Manitoba’s Threatened Woodland Caribou

Ron Thiessen, CPAWS Manitoba Executive Director

It is estimated that the (Manitoba) woodland caribou population has decreased by 50% since 1950." - Manitoba government "Woodland Caribou in Manitoba" Report 1993

Woodland caribou are threatened with extinction. These spectacular creatures need immense sections of unbroken boreal forest to find enough food and avoid predators. Caribou ranges are continually disappearing as human activity, including logging and mining, push northward throughout Canada – Manitoba is no exception.

Send a letter to the Manitoba government about creating a healthy future for woodland caribou.

The good news is that the survival of Manitoba’s woodland caribou moved a positive step forward in 2006 when the species gained protected status under the province’s Endangered Species Act. This didn’t happen by hazard. CPAWS Manitoba and the Western Canada Wilderness Committee have been campaigning for years to convince the provincial government to protect our most emblematic boreal wildlife species.

In spring 2005, I gave Manitoba Conservation Minister Stan Struthers a bottle of Caribou Wine and asked that it only be opened in celebration when the province provides legal protection for Manitoba’s threatened woodland caribou. A year later, the Minister and I raised our glasses to new protected status for the threatened species under the Manitoba Endangered Species Act.

Legislation is one key to protecting caribou habitat. We’ve won the campaign to have woodland caribou listed under the Manitoba Endangered Species Act, which mandates habitat protection, but now we must ensure the law becomes reality on the ground. For woodland caribou to recover, the provincial government needs to protect huge areas of Manitoba’s boreal forest from industrial activity through consultation with First Nations, conservationists, and industry. CPAWS is working to make certain the Manitoba government revises its provincial Caribou Recovery Strategy so that its primary objective is full protection of large intact woodland caribou habitats.

The actions we take today will either halt the population decline, or pave the road to extinction for Manitoba’s remaining woodland caribou. In protecting the enormous, ecologically intact regions of boreal forest that caribou need, we also safeguard the ecological services we all rely on—every Canadian depends on the boreal for clean water, clean air, jobs, food, or supplies. The boreal forest is the world's largest source of fresh water, regulates Earth's climate, and has been deemed the "northern lungs of the planet" due to its oxygen production.

Granting the land protection requests from First Nations on the east side of Lake Winnipeg would go a long way in achieving the Manitoba Caribou Strategy’s stated goal of self-sustaining boreal woodland caribou populations. This Manitoba government action would also increase the region’s eligibility for the proposed 43,000 square kilometer World Heritage Site – that’s over 1.5 times the size of Vancouver Island! The quest for this World Heritage Site is led by First Nations and officially supported by the present Manitoba government.

Manitoba’s woodland caribou are in peril, but we can create a healthy future for them if the right decisions are made right now. It’s time for the Manitoba government to show the world that it’s first-class when it comes to conserving wilderness for wildlife and people. Immense, healthy boreal forest protected areas will take the woodland caribou, Manitobans, and all Canadians another step toward a sustainable future.