DEH CHO
The Northwest Territories is among the provinces and territories that the Canadian Parks and Wilderness Society (CPAWS) says is lagging in its efforts to meet the responsibility to protect boreal caribou.

The Canadian Parks and Wilderness Society (CPAWS) gave the NWT a medium grade for the work it has done to conserve boreal caribou. The society said most provinces and territories are lagging in their efforts to protect the species. - NNSL file photo

The society, which is dedicated to protecting Canada's ecosystems and preserving the full diversity of habitats and their species, recently released its first annual report on governments' efforts to conserve Canada's boreal caribou populations. The report assess the progress nine provincial and territorial jurisdictions have made in addressing caribou conservation in the year since the federal government issued a national recovery strategy for the species.

The NWT, along with Manitoba and Saskatchewan, were given a medium grade for showing some signs of progress. The other six jurisdictions were given low grades.

There are an estimated 6,000 to 7,000 boreal caribou in the NWT. The Deh Cho region contains an estimated 2,300 of them. As their name suggests, the species lives in boreal forests and are genetically different from migratory barren-ground caribou.

"It's no secret that there is a lot of work to do," said Rob Gau, the manager-biodiversity conservation for the Department of Environment and Natural Resources.

The department is committed to the effective management, with its co-management partners, of boreal caribou, he said. Boreal caribou are culturally and spiritually important throughout Canada, as well as ecologically important.

"They've been called the ghosts of the forest because they are hard to see, they are hard to study," Gau said.

Before the national recovery strategy for boreal caribou was released in November 2012, the department knew it was coming and turned more of its attention towards the species, he said. The Action Plan for Boreal Woodland Caribou Conservation in the NWT 2010-2015 was created over the course of two years, with co-management partners and through community meetings.

The action plan laid out a number of goals, including preventing boreal caribou from becoming a species at risk, maintaining the current distribution of the species in the territory and managing boreal caribou and their habitat.

There are a number of threats to the species in the territory, particularly the loss of habitat or the avoidance or reduced use of specific areas of habitat due to human activities and landscape changes caused by natural disturbances, like wildfires.

"Boreal caribou are very sensitive to changes on the land," Gau said.

The boreal caribou population in the territory is currently considered self-sustaining, which means it could maintain its current level if left as it currently is, but the landscape is always changing and there are increased development pressures, he said.

A number of initiatives are underway in the territory related to boreal caribou, including a study looking a population trends in the Deh Cho that was started in 2004.

The department will continue to implement its action plan and will also be developing range plans for the species that will help manage and maintain critical boreal caribou habitat, said Gau.

In addition to the department's work, the Conference of Management Authorities has directed that boreal caribou must be added to the NWT List of Species at Risk as a threatened species.

A listing of threatened means that the species is likely to become endangered if nothing is done.

The authority will now be responsible for developing a recovery strategy for the species in the next two years.

The strategy will be developed in consultation with all the regional claimant and non-claimant groups in the territory, as well as the territorial government, said Grant Pryznyk, the chair of the authority.

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