategy will be if is implemented swiftly and effectively. The province must put the resources in place to accelerate this process.
CPAWS says Manitoba’s strategy exceeds national requirements in its commitment to protect and manage 65 to 80 per cent of suitable intact boreal caribou habitat in each management unit. The organization believes the province’s strategy is the strongest in Canada and will also benefit the boreal forest – which is home to hundreds of other species including moose, wolves, beaver and more than 250 types of birds – as a whole.
Predation by animals such as wolves is considered the biggest limiting factor on the size of boreal caribou herds. Predation is linked with habitat destruction and fragmentation because manmade features such as highways and hydroelectric lines can provide greater access to areas frequented by caribou. Fire also threatens boreal caribou because it destroys lichen and other vegetation in the short term and caribou may not return to a burned-out area for as long as 50 years. Greater contact with other species like white-tailed deer can also facilitate the spread of potentially lethal parasites and diseases. The draft strategy calls for populations of predator and alternate prey species to be controlled primarily through habitat management.
“Population control measures will only be considered as a last resort when there is certainty that caribou populations are in serious decline and when these efforts will increase caribou survivorship and population stability,” says the strategy document.
The province is also committing itself to developing a boreal caribou science review and status report to document progress made towards the goals within the strategy. The reported is expected to be complete by 2019 and include population and habitat assessments for all management units in Manitoba.
Action plans for the individual management units will be reviewed and updated every 10 years, or more frequently if circumstances dictate.
The recovery strategy was prepared under the direction of the Conservation and Water Stewardship wildlife branch to meet the province’s commitments under the Accord for the Protection of Species at Risk in Canada, the National Framework for the Conservation of Species at Risk, the federal Species at Risk Act, and TomorrowNow – Manitoba’s Green Plan, and is intended for adoption under Manitoba’s Endangered Species and Ecosystems Act, which requires conservation ministers to prepare recovery strategies for threatened, endangered or extirpated species.
