The Canadian Parks and Wilderness Society says Saskatchewan rates fairly well when it comes to research into protecting woodland caribou populations.
The society has released its second annual national report on the issue, and gave our province a “C” grade, the third-highest in the country.
The report indicates that across the country the biggest threat to caribou’s survival is habitat fragmentation, which increases access by predators.
CPAWS Saskatchewan CEO Gord Vaadeland says Aboriginal hunting is not the main cause of decline in caribou numbers, but some naturally occuring events can be a factor.
“We see the problem lying not so much in the hunting itself. When you have a species that has existed on the landscape for thousands of years, there is a lot of tolerance to things they have always been exposed to and fire is one of those things, as well.”
He adds Aboriginal communities are involved in caribou research, and habitat loss is mentioned frequently in the north.
“The big part of the study that is being undertaken is traditional Indigenous knowledge and trying to incorporate that thousands of years of history into the decision-making and the planning”.
Saskatchewan’s caribou population is divided into two groups, the Boreal Plain south of La Ronge and the Boreal Shield which is north of La Ronge.
Vaadeland says the province has already begun its first recovery plan for the area around the Prince Albert National Park.
Across the country, caribou populations in northeastern BC and in Newfoundland are considered to be the most seriously “at risk”.
A full copy of the report is located at http://cpaws.org/uploads/CPAWS_Caribou_Report_2014.pdf.