Caribou and You

Across the country, CPAWS chapters are working in their provinces and territories to protect Woodland caribou habitat. Together, we’re asking the federal government to meet its obligation to protect Woodland caribou habitat under the Species at Risk Act.

Canada’s Boreal Forest is where you’ll find the vast majority of Woodland caribou. Ever-increasing development in Canada’s north is fragmenting the Boreal and pushing the Woodland caribou towards extinction. Canada’s intact Boreal Forest is also one of the world’s largest storehouses of land-based carbon. But when the Boreal Forest is developed or logged, its ability to absorb and store carbon is lost or reduced, and carbon is released to the atmosphere. Caribou lose their habitat and we lose one of our best options for mitigating climate change.

Our first campaign goal is to pressure the federal government to meet its obligation under the Species at Risk Act and issue a map of critical Boreal woodland caribou habitat. To do this we are collecting at thousands of signatures on our online petition or through postcards available from CPAWS Chapters and MEC stores until the end of April.

We need your support now! Visit www.caribouandyou.ca to learn more about caribou, climate change and to sign the petition.

Want to help collect signatures? Please contact the CPAWS Calgary/Banff Outreach Coordinator (sferguson@cpawscalgary.org).