Caribou (Rangifer tarandus) Boreal population: Report on the progress of the recovery strategy implementation (period 2017 to 2022) and the action plan implementation (period 2018 to 2023)

Collect population information (size, trend, etc.) for a minimum of 2 years in SK1 where population condition is unknown

As reported in the 2017 Report on Implementation, the University of Saskatchewan led the collection of population information (size, trend, adult female survival and calf recruitment) over the period of 2014-2017 (McLoughlin et al., 2019)

2017

Update disturbance model in the Department’s 2011 Scientific Assessment by including population information for SK1 to incorporate situations of high fire and very low anthropogenic disturbance

ECCC updated the disturbance model by including the new population information for SK1 and additional data from several study areas with high fire and low anthropogenic disturbance. This analysis placed the SK1 data into a broader national context

2017

Identification of critical habitat in SK1

ECCC used the information generated above to complete the identification of critical habitat in SK1 through the finalization of the Amended Recovery Strategy in December 2020

2020

The BCPRP was endorsed by the Government of BC in summer 2023, following a release of the draft plan for public comment in April 2022. The BCPRP outlines a recovery path for areas including Calendar (BC2), Maxhamish (BC1), Snake-Sahtahneh (BC3), and Westside Fort Nelson (BC4, BC5)

Maxhamish (BC1), Calendar (BC2), Snake-Sahtahneh (BC3) and Westside Fort Nelson (comprises Parker (BC4) and Prophet (BC5))

Complete (summer 2023; final plan not yet published)

Government of BC

FNFN

Northern Rockies Regional Municipality

Landscape level planning for the BC portion of Chinchaga (AB1) was initiated through the Fort St. John Land and Resource Management Plan (LRMP) Update Project^{Footnote 12}. Other non-boreal caribou ranges including the Graham (Southern Mountain population) and Pink Mountain (Northern Mountain population) ranges were also included within the scope of the LRMP update. To support herd planning, a technical working group was formed with interested Treaty 8 Nations and preliminary work advancing management planning was undertaken but adjourned in fall 2021 on account of evolving BC and Treaty 8 Nation government negotiations pertaining to Treaty 8 rights and natural resource management

BC portion of Chinchaga (AB1)

In progress. Collaborative planning anticipated to be renewed in 2024

Government of BC

Doig River First Nation

Blueberry River First Nation

Prophet River First Nation

A draft Boreal Caribou Habitat Restoration Framework was released by the BC Oil and Gas Research Innovation Society in 2017, followed by further multi-party workshops in 2018 and 2019 to confirm restoration prioritization criteria between and within ranges. These criteria will inform planning and implementation of boreal caribou habitat restoration in BC

All boreal caribou ranges in BC

In progress. Habitat restoration guidance anticipated to be released in 2024 as an appendix to the BCPRP

BC Oil and Gas Research Innovation Society

Government of BC

A Regional Strategic Environmental Assessment disturbance dataset^{Footnote 13} was published to provide a comprehensive disturbance dataset for conducting cumulative effects analyses in northeastern BC. This dataset is now managed and updated as part of BC’s Cumulative Effects Framework

Northeastern BC (including all boreal caribou ranges in BC)

Complete (2018)

Partnership between Government of BC and Treaty 8 First Nations (Blueberry River, Doig River, Halfway River, Prophet River, Saulteau, West Moberly, McLeod Lake)

Functional and ecological restoration treatments on legacy linear features were undertaken by First Nations, with funding support from the Government of BC, the BC Oil and Gas Research Innovation Society and NRCan. Since 2017, FNFN has applied restoration treatments to approximately 20 km in the Kotcho Lake Restoration Area and approximately 75 km in the Medzih’tene Area within Snake-Sahtahneh (BC3). Effectiveness monitoring of treatment sites is ongoing.

Other restoration projects being undertaken within boreal caribou ranges include Doig River First Nation’s McMillan Creek Restoration Project with approximately 20 km of linear features identified for treatment and Blueberry River First Nation’s Nig Creek Project with approximately 15 km of linear features identified for treatment, both within Chinchaga (AB1)

Snake-Sahtahneh (BC3)

BC portion of Chinchaga (AB1)

In progress. Habitat restoration planning, implementation and monitoring are ongoing

Fort Nelson First Nation

Doig River First Nation

Blueberry River First Nation

Government of BC via Habitat Conservation Trust Foundation/ Forest Employment Program

BC Oil and Gas Research Innovation Society

NRCan

The Government of BC has implemented wolf control to support caribou recovery within Chinchaga since 2018-19, as described in a summary document^{Footnote 14} published in May 2022

BC portion of Chinchaga (AB1)

In progress (started winter 2018-19; program has been approved until 2025-26)

Government of BC

The Government of BC released the Wildlife Procedure 4-7-04.06 - Caribou Recovery Program - Interim Aerial Wolf Reduction Procedure^{Footnote 15}, which provides guidance to inform the implementation of the wolf control program in the specific context of caribou recovery

All BC caribou ranges, including boreal caribou

Complete (2022)

Government of BC

The Government of BC developed and approved a provincial five-year plan (2021-22 to 2026-27) for predator reduction in support of caribou recovery, including a decision not to implement predator control within boreal caribou ranges, except Chinchaga (AB1), at this time. More information can be found on BC’s Caribou Recovery Actions web page^{Footnote 16}

All BC caribou ranges, including boreal caribou

Complete (fall 2021)

Government of BC

The Government of BC has implemented wolf monitoring, in collaboration with FNFN, to inform future predator management planning in the BCPRP area

Maxhamish (BC1), Snake-Sahtahneh (BC3), Westside Fort Nelson (corresponds to BC4 and BC5)

In progress (initiated winter 2022)

Government of BC

FNFN

No new actions since 2017 reported

No new actions since 2017 reported

No new actions since 2017 reported

No new actions since 2017 reported

The Government of BC developed a caribou monitoring schedule^{Footnote 17} that identifies the province’s population monitoring approach within each range over a ten year period (2021-2031)

All caribou ranges in BC, including boreal caribou

Complete (2021)

Government of BC

The Government of BC deploys caribou collars annually with an aim to increase and maintain the number of active collars within the boreal caribou ranges to 10% of the estimated population size up to 30 per range, with a minimum of 100 collars across all ranges

All boreal caribou ranges in BC

Complete (winter 2022). Yearly collar maintenance is ongoing

Government of BC
FNFN

Recruitment surveys are conducted annually to collect data on calf survival, cow:calf ratios, and cow:bull ratios, as well as a minimum population count. This information is used to monitor population structure and trends on an annual basis

All boreal caribou ranges in BC

Ongoing annually (since 2012-13)

Government of BC

A fecal pellet DNA survey was conducted in winter 2022 to collect more accurate information on caribou population and demographics. These surveys are planned to continue on a rotational basis (one range per year), in accordance with the 2021-2031 caribou monitoring schedule

Westside Fort Nelson (corresponds to BC4 and BC5)

Complete (2022)

Government of BC

FNFN (support)

Biological samples are collected in the course of collaring and DNA investigations. Samples (hair, blood, fecal, bone) are analyzed at the BC health lab to create a herd health profile

All boreal caribou ranges in BC

Ongoing

Government of BC

Mortality sites of collared caribou are investigated opportunistically to collect data on cause of mortality, and to collect samples for analysis on health and condition (when possible)

All boreal caribou ranges in BC

Ongoing

Government of BC

No new actions since 2017 reported

No new actions since 2017 reported

No new actions since 2017 reported

No new actions since 2017 reported

The final Cold Lake Sub-regional Plan^{Footnote 20} was posted April 8, 2022

Cold Lake (AB10), and Christina portion of East Side Athabasca River (AB9)

Completed (April 2022)

Government of Alberta

The final Bistcho Sub-regional Plan^{Footnote 21} was posted April 8, 2022

Bistcho (AB2)

Completed (April 2022)

Government of Alberta

The Wandering River task force stage of the planning process has been completed. The task force recommendations report was completed, and drafting of the sub-regional plan is underway

East Side Athabasca River (AB9)

In progress (anticipated sub-regional plan finalization in 2023)

Government of Alberta

The Berland task force stage of the planning process has been completed. Drafting of the task force recommendations report is underway, and drafting of the sub-regional plan is anticipated to begin in 2023

Little Smoky (AB5) and A la Peche (southern mountain caribou range)

In progress (anticipated sub-regional plan finalization in 2024)

Government of Alberta

The Chinchaga (AB1) task force recommendations report has been completed and drafting of the sub-regional plan is anticipated to begin in 2023

Alberta portion of Chinchaga (AB1)

In progress (anticipated sub-regional plan finalization in 2024)

Government of Alberta

The Indigenous knowledge-based Tâdzié-Sagow Atihk (Caribou) Stewardship Plan was developed and publicly released in December 2022. Next steps include engaging with other First Nations and the Government of Alberta, as well as developing a restoration offsets standard and an Indigenous Guardians program to monitor caribou and their habitat. This work is in alignment with a SARA s.11 agreement between the Government of Canada, Athabasca Chipewyan First Nation and Mikisew Cree First Nation

Red Earth (AB6), Richardson (AB8), East Side Athabasca River (AB9), West Side Athabasca River (AB7)

Completed (December 2022)

Athabasca Chipewyan First Nation and Mikisew Cree First Nation

818,658 ha within boreal caribou distribution in Alberta have been protected since the 2017 Report on Implementation. This includes:

• 232,158 ha in Red Earth (AB6) and Richardson (AB8) through the March 2019 establishment and January 2022 expansion of the Kitaskino Nuwenëné Wildland Provincial Park under Alberta’s Provincial Parks Act, following collaboration with Mikisew Cree First Nation and other Indigenous communities
• 586,500 ha in Red Earth (AB6), Richardson (AB8), and East side of the Athabasca (AB9) through a 2018 partnership between the Government of Alberta, the Government of Canada, Tall Cree First Nation, Syncrude and the Nature Conservancy of Canada (NCC), to establish and expand the Richardson, Dillon River, Birch Mountains, and Birch River wildland provincial parks under Alberta’s Provincial Parks Act.

Red Earth (AB6),

Richardson (AB8),

East Side Athabasca River (AB9)

Complete

Government of Alberta

Mikisew Cree First Nation

Tall Cree First Nation

ECCC

Syncrude

Nature Conservancy of Canada

Three Cold Lake Habitat Restoration projects were initiated in January 2019 and completed in March 2022 for a total of 457.6 km treated seismic lines and 537,470 trees planted.

Following the above restoration treatments, two seedling survival assessment projects were initiated in May 2022

Cold Lake (AB10)

Restoration treatments completed (March 2022)

Seedling survival assessments in progress (estimated completion in Fall 2022)

Government of Alberta

Forest Resource Improvement Association of Alberta

Approximately 44 km of 6 m wide seismic lines received restoration treatments using the Provincial Restoration and Establishment Framework for Legacy Seismic lines in Alberta within Richardson Wildland Provincial Park and Marguerite River Wildland Provincial Park in Richardson (AB8)

Richardson (AB8)

Completed (August 2021)

Alberta Energy Regulator

Canadian Forest Service

Alberta InnoTech

Government of Alberta

Legacy seismic line restoration treatments within Little Smoky (AB5), including mechanical site preparation, tree felling deactivation and tree planting, is underway for an expected total of approximately 763 km and 849,000 seedlings to be planted

Little Smoky (AB5)

In Progress (estimated completion in Fall 2022)

Government of Alberta

Forest Resource Improvement Association of Alberta

Inventories of the current vegetation state of seismic lines for restoration have been completed within Bistcho (AB2), and are underway in Richardson (AB8), Yates (AB3), Caribou Mountains (AB4), Chinchaga (AB1) and West Side Athabasca River (AB7)

Alberta portion of Chinchaga (AB1)

Bistcho (AB2)

Yates (AB3)

Caribou Mountains (AB4)

West Side Athabasca River (AB7)

Richardson (AB8)

Completed (February 2022; Bistcho and Yates)

In Progress (Richardson, and Caribou Mountains initiated in August 2021 and expected to be completed 2023; West Side Athabasca initiated May 2022 and expected to be completed 2023; Chinchaga initiated in May 2022 and expected to be completed 2024.)

Government of Alberta

Forest Resource Improvement Association of Alberta

A seed-collection project in Red Earth (AB6) collected 2.32 kg of black spruce seeds and 7.81 kg of Jack Pine seeds to provide native seeds for habitat restoration work.

Another seed collection project is ongoing in Little Smoky (AB5) for black spruce, Engelmann spruce and tamarack/larch

Red Earth (AB6)

Little Smoky (AB5)

Completed (September 2022; Red Earth)

In progress (Little Smoky; initiated September 2020)

Government of Alberta

Forest Resource Improvement Association of Alberta

Planning is underway to implement restoration treatments on up to 800 km of seismic lines in Cold Lake (AB10), up 530 km in East Side Athabasca (AB9), and up to 1,300 km in Red Earth (AB6)

Cold Lake (AB10)

East Side Athabasca River (AB9)

Red Earth (AB6)

In progress (completion of operational planning in Cold Lake and East Side Athabasca River expected Spring 2023. Completion of restoration work in Red Earth expected in Fall 2023)

Government of Alberta

Forest Resource Improvement Association of Alberta

The Site Rehabilitation Program was launched in May 2021 to provide grants to oil field service contractors to perform well, pipeline, and oil and gas site closure and reclamation work in specific geographic areas, including within caribou ranges. Under period 8 of the program, $100 million in funding was available for closure work in greater sage-grouse, native trout and caribou habitat in specific geographic areas

Priority boreal caribou ranges:

• Bistcho (AB2),
• Chinchaga (AB1),
• Alberta portion of Cold Lake (AB10),
• Little Smoky (AB5)

Completed (March 2023)

Government of Alberta

Oil field service contractors

A Moose Lake Access Management Plan was approved by Alberta on February 8, 2021 that will provide resource development direction intended to limit landscape fragmentation and disturbance by setting limits on allowable resource development footprint, restoring legacy seismic disturbance, and supporting Indigenous traditional uses and Section 35 rights. The planning area encompasses a 10 km perimeter adjacent to the Fort McKay First Nation Moose Lake reserves and overlaps approximately 85,000 ha of Red Earth (AB6)

Red Earth (AB6)

Completed (February 8, 2021)

Government of Alberta

A number of adjustments were made to the Master Schedule of Standards and Conditions in January 2021, including modifications to approval standards, conditions and wildlife sensitivity layers for woodland caribou. The designation of caribou range zones provides the general public, industrial operators and government departments with information on areas where land-use activities could pose higher (zone A) and lower (zone B) risk to caribou populations. This dataset delineates areas within caribou range where specified conditions apply to support species conservation and recovery while still accommodating land-use activities

All boreal caribou ranges in Alberta

Completed (January 2021)

Government of Alberta

A development agreement was negotiated by Ovintiv and Alberta and signed on October 25, 2019. The agreement includes tenure extensions on a portion of Ovintiv’s holdings within Little Smoky (AB5) with the commitment to no future land disturbance for eight years in approximately 8,000 ha within the range. This agreement also provides a 10-year financial contribution to restoration of legacy seismic lines

Little Smoky (AB5)

Completed (October 25, 2019)

Government of Alberta

Kiwetinohk Resources Corp. (transferred from Ovintiv March 22, 2022)

Approximately 1,361,925 ha of surface land, in eleven boreal caribou ranges, have been vacated by sub-surface agreements and returned to the Crown since June 2017 under the moratorium on sub-surface resource sales within caribou ranges.

Calculations of sub-surface agreement area are not a true indication of actual areas of surface disturbance that would be precluded, since the area of surface footprint required to develop a given area of subsurface holdings is unknown. Future activity will be guided by individual sub-regional plans

Areas within all boreal caribou ranges in Alberta, except Caribou Mountains (AB4)

Ongoing (no end date has been determined for the moratorium)

Government of Alberta

Alberta is annually delivering wolf population reduction programs within and adjacent to four boreal caribou population ranges to enable caribou population persistence. Annual wolf population reductions are primarily achieved through government-led actions during the winter season. Alberta also initiated a program with the Alberta Trappers Association to provide incentives for wolf harvesting by Registered Fur Management Area (RFMA) holders

East Side Athabasca River (AB9)

Cold Lake (AB10)

Little Smoky (AB5)

Alberta portion of Chinchaga (AB1)

Ongoing (Little Smoky initiated 2006; East Side Athabasca River and Cold Lake initiated 2017; Chinchaga initiated 2019)

Government of Alberta (lead)

Alberta Trappers Association (grant recipient)

Alberta currently provides increased opportunities for licensed hunting of alternative ungulate prey species (that is, moose, elk and deer) in Wildlife Management Units overlapping with caribou ranges (additional moose opportunities to support caribou recovery are only available in Little Smoky). The intent of these actions is to manage the increased population growth of these species resulting from wolf population reductions and reduce expansion of white-tailed deer into caribou range

All ranges in whole or in part on provincial land

Ongoing

Government of Alberta

A strategy for alternate prey (that is, ungulates and beaver) management activities in the Cold Lake Air Weapons Range was developed in 2021. Implementation, which was delayed due to access issues, began in 2023. This work is in alignment with a SARA s.11 agreement between the Government of Canada and Cold Lake First Nations

Cold Lake (AB10)

In Progress (strategy completed 2021; implementation began 2023)

Cold Lake First Nations

No new actions since 2017 reported

No new actions since 2017 reported

No new actions since 2017 reported

No new actions since 2017 reported

Alberta’s ongoing caribou population monitoring program monitors movement, distribution, habitat use and vital rates of caribou. Vital rate monitoring includes estimating annual rates for adult female survival and calf recruitment within local populations, which together allow for the estimation of annual caribou population growth for each boreal caribou local population under provincial management

All ranges in whole or in part on provincial land

Ongoing

Government of Alberta

Alberta has estimated population size for selected caribou populations using a capture-mark-recapture sampling procedure, based on collection of fecal DNA. Selected ranges are surveyed multiple times in a single winter to collect caribou fecal pellets within and adjacent to caribou ranges. Alberta continues to undertake caribou population estimation surveys, based on fecal DNA collections and since 2017 has completed an additional two caribou local populations

Nipisi (AB11); 2018/19

Slave Lake (AB12); 2018/19

Completed in 2 ranges between 2017 and 2022

Government of Alberta

When possible, mortalities of radio-collared adult female caribou are visited to assess cause of death, and various samples are collected for health, body condition and disease monitoring (for example, Slater et al., 2022). Cold Lake First Nations provides support when mortalities occur within the Cold Lake Air Weapons Range

All ranges in whole or in part on provincial lands

Ongoing

Government of Alberta

Cold Lake First Nations

No new actions since 2017 reported

No new actions since 2017 reported

No new actions since 2017 reported

No new actions since 2017 reported

The final Range Plan for Woodland Caribou in Saskatchewan - Boreal Plain Ecozone - SK2 Central^{Footnote 23} (“SK2 Central Range Plan”) was released in July 2019, following a 60-day review period from October 30, 2017 to December 30, 2017

The Central administrative unit of the Boreal Plain (SK2)

Completed (July 2019)

Government of Saskatchewan

The final Range Plan for Woodland Caribou in Saskatchewan - Boreal Plain Ecozone - SK2 West Administrative Unit^{Footnote 24} (“SK2 West range plan”) was released in October 2021, following a 60-day review period from December 10, 2019 to February 8, 2020

The West administrative unit of the Boreal Plain (SK2)

Completed (October 2021)

Government of Saskatchewan

The draft Range Plan for Woodland Caribou in Saskatchewan - Boreal Plain Ecozone - SK2 East^{Footnote 25} (“SK2 East Range Plan) was released on October 27, 2021. The public review period was open from October 27, 2021 to January 13, 2022

The East administrative unit of the Boreal Plain (SK2)

In progress (estimated completion of final plan in 2024)

Government of Saskatchewan

Engagement events with Indigenous communities, industry and other stakeholders were held through summer and fall 2022 to raise awareness and prepare for the start of the SK1 range planning process, which began in 2023

Boreal Shield (SK1)

In progress (a final plan for SK1 may take up to three years)

Government of Saskatchewan

Caribou habitat management areas defined through the range planning process have been posted on the Province’s Hunting, Angling and Biodiversity Information of Saskatchewan (HABISask) website and are available to be downloaded as spatial files from the provincial GeoHub

Boreal Plain (SK2)

In progress (SK2 Central and SK2 West completed; final caribou habitat management areas for the East administrative unit are anticipated in 2024)

Government of Saskatchewan

191,649 ha within boreal caribou distribution in Saskatchewan have been protected since the 2017 Report on Implementation. The largest areas include:

• 98,580 ha in the SK2 East administrative unit of the Boreal Plain (SK2) through the October 2021 establishment of Lobstick Lake Ecological Reserve under the Ecological Reserves Act and the Representative Area Ecological Reserves Regulations
• 60,610 ha in the Boreal Shield (SK1) through the 2019 implementation of interim protection measures including a Crown mineral reserve while the designation of the Tazin Lake Ecological Reserve under the Ecological Reserves Act and the Representative Area Ecological Reserves Regulations undergoes finalization
• 23,177 ha in the Boreal Shield (SK1) through the 2018 establishment of Lower Foster Lake Representative Area Ecological Reserve under the Ecological Reserves Act and the Representative Area Ecological Reserves Regulations. Discussions are ongoing with Cumberland House Cree Nation to develop a management plan

The East administrative unit of the Boreal Plain (SK2)

Boreal Shield (SK1)

Completed

Government of Saskatchewan

Cumberland House Cree Nation

The Forest Operating Plan Standard, a Chapter in the Saskatchewan Environmental Code, was amended in June 2022 to require harvest event planning, as well as mapping to identify caribou habitat management areas in annually submitted operating plans.

Harvest event planning aims to aggregate harvest disturbance and minimize road networks with an overall objective of more closely emulating natural disturbance patterns and reducing total human disturbance

All ranges in Saskatchewan, commercial forest zone

Completed (June 2022)

Government of Saskatchewan

The Forest Management Plan in the area of the SK2 Central Range Plan was amended in May 2021 to include a commitment to defer harvest within Tier 1 caribou habitat management areas for a minimum of 20 years, in alignment with the range plan

Central administrative unit of Boreal Plain (SK2)

Completed (May 2021)

Government of Saskatchewan

The approval of the SK2 West Range Plan triggered an approval condition in the Mistik Management Ltd. and Tolko Industries Ltd. Forest Management Plans to align with the range plan

West administrative unit of Boreal Plain (SK2)

Completed (April 2023)

Government of Saskatchewan

The Crown Resource Land Regulations were revised in March 2019 to ensure reclamation following use, identify additional conditions when authorizing activities, including provisions for mitigation, and to promote compliance. The goal is to reduce the overall footprint of authorized activities

All ranges in Saskatchewan

Completed (March 2019)

Government of Saskatchewan

A draft boreal habitat offset protocol and in-lieu fees calculator have been developed and are undergoing internal review. The protocol and calculator will ultimately support consistent application of offset requirements to major industrial developments occurring in boreal caribou range.

Woodland caribou mitigation and offset plans have been completed for three projects as part of provincial environmental assessment requirements.

A new mitigation fund is being developed within the Fish and Wildlife Development Fund to accept in lieu fees for offsets until suitable sites for restoration can be identified

All ranges in Saskatchewan

Ongoing

Government of Saskatchewan

Collaboration with ECCC on acceptable measures for management of boreal caribou critical habitat in the Primrose Lake Air Weapons Range resulted in a draft Memorandum of Agreement between the Department of National Defence (DND) and the Government of Saskatchewan.

The draft Memorandum of Agreement has provisions for DND to offset disturbance to boreal caribou habitat. Field work is underway to identify restoration sites and develop prescriptions

Primrose Lake Air Weapons Range within the West administrative unit of Boreal Plain (SK2)

In progress (anticipated completion in 2025)

Government of Canada and Government of Saskatchewan

In 2022, the province prepared draft best management practices (BMPs) for boreal caribou in the Boreal Plain (SK2) and draft guidelines for integrating BMPs and mitigation planning into existing permitting processes. Draft BMPs and new draft permit conditions include considerations for minimizing project footprints and limiting the development of new access and other linear features. Saskatchewan is continuing engagement with industry stakeholders on the draft BMPs, new draft permit conditions and mitigation plan guidelines. These documents will inform similar guidelines for the Boreal Shield (SK1)

Boreal Plain (SK2)

In progress (drafts completed in 2022; finalization of BMPs, new permit conditions, and mitigation guidelines expected in coming years)

Government of Saskatchewan

High-resolution LiDAR data in 633,930 ha of priority areas in the Boreal Plain (SK2) was acquired and analyzed to support assessment of linear features for restoration potential, as part of the development of a disturbance restoration program.

Preliminary analysis of remote sensing data and additional analysis supported by ground-truthing data collected in summer 2022 is complete

Priority areas in Boreal Plain (SK2)

Ongoing

Government of Saskatchewan

A geospatial prioritization decision support tool for habitat management and restoration planning was developed that combines boreal caribou habitat potential and modelled habitat connectivity

Boreal Plain (SK2)

In progress (anticipated results in 2024)

Government of Saskatchewan

Disturbance mapping is being updated, incorporating new information from forest harvest blocks, roads and other developments, as it becomes available, and reported at the viewing scale used by ECCC of 1:50,000

All ranges in Saskatchewan

In progress

Government of Saskatchewan

A pilot disturbance mapping project was initiated in the Boreal Shield (SK1) using remote sensing data to understand the amount and distribution of human disturbance. Preliminary results indicate the method has potential for application to broader areas of the Boreal Shield. Currently engaging with industry and other stakeholders and potential partners to determine next steps

Pilot area in Boreal Shield (SK1)

Completed (2022)

Government of Saskatchewan

A Fire Management Plan, based on replicating natural fire disturbance regime, was developed for Prince Albert National Park (PANP) in 2018. The plan was devised to allow for a mosaic of multi-aged forest stands throughout the park, based on the historical 100-year fire-cycle of the local region. With the intent on maintaining a diversity of forest habitat throughout the park, this plan allows for a fire response based on human safety and protecting ecological habitat as directed. When planning prescribed fires or responding to wildfire ignition, woodland caribou habitat protection is a consideration as part of the decision process

Prince Albert National Park area within Boreal Plain (SK2)

Complete (2018)

Parks Canada

No new actions reported

No new actions reported

No new actions reported

No new actions reported

No new actions reported

No new actions reported

No new actions reported

No new actions reported

The population within the SK2 Central administrative unit was assessed via fecal DNA collections. The population size estimate declined from 181 in 2017 to 125 caribou in 2019 in the sample area. Females showed a statistically non-significant increase from 2017 to 2018 (Lambda = 1.2) followed by a significant decrease between 2018 and 2019 (Lambda = 0.7). Males showed a steady decline in abundance over the 3 years (Lambda = 0.66). (Manseau et al., 2021)

Sample area in the Central administrative unit of the Boreal Plain (SK2)

Completed (2017-2019)

Government of Saskatchewan

Trent University

University of Manitoba

The population within the SK2 East and West administrative units were assessed via fecal DNA collections. Results are anticipated in early 2024

Sample areas in the East and West administrative units of the Boreal Plain (SK2)

In progress (collections completed in 2019-2021, results anticipated in early 2024)

Government of Saskatchewan

Trent University

University of Manitoba

Assessments of the population size, trend, and distribution of the SK1 population based on boreal caribou collaring and aerial surveys were completed in 2019. Over 16 surveys conducted between 2008 and 2014 (including surveys where no caribou were observed), the average density was 36.9 boreal caribou/1000 km² (95% CI: 26.7–47.2 caribou/1000 km²), corresponding to an estimate of 3,380 caribou in the study area. The population was characterized by high adult female survival and moderate recruitment from collar data between 2014 and 2017. The population was assessed as stable across the three years of study. Fecal pellet collections were done in early 2023 to continue assessment of the SK1 boreal caribou local population

Study area in the Boreal Shield (SK1)

Completed (2019)

University of Saskatchewan, Saskatchewan Mining Association, Cameco, SaskPower, Government of Saskatchewan

Trent University

Research into familial networks identified individuals with different fitness levels and short- and long-distance dispersal across the range, assisting with population monitoring and recovery efforts

All ranges in Saskatchewan

Completed (2021)

Government of Saskatchewan

Trent University

A surveillance program for chronic wasting disease (CWD) in hunter-harvested ungulates is ongoing. In 2021-22 CWD, was detected in white-tailed deer in the southern boreal region, overlapping the Boreal Plain (SK2). CWD has not been detected in boreal caribou

Boreal Plain (SK2)

Ongoing (annual program)

Government of Saskatchewan, Canadian Wildlife Health Cooperative

Fecal samples from boreal caribou collected during 2014-2020 population surveys in SK2 East and SK2 Central administrative units were tested for CWD in 2021. No CWD was detected (0/43)

Boreal Plain (SK2)

Completed (2021)

Government of Saskatchewan

University of Calgary

Fecal pellets collected for population assessments are also being used to:

• Characterize caribou microbiomes (through NRCan, Trent University, ECCC and Genome Canada);
• Monitor for parasites (through the University of Saskatchewan); and,
• Test for pregnancy hormones to better understand productivity potential (through Trent University and the Toronto Zoo)

All ranges in Saskatchewan

Ongoing

Government of Saskatchewan

Trent University

Genome Canada

University of Saskatchewan

Toronto Zoo

NRCan

ECCC

Saskatchewan’s draft BMPs include: avoiding high disturbance project activities during the sensitive period of April 1 - July 31 (late winter, calving and post-calving) where possible; and delaying start-up or idling down heavy equipment and vehicles when caribou are observed within 500 m of an active work area

Boreal Plain (SK2)

In progress (see information on draft BMPs under Habitat Management section)

Government of Saskatchewan

Consistent with the SARA section 11 conservation agreement, in 2019 Manitoba initiated development of a provincial action plan that outlines a management unit framework approach. This framework approach will provide direction on the integration of management unit condition (that is, population and habitat) into landscape planning and direction to industry and government with respect to the management initiatives, and population/habitat targets that will be implemented through management unit range plans. The framework will provide for a measurable and transparent assessment to report on progress being made on boreal caribou conservation and recovery outcomes

All boreal caribou management units in Manitoba

In progress (initiated in 2019; targeting completion of a draft action plan by December 2023)

Government of Manitoba

Consistent with the SARA section 11 conservation agreement, Manitoba initiated development of management unit range plans in 2021

All boreal caribou management units in Manitoba

In progress (initiated in 2021; targeting finalization of all range plans by March 2025)

Government of Manitoba

The Government of Manitoba is working with the forest industry to develop a 20-year forest management plan (FMP) for Forest Management License 2 (FML-02) over the next two years. The plan will incorporate measures that incorporates landscape planning that will protect caribou habitat. The FMP will include the development of a caribou habitat protection plan that will address an assessment of conditions at the start of the plan and projected future conditions. Parameters include age-class distribution, forest type distribution, patch size distribution, road density and spatial distribution of human disturbance. FML-02 incorporates an area of 8,777,685 ha within Manitoba’s provincial caribou management units: Naosap, Partridge Crop, The Bog, Wabowden and North Interlake

Areas within The Bog (MB1), Kississing (MB2), Naosap (MB3), Reed (MB4), North Interlake (MB5), William Lake (MB6, Wabowden (MB7), Wapisu (MB8), Manitoba North (MB9), and Manitoba South (MB10)

In progress (initiated in 2022; targeted completion date 2025)

Government of Manitoba

Existing protected areas under local Indigenous community land use plans that have been enshrined in legislation under The Eastside Traditional Lands Planning and Special Protected Areas Act in Atikaki-Berens (MB12) received additional levels of protection through the July 2018 designation of Pimachiowin Aki as an official World Heritage Site

Atikaki-Berens (MB12)

Completed (July 2018)

Pimachiowin Aki Corporation, a collaboration between:

Bloodvein River First Nation

Little Grand Rapids First Nation

Pauingassi First Nation

Poplar River First Nation

Government of Manitoba

Government of Ontario

The Government of Manitoba has completed development of new land cover classification datasets for all nine boreal caribou management units to inform the development of management unit range plans

All boreal caribou management units in Manitoba

Complete (2023)

Government of Manitoba

In October 2020, the Government of Manitoba completed an analysis of their population and habitat data, including a disturbance assessment, for all boreal caribou management units. The results will form the basis for describing the current state of habitat for boreal caribou within individual boreal caribou management unit range plans

All boreal caribou management units in Manitoba

Completed (October 2020)

Government of Manitoba

The Government of Manitoba is completing a natural range of variation analysis to understand the amount and arrangement of caribou habitat under natural conditions. The results will help inform the development of management unit range plans

All boreal caribou management units in Manitoba

In Progress (targeting completion by 2025)

Government of Manitoba

No new actions since 2017 reported

No new actions since 2017 reported

No new actions since 2017 reported

No new actions since 2017 reported

No new actions since 2017 reported

No new actions since 2017 reported

No new actions since 2017 reported

No new actions since 2017 reported

In alignment with the SARA section 11 conservation agreement, Manitoba implemented collaring and survey activities in three management units, which contributed to new or updated information on core use areas that are important habitats for boreal caribou:

• One aerial survey was completed and four caribou were collared in the Interlake Management Unit in 2020
• One aerial survey was completed in the Kamuchawie Management Unit in 2020, and pellet collections were completed in 2019-20 and 2021-22, with additional surveys and collaring planned over the project’s timeline
• Two aerial surveys were completed in Owl-Flintstone in 2019 and 2020, and pellet collections were completed in 2019-20 and 2021-22. Due to low sample size, a robust population size was not unattainable, but a minimum population count was produced

This information will improve the ability to effectively mitigate impacts to the boreal caribou local population and help protect caribou habitat by enabling the incorporation of targets to maintain or increase recovery habitat into range planning and land management processes

Interlake Management Unit (corresponds to portions of North Interlake (MB5) and Manitoba South (MB10))

Kamuchawie Management Unit (corresponds to Manitoba North (MB9))

Owl-Flintstone Management Unit (corresponds to Owl-Flintstone (MB13))

Complete (2022; Interlake and Owl-Flintstone Management Units)

In Progress (Initiated 2019, expected completion 2024; Kamuchawie Management Unit)

Government of Manitoba

The Government of Manitoba completed population data analysis for all management units in October 2018 and again in December 2020. The analysis included population trend, habitat disturbance, adult female survival, habitat suitability modeling and home range data from 2005 to 2020. The results will form the basis for describing the current state of populations within individual boreal caribou management unit range plans

All boreal caribou management units in Manitoba

Completed (October 2018 and December 2020)

Government of Manitoba

No new actions since 2017 reported

No new actions since 2017 reported

No new actions since 2017 reported

No new actions since 2017 reported

No new actions since 2017 reported

No new actions since 2017 reported

No new actions since 2017 reported

No new actions since 2017 reported

In 2018, the Government of Ontario initiated a broad public discussion on the future of boreal caribou in the Lake Superior Coast Range (LSCR; corresponds to Coastal (ON6)) and Discontinuous Distribution (DD; the provincially identified area separating the LSCR from the ranges to the north), with the intent of developing a management approach for the area. These areas are not covered by the Range Management Policy.

This broad public discussion included a discussion paper entitled “Seeking Advice on the Future of Caribou in the Lake Superior Coast Range” that was released in March 2018, and a workshop with Indigenous communities and stakeholders held in March 2019. A decision on the long-term approach has not yet been made

Coastal (ON6) and the provincial DD

Initiated (the Ontario conservation agreement commits Ontario to finalizing a management approach for the LSCR and DD by 2023-24, with subsequent implementation)

Government of Ontario

Ontario’s Forest Management Guide for Boreal Landscapes (2014) (“Landscape Guide”) directs forest management planning teams to manage the amount and arrangement of habitat in areas where forest management units overlap the continuous caribou distribution. Within these areas, forest management plans (FMPs) are required to have a Dynamic Caribou Habitat Schedule (DCHS). A DCHS is a long-term plan for providing year-round caribou habitat in large, interconnected landscape patches. A DCHS is intended to support the achievement of management objectives (for example, maintain caribou habitat within an estimated natural range) through the application of long-term strategies and operational plans for roads, forest harvesting and forest renewal. Calving and nursery areas, and related conditions on forest operations, are considered during the development of an FMP. Currently, all forest management units within Sydney (ON1), Berens (ON2), Churchill (ON3), Brightsand (ON4), Nipigon (ON5), Pagwachuan (ON7), and Kesagami (ON8) include a DCHS in their FMPs

All ranges in Ontario that overlap with forest management units (except ON6)

Ongoing (the Ontario conservation agreement commits Ontario to integrating the Landscape Guide into all FMPs that intersect with boreal caribou ranges by 2026-27 and to assess the effectiveness of existing direction in supporting self-sustaining local populations)

Government of Ontario

In the Far North planning area, the province continues to work jointly with interested First Nation communities to develop community-based land use plans under the Far North Act (2010). When completed, each plan will include at least one Dedicated Protected Area. Establishment of Dedicated Protected Areas will result in enhanced protection of significant areas of the Far North from human disturbance

Far North (ON9)

Ongoing (since 2010)

Government of Ontario

Deer Lake First Nation

Eabametoong and Mishkeegogamang First Nations

Marten Falls First Nation

Constance Lake First Nation

Webequie First Nation

McDowell Lake First Nation

Kashechewan First Nation

Weenusk First Nation

North Spirit Lake First Nation

Moose Cree First Nation

In 2018, following the movement of wolves over an ice bridge to Michipicoten Island, caribou were moved from Michipicoten to the wolf-free Slate Islands and Caribou Island. Nine caribou were successfully translocated to the Slate Islands while six caribou were successfully translocated to Caribou Island

Coastal (ON6)

Completed (2018)

Government of Ontario

No new actions reported

No new actions reported

No new actions reported

No new actions reported

A survey was conducted in 2020 on the caribou translocated in 2018 from Michipicoten Island to the Slate Islands to estimate population recovery and growth. The most recent estimate is 45 animals on the Slate Islands (2021). Additionally, a 2022 estimate by external parties indicates that there are 22-26 caribou on Caribou Island

Coastal (ON6)

Ongoing, 2020; targeting next survey prior to the conclusion of the Ontario conservation agreement (2026-27)

Government of Ontario

Collars were deployed in Ozhiski in March 2019 and Missisa in March 2020 to further understand population structure, trends and distribution in relation to habitat condition and disturbance. Between 2020 and 2022, efforts were undertaken annually to deploy additional collars to maintain the sample size within each range

Ozhiski and Missisa provincial ranges within the Far North (ON9)

Ongoing (since 2019-20)

Government of Ontario

In the Far North (ON9), work is ongoing to develop population dynamics models for caribou to facilitate regional cumulative effects assessment. These models may assist in the identification of boreal caribou critical habitat in the Far North and may help to inform future planning and resource development decisions in this region. Preliminary results from multi-species ‘Moose-Wolf-Caribou’ population dynamics were published in Rempel 2021 and an associated Technical Report is in preparation. Model components can be revisited and updated once additional information becomes available

Far North (ON9)

Ongoing (since 2018)

Government of Ontario

Ongoing development of a spatially explicit Population Viability Assessment model to assess caribou persistence is ongoing and will incorporate climate change and forest management planning

All ranges, except Coastal (ON6)

Ongoing (since 2019)

Government of Ontario

Research on using whole genome sequences to develop a simple genetic test to distinguish between boreal and eastern migratory caribou ecotypes and better delineate their ranges, and to investigate fine scale genomic structure of boreal caribou to delineate local populations and assess connectivity is underway

Ozhiski and Missisa provincial ranges within the Far North (ON9)

Ongoing (since 2020)

Trent University

Government of Ontario

ECCC

Research on conservation genomics of Lake Superior caribou is ongoing to investigate evolutionary origins, inbreeding, and adaption, and will support identification of priorities for habitat connectivity between the Lake Superior caribou and the continuous range

Coastal (ON6)

Ongoing (since 2020)

Trent University

Government of Ontario

ECCC

Caribou population and habitat monitoring has been undertaken in the context of two environmental assessment projects. This includes winter aerial surveys in 2018 and 2019, a Caribou Nursery Habitat Survey in 2019, and deployment of a total of 59 GPS radio-collars. This information is intended to provide baseline data within and near the proposed projects

Missisa provincial range within the Far North (ON9)

The winter aerial surveys and nursery habitat surveys are complete (2018-19).

The collaring studies are ongoing (since 2021)

Webequie First Nation

Marten Falls First Nation

AtkinsRéalis (previously SNC-Lavalin)

AECOM Canada Ltd.

WSP

ECCC conducted regional-scale, non-invasive fecal DNA study across Missisa and Ozhiski in 2021 and 2022, respectively. Data will provide baseline information to help inform the review of potential future developments in the area. Planning occurred in 2022 for surveying James Bay in 2023

Missisa, Ozhiski, and James Bay provincial ranges within the Far North (ON9)

Sample collection complete (2021-22); project ongoing

ECCC

Trent University

Planning began in 2022 to develop an ongoing range-scale caribou monitoring program and to monitor key ranges in winter 2023 (Brightsand (ON4), Churchill (ON3), Kesagami (ON8) and Kinloch (part of Far North (ON9))

All ranges

Ongoing (since 2022; The Ontario conservation agreement commits Ontario to develop an ongoing monitoring program by 2023-24 and to monitor all ranges by 2026-27, starting with key ranges in 2022-23)

Government of Ontario

Fecal DNA mark-recapture surveys of caribou were carried out in Brightsand (ON4) in 2020 to estimate population genetic diversity statistics and population size

Brightsand (ON4)

Completed (2023)

Lakehead University

ECCC

Government of Ontario

Resolute Forest Products

Weyerhauser Company Ltd

EACOM Timber Corporation

Forest Products Association of Canada

Aerial survey of caribou was carried out in a portion of the Kesagami (ON8) range and the adjoining Detour range in Quebec in 2022

Kesagami (ON8)

Completed (2023)

Government of Québec

ECCC

GreenFirst Forest Products

Agnico Eagle Mining Ltd.

Hecla Quebec

Abitibiwinni First Nation Council

Condition of caribou captured during deployment of collars in Ozhiski and Missisa was estimated using a qualitative score and analysis of blood samples (hematocrit, pregnancy-specific protein B). When possible, bone marrow fat is determined from long bones collected during mortality assessments

Ozhiski and Missisa provincial ranges within the Far North (ON9)

Ongoing (since 2019-20)

Government of Ontario

No new actions since 2017 reported

No new actions since 2017 reported

No new actions since 2017 reported

No new actions since 2017 reported

A draft Caribou Strategy that outlines the measures to be put in place to reduce the disturbance rate of the habitat used by boreal caribou in order to achieve 65% undisturbed habitat in each range, based on measurements and timelines adapted to each population, is expected imminently

All boreal caribou ranges in Quebec

In progress

Government of Quebec

Since the 2017 Report on Implementation, 6,331,389 ha have been included in the designation of protected areas in Quebec ranges. The majority of these areas fall within Quebec (QC6). The largest protected areas are:

• over 1,000,000 ha in Manouane (QC4), Manicouagan (QC5) and Quebec (QC6) through the 2020 establishment of the Réserve de territoire aux fins d’aire protégée des Caribous-Forestiers-de-Manouane-Manicouagan (Caribous-Forestiers-de-Manouane-Manicouagan Territorial reserve for protected area purposes) and the 2021 designation of the adjacent Réserve de biodiversité projetée des Caribous-Forestiers-de-Manouane-Manicouagan (Caribous-Forestiers-de-Manouane-Manicouagan proposed biodiversity reserve) under Quebec’s Natural Heritage Conservation Act (NHCA). These protected areas are also in alignment with the three-year bilateral cost-sharing agreement;
• 584,300 ha in Quebec (QC6) through the 2018 designation of the Réserve de biodiversité projetée de Chisesaakahikan-et-de-la-Rivière-Broadback (Proposed Chisesaakahikan-et-de-la-Rivière-Broadback Biodiversity Reserve) under the NHCA and the 2020 establishment of the adjacent Réserve de territoire aux fins d’aire protégée Chisesaakahikan (Chisesaakahiikan Territorial reserve for protected area purposes);
• 571,900 ha in Quebec (QC6) through the 2020 establishment of the Réserve de territoire aux fins d’aire protégée Rivière-Kanaaupscow-et-Lac-Kukamawa (Rivière-Kanaawpscow-et-Lac-Kukamaw Territorial reserve) for protected area purposes under the NHCA;
• 508,600 ha in Quebec (QC6) through the 2020 establishment of the Réserve de territoire aux fins d’aire protégée Pipunishiwin-Saahkamiishtikw (Pipunishiwin Saahkamiishtiku Territorial reserve for protected area purposes) under the NHCA

Val d’Or (QC1)

Pipmuacan (QC3)

Manouane (QC4)

Manicouagan (QC5)

Quebec (QC6)

Completed

Government of Quebec

On April 1, 2018, the Québec Regulation Respecting the Sustainable Development of Forests in the Domain of the State came into effect. It provides for specific regulatory measures for the benefit of boreal caribou in Québec, for example, no forestry activity may be carried out in calving habitats north of the 52nd parallel, or in blocks of certain lichen ecological types

All boreal caribou ranges in Quebec, in whole or in part

Completed (April 2018)

Government of Quebec

The Government of Quebec dismantled 157 km of road between 2017 and March 2022

South of Val d’Or (QC1), Manouane (QC4) and Charlevoix (QC2)

Completed (2022)

Government of Quebec

Société des établissements de plein air du Québec

The Government of Quebec captured and penned the seven remaining caribou from the Val d’Or (QC1) local population in winter 2020, and the 16 remaining caribou from the Charlevoix (QC2) local population in winter 2022, to prevent their extirpation by protecting the local populations from predators until long-term measures are implemented

Val-d’Or (QC1) and Charlevoix (QC2)

Ongoing (Penning initiated in February 2020 for Val-d’Or and February 2022 for the Charlevoix herd)

Government of Quebec

Predator control measures were undertaken in Val d’Or (QC1) and Charlevoix (QC2) beginning in 2019. In both ranges, the province tracked wolves through telemetry and aerial surveys, and conducted aerial and on-the-ground wolf culls since 2019, however these programs were halted following penning of the remaining caribou.

In addition to provincial efforts, the Huron-Wendat Nation conducted bear control in Charlevoix (QC2) in 2021-22, and the Lac Simon, Kitcisakik and Long Point First Nations participated in wolf control efforts within Val d’Or (QC1) in 2018-2020

Val-d’Or (QC)1 and Charlevoix (QC2)

Initiated in 2019

Government of Quebec

Huron-Wendat First Nation

Lac Simon First Nation

Kitcisakik First Nation

Long Point First Nation

No new actions since 2017 reported

No new actions since 2017 reported

No new actions since 2017 reported

No new actions since 2017 reported

17 aerial surveys were conducted by the Government of Quebec across eight federal or provincial ranges as well as the Baie James and Basse Côte-Nord areas since 2017. Results and methods of the population surveys have been published on the Government of Quebec’s website^{Footnote 35}

Val d’Or (QC1)

Charlevoix (QC2)

Pipmuacan (QC3)

Provincial ranges: Caniapiscau, Nottaway, Témiscamie, Manicouagan, Outardes

Provincially identified areas: Baie James, Basse Côte-Nord and Moyenne-Côte-Nord

Completed:

2017 – Charlevoix

2018 – Caniapiscau

2019 – Basse Côte-Nord, Charlevoix and Témiscamie

2020 – Val d’Or, Charlevoix, Baie James, Manicouagan, Moyenne-Côte-Nord, Pipmuacan

2021 – Charlevoix, Caniapiscau, Manicouagan

2022 – Caniapiscau, Nottaway, Outardes

Government of Quebec

In collaboration with the Cree Nation Government and the Anishnabe community of Lac-Simon

During the reporting period, telemetric data was collected on caribou local populations within ten federal or provincial ranges as well as the Basse Côte-Nord area

Val d’Or (QC1)

Charlevoix (QC2)

Pipmuacan (QC3)

Provincial ranges : Detour, Caniapiscau, Nottaway, Assinica, Témiscamie, Manicouagan, Outardes

Provincially identified area: Basse Cote-Nord

Ongoing

Government of Quebec

No new actions since 2017 reported

No new actions since 2017 reported

No new actions since 2017 reported

No new actions since 2017 reported

No new actions since 2017 reported

No new actions since 2017 reported

No new actions since 2017 reported

No new actions since 2017 reported

The Government of Newfoundland and Labrador developed a work plan and drafted a framework to initiate range planning in June 2022. A range plan (covering all ranges) is currently being drafted in collaboration with Indigenous groups in Labrador. Work to date has included updating local populations ranges in Labrador, as well as identifying priority areas for conservation through a GIS analysis. Next steps are to work with Indigenous governments and organizations to refine these areas, and to examine potential protection mechanisms

All boreal caribou ranges in Labrador

In progress (final range plan expected in March 2024)

Government of Newfoundland and Labrador

Innu Nation

Nunatsiavut Government

NunatuKavut Community Council

ECCC

The province has initiated engagement towards collaborative management planning for boreal caribou with Indigenous governments and organizations, as well as other management agencies (that is, Canadian Wildlife Service, Parks Canada)

All boreal caribou ranges in Labrador

In progress, (expecting to commence team meetings in 2024)

Government of Newfoundland and Labrador

Innu Nation

Nunatsiavut Government

NunatuKavut Community Council

Torngat Secretariat

ECCC

Continued coordinated forestry planning with the Innu Nation has resulted in the renewal of a reserve for the 2018 to 2022 forestry planning cycle, in which silviculture, road building and commercial forestry activities are prohibited, with only small-scale domestic harvest permitted. This reserve, totaling over 450,000 ha, overlaps with Red Wine Mountain (NL2)

Red Wine Mountain (NL2)

Completed (2018-2022)

Government of Newfoundland and Labrador

Innu Nation

High predation pressure and alternate prey have not been identified as a current threat/issue for boreal caribou in Labrador. However, in alignment with the SARA section 11 conservation agreement, the province has initiated a monitoring program to collect baseline information on moose and wolf populations in relation to boreal caribou distribution and demography in Southern Labrador. These surveys are complemented by ongoing moose survey work by partners

All boreal caribou ranges in Labrador

Ongoing (since 2019)

Government of Newfoundland and Labrador

DND

Torngat Secretariat

The Indigenous Guardian programs by NunatuKavut Community Council and Nunatsiavut Government to deter harvesting of boreal caribou have been enhanced through the conservation agreement

Mealy Mountain (NL3)

Ongoing (since 2019)

Government of Newfoundland and Labrador

Nunatsiavut Government

NunatuKavut Community Council

ECCC

Increased surveillance and enforcement patrols in collaboration with Indigenous Guardians has supported increased information collection on boreal caribou harvest

All boreal caribou ranges in Labrador

Ongoing (since 2021)

Government of Newfoundland and Labrador

ECCC

Nunatsiavut Government

NunatuKavut Community Council

Increased collar-based population monitoring and collaboration with Quebec on transboundary ranges allowed re-evaluation of caribou local population identification and boundary delineation

All boreal caribou ranges in Labrador

Completed 2022

Government of Newfoundland and Labrador

Government of Québec

A sample of adult female caribou were collared in all local population ranges to better understand survival rates, mortality causes and population distribution

All boreal caribou ranges in Labrador

Ongoing annually since 2019

Government of Newfoundland and Labrador

Stratified aerial fixed-strip transect surveys in winter 2019 and 2022 were conducted to estimate population size and demographics of the Mealy Mountain (NL3) local population

Mealy Mountain (NL3)

Completed (2019 and 2022)

Government of Newfoundland and Labrador

Parks Canada

With support from Nunatsiavut Government, Innu Nation, NunatuKavut Community Council and the Torngat Secretariat

Annual aerial classification surveys (that is, proportion of males, females and calves) of caribou groups with collared females, and any other groups found during the survey, were conducted to estimate calf recruitment

All boreal caribou ranges in Labrador

Ongoing annually since 2019

Government of Newfoundland and Labrador

Parks Canada (in NL3 only)

Pregnancy rates, stress and reproductive hormones, exposure to parasites and pathogens, and body condition were monitored using samples (fecal, hair, blood, bones) and body condition data collected during capture for collaring or during mortality investigations

All boreal caribou ranges in Labrador

Ongoing (Initiated in 2019; Sample analysis for 2019-2022 and synthesis of findings completed in 2024. New samples collected and analyzed annually)

Government of Newfoundland and Labrador

ECCC

No new actions since 2017 reported

No new actions since 2017 reported

No new actions since 2017 reported

No new actions since 2017 reported

The final PWRLUP was posted on August 22, 2019

Yukon portion of Northwest Territories (NT1)

Completed (August 2019)

Government of Yukon

First Nation of Na-cho Nyäk Dun

Gwich’in Tribal Council

Under the PWRLUP, a total of 650,200 ha of the Yukon portion of NT1 (approximately 72%) have been identified for designation as conservation areas, where new industrial land-use dispositions, as well as any new surface access, are not allowed:

• Land Management Unit (LMU) 10 is zoned as a Wilderness Area, and is subject to an interim withdrawal for 10 years or until review of the plan. The overlap of LMU 10 with the Yukon portion of NT1 totals 132,400 ha
• LMUs 11, 12 and 14 are zoned as Special Management Areas and have been permanently withdrawn. Legal designations and management plans are to be developed. The overlap of these areas with the Yukon portion of NT1 totals 324,500 ha
• LMUs 15 and 16 are zoned as Wilderness Areas – Boreal Caribou, and are subject to an interim withdrawal for 10 years or until review of the plan. Legal designations and management plans are to be developed. The overlap of these areas with the Yukon portion of NT1 totals 193,300 ha

Yukon portion of Northwest Territories (NT1)

Designation of areas under existing legislation in progress; withdrawals from industrial land use completed within Wilderness and Special Management Areas

Government of Yukon

First Nation of Na-cho Nyäk Dun

Gwich’in Tribal Council

Consistent with commitments made in the boreal caribou conservation agreement, lichen mapping was conducted to inform the identification of high priority areas for critical habitat protection

Yukon portion of Northwest Territories (NT1)

Completed (2020)

Government of Yukon

A fire risk model was developed to better understand the probability of fire occurrence within the range. This knowledge will enable managers to predict fire dynamics to assess disturbance levels into the future

Yukon portion of Northwest Territories (NT1)

Completed (fiscal 2020-21)

Government of Yukon

No new actions since 2017 reported

No new actions since 2017 reported

No new actions since 2017 reported

No new actions since 2017 reported

No new actions since 2017 reported

No new actions since 2017 reported

No new actions since 2017 reported

No new actions since 2017 reported

Collars were deployed in 2020 to evaluate distribution and estimate population density within the study area to develop a baseline of boreal caribou density in the Yukon in winter

Yukon portion of Northwest Territories (NT1)

Completed (fiscal 2022-23)

Government of Yukon

Health and condition sampling, including for diseases and parasites, pregnancy status, body condition, etc., was conducted on animals captured for collar deployment

Yukon portion of Northwest Territories (NT1)

Completed (2020)

Government of Yukon

No new actions since 2017 reported

No new actions since 2017 reported

No new actions since 2017 reported

No new actions since 2017 reported

GNWT

First Nations, Métis, and Indigenous governments and organizations within the Southern region of NT1.

ECCC

Parks Canada

Indigenous and Northern Affairs Canada

Canadian Association of Petroleum Producers

NWT/NU Chamber of Mines

Canadian Parks and Wilderness Society (CPAWS) NWT

The Wek’èezhı̀ı Interim Boreal Caribou Range Plan was finalized in December 2021 and published on March 22, 2022, following a public comment period from August to October 2021. It was developed as a commitment under the environmental assessment for the Tłı̨chǫ All-Season Road and is currently in effect.

The interim plan will eventually be replaced by the final range plan once it is completed

Wek’èezhı̀ı region of Northwest Territories (NT1)

In progress (Interim plan completed December 2021; final plan expected in first quarter of 2025)

GNWT

Tłı̨chǫ Government

North Slave Métis Alliance

Yellowknives Dene First Nation

Wek’èezhı̀ı Renewable Resources Board (WRRB)

ECCC

Mountain Island Métis

The Southern Northwest Territories range planning working group has met six times since being formed in 2019. In addition, two rounds of community mapping workshops were held in 2015-16 and 2020-21, and six sub-regional workshops took place in fall 2022 to document, record, review and verify local and Indigenous Knowledge relating to boreal caribou habitat, to understand community perspectives on economic development opportunities and land use interests, and to produce regional management class maps.

This regional range planning is being coordinated across jurisdictions (in collaboration with representatives from British Columbia and Alberta)

Southern region of Northwest Territories (NT1)

In progress (final plan expected in first quarter of 2025)

GNWT

First Nations, Métis, and Indigenous Governments and organizations within the Southern region of NT1.

ECCC

CPAWS NWT

Parks Canada

The Gwich'in region range planning working group was formed in 2020 and has met twice. Community information sessions were held in Aklavik and Inuvik in 2021-22. Two habitat classification workshops were conducted in 2022 and Indigenous Knowledge interviews and mapping are ongoing. Regional range planning is being coordinated across jurisdictions (in collaboration with representatives from Yukon)

Gwich'in region of Northwest Territories (NT1)

In progress (final plan expected in third quarter of 2025)

GNWT

First Nations, wildlife management boards and Indigenous Governments and organizations within the Gwich’in region of NT1.

ECCC

The range planning working group was formed for the Inuvialuit region in 2020, and community information sessions were held in Aklavik and Inuvik in 2021

Inuvialuit region of Northwest Territories (NT1)

In progress (final plan expected in third quarter of 2026)

GNWT

First Nations, wildlife management boards and Indigenous Governments and organizations within the Inuvialuit region of NT1.

ECCC

In 2021, the GNWT worked with the Sahtú Renewable Resources Board (SRRB) and Sahtú Secretariat Incorporated (SSI) to discuss the process for community/regional engagement and development of the Sahtú regional range plan

Sahtú region of Northwest Territories (NT1)

In progress (final plan expected in third quarter of 2027)

GNWT

First Nations, wildlife management boards and Indigenous governments and organizations within the Sahtú region of NT1.

ECCC

2,364,111 ha within the boreal caribou distribution in the Northwest Territories have been protected since the 2017 report. This includes:

• nearly 942,000 ha through the establishment of the Ts’udé Nilįné Tuyeta Indigenous Protected Area under K’asho Got’ı̨nę Law in 2019 and Territorial Protected Area under the Protected Areas Act in January 2022
• approximately 1,422,000 ha through the establishment of the Edéhzhíe National Wildlife Area and Dehcho Protected Area under the Dehcho Protected Area Law in July 2018 and under the Canada Wildlife Act in May 2022

Northwest Territories (NT1)

Completed (2022)

Fort Good Hope Dene First Nation

Yamoga Lands Corporation

Fort Good Hope Metis Nation Local #54 Land Corporation

Ayoni Keh Land Corporation

Behdzi Ahda First Nation

Dehcho First Nations

Dehcho First Nations

Łı́ı́dlı̨ı̨ Kų́ę́ First Nation

Fort Simpson Metis Local 52

Deh Gáh Got’ie First Nation

Fort Providence Metis Local 57

Pehdzeh Ki First Nation

Tthets’ék’edélį First Nation

Tłįchǫ Government

GNWT

ECCC

The GNWT completed the development of a new Protected Areas Act in the NWT in collaboration with Indigenous governments and Indigenous organizations, regulatory boards, stakeholders and the public. The Act came into force in June 2019. The legislation enables collaboration with Indigenous governments and organizations to establish and manage protected areas in a way that protects biodiversity, ecological integrity, and cultural continuity

Northwest Territories (NT1)

Completed (June 2019)

GNWT

The GNWT finalized a five-year work plan for conservation network planning in the territory, Healthy Land Healthy People: Government of the Northwest Territories Priorities for the Territorial Conservation Network 2023-2028 ^{Footnote 42}, following a public review ^{Footnote 43} of the proposed draft from February to September, 2022. This updated work plan will guide conservation network establishment, planning, management, and operations priorities in collaboration with Indigenous governments, Indigenous organizations, and other partners

Northwest Territories (NT1)

Completed (October 2023)

GNWT

Phase II regulatory amendments came into force on July 1, 2019, under the Northwest Territories Wildlife Act. These amendments enable the GNWT to require and enforce Wildlife Management and Monitoring Plans (WMMPs), when appropriate, to demonstrate how developments will minimize impacts on boreal caribou and its habitat. Guidelines for WMMPs were finalized in June 2019. As of January 2024, 12 WMMPS have been determined to be required by the GNWT and of those, seven have been approved and are being implemented. The GNWT encourages all developers, and considers it a best practice, to submit a basic WMMP with their application for authorizations

Northwest Territories (NT1)

Complete (2019)

GNWT

Following an external review in 2020, the GNWT released the draft “Guidelines for Exploration and Development in NWT Boreal Caribou Habitat” in March 2022 for public review until April 30, 2022. This guidance supports proponents in following best management practices for mitigating the impacts of development on boreal caribou habitat

Northwest Territories (NT1)

In progress (draft guidelines released March 2022; finalization expected fall 2024)

GNWT

The GNWT developed a Boreal Caribou Project Screening Tool (available on the NWT Species and Habitat Viewer ^{Footnote 44}) for project applications that provides a real-time assessment of boreal caribou habitat supply and how the proposed development would affect habitat disturbance levels, relative to critical habitat thresholds. It helps developers and regulators identify, avoid, minimize and mitigate impacts of proposed development projects on boreal caribou habitat

Northwest Territories (NT1)

Completed (2022)

GNWT

No new actions since 2017 reported

No new actions since 2017 reported

No new actions since 2017 reported

No new actions since 2017 reported

The GNWT provides support and funding for interested Indigenous governments, Indigenous organizations and other partners to help facilitate the collection of Indigenous harvest information, and continues to estimate harvest levels of resident hunters through the annual Resident Harvest Survey. The GNWT encourages harvesting practices that minimize negative impacts on caribou populations through annual education and awareness programs and campaigns and the NWT Hunter Education Program in collaboration with SRRB and GRRB

Northwest Territories (NT1)

Ongoing

GNWT and partners

The GNWT published a Boreal Caribou Sustainable Harvest Assessment Report in October 2021 to address community concerns about levels of boreal caribou harvesting in the southern NWT (Dehcho, South Slave and North Slave regions), and began meeting with Indigenous governments and Indigenous organizations in the southern NWT to discuss the findings of the report and whether any new management actions should be taken

Northwest Territories (NT1)

Ongoing (since 2021; meetings delayed due to the COVID-19 pandemic are being rescheduled)

GNWT and partners

The GNWT amended the Wildlife Act Big Game Hunting Regulations (Phase 2 Wildlife Act regulation amendments in July 2019 to include a shortened hunting season, tag requirements and harvest conditions

Northwest Territories (NT1)

Completed (July 2019)

GNWT

The GNWT continued to actively monitor boreal caribou population trend and movements via GPS collars in six study areas (Dehcho South, Dehcho North, Hay River Lowlands, Pine Point/Buffalo Lakes, Mackenzie, and North Slave). Monitoring was also expanded into the Sahtú through the 2020 deployment of collars to collect baseline data for the Mackenzie Valley Highway project.

Aerial surveys were also conducted in 2019 by Parks Canada in the Buffalo Lake area inside and outside of the Wood Buffalo National Park (WBNP) boundary, and in 2020 by GNWT in the North Slave region, to enable regional population abundance estimates.

Long-term population data available for the Dehcho and Hay River Lowlands study areas, dating back to 2005-06 and 2003-04 respectively, suggest an overall decline since the early to mid-2000s. In these study areas as well as all other study areas with available data, population growth rates have generally been positive in the last three-five years.

Details on population monitoring results can be found in the NWT Species Status Report

Northwest Territories (NT1)

Ongoing (varying start dates in each study area, beginning as early as 2003-04)

GNWT

Government of Yukon

Parks Canada

Multiple community monitoring programs have been completed or are ongoing, with funding support from GNWT (for example, the Kátł’odeeche First Nation community-based monitoring program ‘Watching the Land’: Knowing the Impacts of Change'^{Footnote 45}, and the Tłı̨chǫ Government-led monitoring program for boreal caribou, habitat condition and harvest along the new Tłı̨chǫ Highway corridor)

Northwest Territories (NT1)

Ongoing

Various Indigenous partners, with support from GNWT

From 2019-20, Kátł’odeeche First Nation Lands Crews deployed 25 cameras to create a wildlife camera grid in boreal caribou habitat in the Buffalo Lake area of WBNP. Preliminary analyses are underway and will provide data on habitat use

Buffalo Lake area of Northwest Territories (NT1)

In progress

K'atl'odeeche First Nation

Parks Canada

Researchers from various organizations have investigated relationships among different populations of caribou and whether the NT1 local population has subpopulation structure (for example, using genetics and traditional knowledge). Read the NWT Progress Report for specifics

Northwest Territories (NT1)

Ongoing

Various

The GNWT collects and analyzes biological samples from harvested and collared caribou to assess pregnancy rates and health/disease

Northwest Territories (NT1)

Ongoing

GNWT

The draft “Guidelines for Exploration and Development in NWT Boreal Caribou Habitat” supports proponents in following best management practices for mitigating the impacts of sensory disturbance on boreal caribou, including avoidance of development activities during the high risk late winter and calving/post-calving periods

Northwest Territories (NT1)

In progress (draft guidelines released March 2022; finalization expected fall 2024)

GNWT

As described under the Broad Strategy: Habitat Management section of this table, the 2019 Phase II regulatory amendments under the Northwest Territories Wildlife Act enable the GNWT to require and enforce WMMPs, when appropriate, to demonstrate how developments will minimize impacts on boreal caribou (including sensory disturbances) and its habitat

Northwest Territories (NT1)

Completed (2019)

GNWT

Includes descriptions and maps of some existing and potential development activities in each of 16 Landscape Management Units (LMU) (of which seven overlap with the Yukon portion of the NT1 range);

Identifies total amount (%) of undisturbed/ disturbed areas in the region, but not specifically within the Yukon portion of the NT1 range or each LMU;

Does not include maps of existing total undisturbed and disturbed areas, nor maps and descriptions of important areas for boreal caribou based on biophysical attributes and habitat use patterns

Commits to maintaining and conserving 65% undisturbed boreal caribou critical habitat. However, does not include maps or descriptions to spatially and temporally identify areas that are contributing to 65% undisturbed habitat;

Identifies management intent for each LMU through a land use designation system. This system identifies areas for interim (to be reviewed periodically as part of plan implementation) or permanent protection from new industrial land-use dispositions and any new surface access, as well as areas with new development potential, to maintain 65% undisturbed habitat.

Does not project anticipated wildfire impacts, nor outline how potential wildfire impacts will be managed

Does not include projected disturbance levels (that is if/how undisturbed habitat will be maintained in the future)

Identifies regulatory options for the legal designation of ‘Wilderness Areas – Boreal Caribou’ (LMUs 15 and 16). The legal instrument to provide protection to Special Management Areas (LMUs 11, 12, 14) will be determined at a later date by the Parties to the PWRLUP. ‘Wilderness Areas’ (LMU 10) do not require legal designation.

Does not include timelines for legal designation and management planning of LMUs

Plan to periodically (timeline undefined) monitor and report on cumulative effects indicators, including disturbance (baseline not yet mapped as of publication), within Integrated Management Areas (LMU 13). Does not include a detailed monitoring or reporting plan

Includes descriptions, amount (ha, %) and mapping of disturbed and undisturbed habitat and of important areas based on traditional knowledge, habitat selection (in relation to landcover types/refined biophysical attributes) and habitat use

Sets the regional management limits to a maximum of 40% total disturbance (or maintaining at least 60% undisturbed habitat) and 4.5-11% anthropogenic disturbance in the Wek’èezhı̀ı Region^{Footnote 56}, while maintaining at least 65% undisturbed habitat across the entire Northwest Territories portion of the NT1 range;

Describes and maps three management classes that were spatially assigned with consideration to important areas, traditional knowledge, connectivity and cost, and in which management requirements range from status quo to more stringent;

Describes management actions within each management class to avoid, minimize, offset, or restore disturbances from primary development sectors: oil and gas, forestry, linear infrastructure, and mineral exploration and mining;

Does not identify priority areas for habitat restoration (anticipated in final range plan), but requires functional and ecological restoration (the latter type to result in biophysical habitat) of disturbances within the two more stringent management classes;

Describes how some important or at-risk caribou habitat may be considered in wildfire responses

Includes projected recovery of fire disturbance (%, ha) over the next 5 and 10 years, but not projected recovery of existing anthropogenic disturbance nor future anthropogenic and fire disturbance (anticipated in final range plan)

Identifies legally binding instruments to support implementation of management and protection actions, incl. the Tłı̨chǫ Land Use Plan (under review) and other territorially and federally administered legislation;

Does not include timelines for finalization or expected implementation of these tools and management actions

Plan to monitor disturbance (fire and new anthropogenic) annually;

Plan to report on range plan implementation annually to the Conference of Management Authorities in NWT and two other bodies

Include descriptions, amount (km², %) and mapping of undisturbed and disturbed habitat, and of important areas based on habitat potential (identified from biophysical attributes), habitat suitability, traditional knowledge and habitat use

Set goals to reduce anthropogenic disturbance, maintain low anthropogenic disturbance in high potential habitat, and maintain connectivity with other ranges and administrative units. However, 65% undisturbed habitat is not projected to be reached within the 50-year horizon of either plan;

SK2 West:

Total undisturbed areas projected to increase from 39% baseline to 52-55% over 50 years, depending on different habitat reclamation scenarios;

SK2 Central:

Total undisturbed areas projected to decrease from 57% baseline to 53% (that is, total and anthropogenic disturbance will increase) over 50 years based on the most likely land use management scenarios;

Both:

Describe management strategies to reduce landscape disturbance, including increasing forest harvest block sizes to emulate natural forest patterns, and reducing non-permanent linear features;

Potential wildfire disturbance was projected into the future, but plans to manage fire impacts are not specifically outlined (no change in fire suppression activities expected);

Identify three tiers of caribou habitat management areas (CHMAs) that prioritize different management objectives and actions, selected with consideration of habitat potential, amount of habitat disturbance, and habitat use. Forest harvesting is deferred for a minimum of 20-years in SK2 Central and West Tier 1 CHMAs (20,479 km², 24% of total area). CHMAs will be in place for a maximum 20 years, after which they will be re-evaluated;

Tier 2 CHMAs are prioritized for habitat restoration but specific areas within the CHMAs to be restored to an undisturbed state are not currently identified, nor is it confirmed whether future undisturbed habitats will possess biophysical attributes. Point to the future development of a decision support tool to identify areas that would enhance/maintain connectivity with other ranges or administrative units, and to prioritize landscape areas for mitigation and reclamation

Include projections of disturbance over 50 years in 10-year increments and under different scenarios but do not include specific timelines with incremental steps or targets for proposed reclamation and restoration activities

Provide lists of current regulations that provide environmental protection measures and upcoming tools and policies to support implementation of the management strategies, with suggested timelines

Plan to monitor habitat disturbance and protection measures (no indication of timing);

Plan to report on a five-year basis to ECCC and the public on range plan implementation, including habitat condition and protection measures

Include the description, amount (%, km, km²) and mapping of current and future disturbance (for example, roads, forest harvest, peat applications). Maps and amount (%) of undisturbed habitat, as well as identification and maps of important areas based on habitat use patterns and biophysical attributes, are included in the Caribou Habitat Recovery Analysis (CHRA) associated with each respective plan^{Footnote 57}

Set goal to recover a minimum of 65% undisturbed habitat within 50-100 years, ensuring habitat will possess sufficient biophysical attributes for boreal caribou;

Bistcho Lake:

The CHRA does not project an increase in total undisturbed habitat before year 80;

Cold Lake:

The CHRA does not project an increase in total undisturbed habitat before year 50;

Both:

Spatially identify areas to be restored to an undisturbed state and projections of habitat containing biophysical attributes in the CHRAs; identify timelines for habitat restoration activities, but do not include any spatially explicit information on priority restoration;

Identify some medium-term (<40 years) management targets (for example, restoration of legacy lines);

Describe management strategies to reduce impacts of various land-use/industrial activities on boreal caribou habitat (for example, access management plans to reduce linear features, revegetation in pipeline project areas and transmission lines, adaptive forestry practices, aggregated forest harvest patterns, and decrease of petroleum and natural gas (PNG) activities);

Do not project anticipated wildfire impacts, but indicate that an adaptive management approach will be used to integrate wildfire impacts as they occur

Include incremental targets for some (but not all) restoration efforts: % of legacy lines receiving restoration treatments over 40 years in 5-10-year increments; closure quotas for PNG wells in 5-year increments; and, (Cold Lake only) % disturbance in oil sand project areas over 100 years in 10-year increments

Outline regulations that will direct and guide decision-makers and project proponents, but content is reflected as concepts that require further drafting. Additional steps are required for measures to become legally binding instruments that will prevent destruction of critical habitat;

Do not include timelines for finalization of legal requirements

Plan to track and report on various performance indicators (including disturbance, biophysical attributes, and land-use changes) at least every five years

Includes descriptions, amount (km², %) and mapping of undisturbed and disturbed habitat, and of important areas based on habitat potential (identified from biophysical attributes), habitat suitability, traditional knowledge and habitat use

Sets goals to maintain total disturbance below 35%, reduce anthropogenic disturbance in high-potential habitat and the highly disturbed portion of the Tier 3 caribou habitat management area (CHMA), and maintain connectivity between and within range and administrative units;

Currently, 70% of habitat is undisturbed – projected to range between 65-72% over 50 years (depending on habitat-reclamation scenario);

Describes management strategies to reduce landscape disturbance, including increasing forest harvest block sizes to emulate natural forest patterns, maintaining/reducing disturbance in some CHMAs, and reducing non-permanent linear features in other CHMAs;

Potential wildfire disturbance was projected into the future, but plans to manage fire impacts are not specifically outlined (no change in fire suppression activities expected);

Identifies three tiers of CHMAs that prioritize different management objectives and actions, selected with consideration of habitat potential based on biophysical attributes, amount of habitat disturbance, and habitat use. CHMAs will be in place for maximum 20 years, after which they will be re-evaluated;

Tier 2 CHMAs are prioritized for habitat restoration but specific areas within the CHMAs are not currently identified, nor is it confirmed whether future undisturbed habitats will possess biophysical attributes

Includes projections of reduction in disturbance over 50 years in 10-year increments and under different scenarios, but does not include specific timelines with incremental steps or targets for proposed reclamation and restoration activities

Provide a list of current regulations that provide environmental protection measures and upcoming tools and policies to support implementation of the management strategies, with suggested timelines

Plan to monitor habitat disturbance and protection measures (no indication of timing);

Plan to report on a five-year basis to ECCC and the public on range plan implementation, including habitat condition and protection measures

Plan (and/or StoryMaps accompanying the plan) includes descriptions and maps of habitat composition, description of amount and type of disturbance (including amount of undisturbed habitat; but no maps of undisturbed vs. disturbed areas), and description and maps of seasonal habitat selection.

Includes identification, descriptions and maps of core habitat, defined as the most important areas within ranges (based on habitat use and biophysical attributes)

Sets goal to recover boreal caribou to self-sustaining status, and to a level supporting Indigenous sustenance harvest. Includes a target to increase undisturbed habitat from 9% to >63% in the entire area within a 40-year timeframe, with targets of between >52% and >65% undisturbed habitat for each range;

Describes and maps four proposed habitat management types, ranging from full habitat protection to conditional forest harvest and petroleum and natural gas development;

Outlines high level habitat restoration and offsetting priorities;

Does not spatially and temporally identify areas that are going to be restored, nor confirm whether future undisturbed habitats will possess biophysical attributes;

Does not project anticipated wildfire impacts, nor account for how the likelihood of significant wildfire will affect short-term progress (but caribou habitat and protection information will inform regional wildfire response plans)

Includes projected % of undisturbed habitat for each range over 40 years, with focus on core areas (vs. entire range); but does not include incremental, short-term progress of habitat restoration/ projected decrease in undisturbed habitat

Includes descriptions of – but not expected implementation timelines for – management measures, protection tools, and enabling legislation that may be used to restrict industrial activity, with links between management measures, habitat conservation tools and legislation or policy

Includes plan to monitor various indicators of implementation (for example, amount of area protected, restoration planning), and effectiveness (for example, % habitat undisturbed, linear feature density), and publicly report (no indication of exact timing)

The GHD describes the entire range as habitat and categorizes sub-range habitat features: 1) nursery areas, winter use areas and travel corridors; 2) seasonal ranges; and 3) remaining areas within the range. Delineation of category 1 habitat was informed by observation and collaring data, while categories 2 and 3 used a range and season specific resource selection probability function;

For all ranges aside from the Coastal Range (ON6), IRARs provide descriptions, amounts (%, ha) and mapping of undisturbed and disturbed habitat, descriptions of connectivity, and descriptions (but not maps) of important areas based on habitat use

Does not set a goal to maintain or achieve an explicit, range-scale minimum threshold of undisturbed habitat;

The Range Management Policy aims to maintain or move toward range conditions sufficient to support self-sustaining caribou populations by considering range condition in activity review and assessment, and the collective implementation of three principles (related to cumulative disturbance, habitat amount and arrangement, and sub-range habitat features) in planning and decision-making;

Does not include habitat restoration strategies

Does not include range-level projected disturbance levels (that is if/how undisturbed habitat will be maintained in the future)

The Range Management Policy is intended to align with the Endangered Species Act and mentions some of Ontario’s other legal tools that support implementation of the Range Management Approach, such as the Crown Forest Sustainability Act

The Range Management Policy identifies the use of IRARs to evaluate implementation success by monitoring caribou population and habitat states, but does not commit to timelines for completing them;

Ontario has not published updated IRARs since their initial release in 2014

1

Engage with Wildlife Management Boards, Indigenous peoples, other federal departments, provincial and territorial governments, academics, industry and ENGOs to design and establish a National Boreal Caribou Knowledge Consortium to share lessons learned, and pool capacity and capabilities to address key knowledge gaps

ECCC; High

Complete

The National Boreal Caribou Knowledge Consortium (NBCKC) was established in June 2018. Total membership stands at approximately 275, with representatives from federal, provincial, and territorial governments, Indigenous communities and organizations, industry, ENGOs, academia, and co-management boards. Since its launch, the NBCKC Secretariat has worked to create and successfully maintain multiple groups/platforms aimed to deliver topic specific knowledge sharing, generation, and mobilization to support and build capacity for boreal caribou recovery at a national scale. These include:

• The Indigenous Knowledge Circle
• Monitoring Working Group
• Habitat Restoration Working Group
• Population Management Working Group
• Caribou Health Knowledge Network
• Caribou Projects Interactive Map
• The Canadian Conservation and Land Management Knowledge Portal (CCLM^{Footnote 60}) (collaboratively developed with Ducks Unlimited Canada, NRCan, NAIT Center for Boreal Research, Innotech Alberta and FUSE Consulting Inc.)
• Caribou Ecology and Recovery Webinar Series (co-hosted with the Alberta Biodiversity Monitoring Institute)

To see a complete list of NBCKC accomplishments refer to the table here: NBCKC Accomplishments

Additional outcomes include: new partnerships formed between members, greater knowledge of and access to funding opportunities by Indigenous members, increased trust and transparency between diverse organizations, agreement on a collaborative vision for boreal caribou conservation and scoping of coordinated actions/next steps via a Theory of Change exercise and more rapid sharing of lessons learned across sectors and regions

2

Establish a network of designated adaptive management ranges and pilot areas where experimentation will be encouraged and carefully monitored, and where results will be shared broadly

ECCC; High

Initiated

The Population Management Working Group was established in September 2020 under the NBCKC (see Item 1) to provide a forum for members to coordinate, share, and generate new knowledge regarding population-based management actions for boreal caribou and southern mountain caribou local populations across Canada. The core group consists of federal, provincial and territorial governments, and Indigenous caribou management practitioners who are actively trying new experimental and operational measures and sharing their results and experiences with each other. Knowledge is also periodically shared with a broader extension group with interest in caribou conservation (for example, individuals from Indigenous organizations, academia, industry, and non-governmental organizations)

3

Conduct research to enhance understanding of the relationship between disturbance and boreal caribou population response to inform range and action planning

ECCC and NRCan; High

Ongoing

ECCC, in partnership with the University of Saskatchewan and Wildlife Infometrics Inc., investigated the potential different effects of fire and anthropogenic disturbance on boreal caribou demography and evaluated new data from SK1 in the context of the national models that predict recruitment as a function of disturbance (Johnson et al., 2020). An investigation of the potential differential effects of anthropogenic disturbance types on boreal caribou demography is ongoing. Studies are ongoing to better understand how risk avoidance changes with age (experience) to influence caribou response to disturbance, notably reaction to risk caused by predation.

See Item 7 for notes on Western Boreal Initiative and Ring of Fire cumulative effects modelling projects under multi-species conservation and recovery.

NRCan is attempting to use caribou as an indicator for forest ecosystem health and integrity, and to develop tools, such as a boreal caribou interactive map sub-portal, data and economic models, and a Wilderness Quality Index, to better understand and mitigate the impacts of cumulative effects on caribou populations and habitats. Key outcomes include 1) improved caribou habitat forecasting and recovery, and 2) a strategic framework for defining, protecting, and recovering habitats for species at risk in forested areas of Canada.

NRCan researchers have developed an approach that uses science and Indigenous Knowledge to predict changes in caribou habitat and develop sustainable practices to ensure resiliency. Fieldwork has enabled a refined understanding of the biodiversity on the Pessamit First Nation territory, including identification of important caribou habitats. These outcomes could contribute to the development of caribou recovery plans at the national, provincial, and local levels

4

Conduct scientific analysis to inform a national risk management approach to secure recovery outcomes for boreal caribou ranges in Canada

ECCC; High

Initiated

A suite of projects to address knowledge gaps (for example, relative benefits of different conservation actions, mapping of relative habitat quality for caribou, mapping of relative risk of human-caused habitat degradation) are ongoing. Work is ongoing to develop and parameterize an optimization tool to support identification of priority areas for protection of boreal caribou habitat at the range level.

ECCC, in conjunction with the NBCTC, is developing a new statistical approach to update the Integrated Risk Assessment for all boreal caribou ranges based on new available population data and updated disturbance, for publication in an updated federal Recovery Strategy. The new approach will update the existing 2011 model used to inform critical habitat with the models developed in Johnson et al. (2020) (see Items 3 and 22)

5

Conduct research to develop robust approaches and standards for identification of local population ranges

ECCC; High

Ongoing

Through a collaboration between ECCC, provinces and territories, Indigenous organizations and the private sector, a comprehensive genetic dataset has been produced and different analytical methods applied to develop robust approaches and standards for the identification of population structure across the distribution (for example, Priadka et al., 2019; Thompson et al., 2019)

6

Conduct research to increase our understanding of the current and predicted impacts of climate change on boreal caribou critical habitat and population status. Assess implications of projected impacts and identify adaptive strategies to support conservation and recovery

ECCC and NRCan; Medium

Ongoing

Several studies by ECCC and other partners have been completed or are ongoing using predictions to assess future impacts of climate change, in combination with habitat disturbance (for example, Leblond et al., 2022). Another study is ongoing to better understand the mechanistic link between microclimate and caribou, for better prediction purposes.

Genomics research was initiated in April 2022 under the Genomics Research and Development Initiative to help understand the ability of caribou populations to respond to current and future climate and environmental conditions.

See Item 7 for notes on Western Boreal Initiative and Ring of Fire cumulative effects modelling projects under multi-species conservation and recovery.

NRCan is helping assess changes in the use of land over the last 40 years by better understanding and mitigating impacts of climate change on caribou where possible. For example, modelling changes in forest cover in caribou ranges under historical and projected fire regimes. NRCan is also assessing the availability and connectivity of caribou habitat in different climate change scenarios planning for future developments and developing climate change adaptation strategies. These initiatives will ultimately help incorporate inputs for long-range monitoring programs on a continuous basis.

NRCan is estimating caribou habitat quality as a function of climate risks, thereby providing information for optimizing recovery actions for working landscapes. The department is investigating how biogeographical context affects the vulnerability of various recovery actions in order to optimize region-specific measures for maximizing boreal caribou recovery and minimizing impacts to forestry activities such as fibre supply.

NRCan and ECCC are collaborating to measure boreal caribou vulnerability to a changing climate and linking boreal caribou habitat to population density to predict viability under a changing climate. A first study has showed that climate change impacts affecting the boreal caribou distribution were mostly indirect, impacting caribou habitat, and those effects were found to be an important indirect driver of changes in the species distribution after human disturbance (Neilson et al., 2022). A manuscript showing that climate is an important predictor of boreal caribou distribution and that they use a limited, common set of climate domains, is in development. Maps of future climate scenarios have been prepared and the next step of projecting boreal caribou distribution is underway. Initial analysis points to a positive correlation of boreal caribou density and peat or older forest at the national scale

7

Conduct research to inform boreal caribou recovery in the context of multi-species conservation and recovery

ECCC; Medium

Ongoing

The Western Boreal Initiative aims to project impacts of climate change and anthropogenic disturbance on caribou, landbirds, and carbon. In the context of this initiative, ECCC research scientists contributed to models of caribou demography and caribou habitat selection (Stewart et al. 2023), and road network projection.

An ECCC research team led a collaborative effort (with NRCan and academic partners) to adapt forecasting tools from the Western Boreal Initiative for use in the Ontario Far North, and assess the utility of available tools and data for projecting impacts of anticipated Ring of Fire development. Efforts to adapt and assess forecasting tools for use in the central Hudson Bay Lowlands highlighted important uncertainties and baseline data gaps in the region. Ongoing efforts to begin addressing these deficits include development of a method for integrating local demographic data and national demographic-disturbance relationships to reduce uncertainty in demographic projections, and co-located sampling of birds (acoustic recording units), mammals (camera traps), soil properties (peat cores), and vegetation across a network of sites.

Two related papers were recently published evaluating whether protection of boreal caribou habitat can help conserve biodiversity, other species at risk, and safeguard large quantities of soil carbon. The first examines the co-benefits of protecting boreal caribou critical habitat for climate change, ecosystem services and biodiversity (Johnson et al., 2022), and the second builds on the same datasets to demonstrate how better conservation outcomes are achieved when multiple objectives are considered simultaneously from the onset of planning compared to ad hoc approaches attempting to combine assessments posteriori (Martin et al., 2022)

8

Conduct strategic research on space-based earth observation technology and approaches to improve efficiency and accuracy of mapping and monitoring natural and anthropogenic disturbance, habitat quality of undisturbed areas and habitat recovery

ECCC; High

Ongoing

ECCC continues to work on developing updated methods to improve the efficiency and accuracy of mapping anthropogenic disturbances across boreal caribou local populations in order to provide long term monitoring data. New methods are utilizing existing NRCan Canadian Forest Service harvest databases to help drive the mapping update.

ECCC worked with a geomatics consultant company Hatfield, along with the Canadian Space Agency, to investigate using high resolution satellite imagery along with artificial intelligence methods for rapid/automated mapping of anthropogenic disturbances. This work will lead to further internal research and is being done with the hope that high resolution imagery will be more affordable and available in the future. Moderate resolution imagery (30 m Landsat-5) is freely available nationally, and has been used for the ongoing federal disturbance mapping to date, including for this report

9

Conduct research to optimize habitat recovery through forest landscape restoration approaches and the development of tools and practices to support restoration success at the site level

ECCC and NRCan; High

Ongoing

ECCC worked with researchers at the University du Québec à Rimouski and Essipit First Nation to understand how different restoration treatment types on decommissioned forest roads affected 1) vegetation regeneration, including black spruce growth (Lacerte et al., 2021) and 2) habitat use by boreal caribou, moose and their predators (Lacerte et al., 2022).

ECCC is currently conducting research to develop an approach to optimize identification of priorities for restoration that takes into account the zone of influence for human land-use features.

The NBCKC Habitat Restoration Working Group^{Footnote 61}, comprised of experts, knowledge holders and leading practitioners in the field of caribou habitat restoration and representative of the NBCKC’s diverse membership (see Item 1), has developed an ecological model to support restoration success (see associated Infographic^{Footnote 62} and Technical Report^{Footnote 63}). Working group members are currently reviewing a Boreal Caribou Habitat Restoration Practices: Applications and Outcomes Report.

NRCan is providing direct evidence of how various seismic restoration techniques can increase the sustainability of caribou populations in disturbed ranges. Estimating the effectiveness of restoration techniques will facilitate the prioritization of restoration efforts throughout Alberta’s caribou ranges and beyond. Further, the focus on predator movement through caribou habitat will inform recovery planning for how to target restoration efforts, both spatially and economically, within a caribou range. These insights could inform policy for caribou range planning as well as project approvals moving forward. The results will also inform companies in the forestry and oil and gas sectors, and Indigenous communities, who are already proactively completing restoration of their footprint.

NRCan has contributed funding to FNFN’s seismic line restoration work in the Medzih’tene Restoration Area, within Snake-Sahtaneh (BC3). FNFN has established 76 long-term vegetation monitoring plots and deployed 23 camera traps to determine whether the restoration of vegetation is enough to change animal behaviours. FNFN is currently evaluating restoration outcomes over several growing seasons and comparing efficacy and outcomes between summer and winter transplanted hummocks; they have determined that treatment “failures” transition to successes after multiple growing seasons

10

Lead the organization of the 17^th North American Caribou Workshop as a key mechanism for sharing knowledge and lessons learned, reporting on the status of recovery activities, and discussion approaches to address key challenges to caribou conservation and recovery

ECCC with support from NRCan; Medium

Complete

ECCC, with support from NRCan, led the organization of the five-day conference, which was attended by around 550 delegates from federal, provincial, and territorial governments, Indigenous communities and organizations, industry, non-government organizations, and academia. The theme of the conference was ‘Working Together’, and it included a one-day pre-conference workshop on climate change and concurrent Indigenous Talking Circle, core conference activities, and post conference field trips

11

Undertake protection assessments of critical habitat on non-federal lands

ECCC; High

Complete

ECCC completed critical habitat protection assessments for boreal caribou in early 2018. In April 2018, the Progress Report on Unprotected Critical Habitat for the Woodland Caribou (Rangifer tarandus caribou), Boreal Population, in Canada^{Footnote 64} was published on the Species at Risk Public Registry. This report provided a summary of the protection assessments on federal and non-federal lands in each province and territory, as well as steps taken and to be taken in the near future to protect boreal caribou critical habitat.

ECCC reassessed the protection of boreal caribou critical habitat on non-federal lands in Quebec and Ontario in fall 2022/winter 2023; the assessments, along with a Statement on the Government of Canada approach to addressing the protection of critical habitat for boreal caribou in both provinces, were published on the Species at Risk Public Registry^{Footnote 65} on July 21, 2023

12

Explore the establishment of conservation agreements with each province and territory, and other parties where appropriate, to formalize the commitments each party is making to protect and recover boreal caribou

ECCC; High

Complete

ECCC explored the establishment of conservation agreements with each province and territory to formalize their measures to protect and recover boreal caribou populations and critical habitat.

The Government of Canada has signed final conservation agreements with the Government of Alberta, Government of Saskatchewan, Government of Manitoba (outside the reporting period), Government of Ontario, Government of Newfoundland and Labrador, GNWT and the Government of Yukon (along with Gwich’in Tribal Council and the First Nation of Na-cho Nyäk Dun). The Government of Canada, the Government of British Columbia, and the First Nations Leadership Council have signed a broader nature agreement that includes boreal caribou. A collaborative agreement for boreal caribou in Quebec expired in March 2022; negotiations for a new agreement are currently on hold.

The Government of Canada also signed a conservation agreement with Cold Lake First Nations in 2019, and another with Athabasca Chipewyan First Nation and Mikisew Cree First Nation in 2022 to undertake conservation measures for boreal caribou within certain ranges in Alberta.

The Government of Canada’s primary goal in negotiating conservation agreements with provinces and territories has been to secure commitments to complete range plans or similar landscape level planning documents that outline how critical habitat will be managed and protected to maintain or achieve at least 65% undisturbed habitat in each range, to enable self-sustaining local populations. Conservation agreements also include other recovery measures, such as habitat protection, restoration, management and monitoring, population monitoring and management, Indigenous engagement, and science. Additional information on conservation agreements can be found in section 3.2 Recovery Measures of this report. All draft and final conservation agreements can be found on the Species at Risk Public Registry

13

Protect critical habitat on federally-administered lands through SARA section 58

ECCC; High

Complete

A proposed order was published in the Canada Gazette in 2018 to protect boreal caribou critical habitat on federally administered lands. ECCC consulted with other affected federal and territorial ministers, Wildlife Management Boards and Indigenous peoples, as appropriate, and also engaged provincial and territorial governments. The final order^{Footnote 66} came into force on June 7, 2019, and applies to the portions of critical habitat found on over 300 federally administered lands with a combined area of approximately 14,500 km²

14

Work with Indigenous governments, Wildlife Management Boards, and provincial and territorial governments, as required under land claims agreements to collaboratively develop a path forward for the protection of critical habitat on Indian Act lands and lands held by Indigenous peoples under land claims agreements

ECCC; High

Not initiated

ECCC has not initiated this work to date. ECCC’s focus has been on encouraging collaboration between Indigenous peoples and provincial and territorial governments on land management decisions, as well as supporting Indigenous-led stewardship actions

15

Collaboratively develop a path forward for the protection of critical habitat on devolved lands

ECCC; High

Complete

The conservation agreement between the Government of Canada, Government of Yukon, Gwich’in Tribal Council and the First Nation of Na-Cho Nyak Dun and the conservation agreement between the Government of Canada and the GNWT provide paths forward to protect critical habitat on devolved lands. These agreements under SARA section 11 can be found on the Species at Risk Public Registry.

99% (8,891 km²) of Yukon’s portion of the NT1 range is contained within the area managed under the Peel Watershed Regional Land Use Plan, which was approved in August 2019 by Tr’ondëk Hwëch’in, First Nation of Na-cho Nyäk Dun, Vuntut Gwitchin Government, Gwich’in Tribal Council and the Government of Yukon. The other 1% (92 km²) falls within the North Yukon Regional Land Use Plan^{Footnote 67}.

The NWT section 11 conservation agreement commits the territorial government to developing region-specific range plans, which are currently in development. Additional information on the range plans within NT1 can be found in section 3.2 of this report

16

Identify critical habitat for SK1 in a proposed amendment to the Recovery Strategy

ECCC; High

Complete

As described in section 3.1 of this report, critical habitat in SK1 was identified in the 2020 amendment to the Recovery Strategy as:

• the area within the boundary of the SK1 boreal caribou range that provides an overall ecological condition that will allow for an ongoing recruitment and retirement cycle of habitat, which maintains a perpetual state of a minimum of 40% of the area as undisturbed habitat; and
• biophysical attributes required by boreal caribou to carry out life processes

17

Consult and work with provinces and territories and Wildlife Management Boards to assess the best available information to determine whether the species is effectively protected on non-federal lands in the provinces and on lands not under the authority of the Minister of ECCC or the Parks Canada in the territories

ECCC; High

Initiated

ECCC assessed the protection of individuals in Ontario and Quebec in fall 2022/winter 2023; based on these assessments, the Minister formed the opinion that caribou are protected (as individuals) in both provinces. The assessments, along with a Statement on the Government of Canada approach to improving conservation outcomes for boreal caribou in both provinces, were published on the Species at Risk Public Registry^{Footnote 68} on July 21, 2023.

Habitat disturbance remains the more immediate threat to boreal caribou in most ranges. As such, ECCC has focused its efforts on supporting habitat protection and management, including encouraging provinces and territories to develop range plans

18

Continue to support and undertake stewardship actions, including funding stewardship projects for boreal caribou that are strategic in nature and have the potential to advance recovery

ECCC; High

Ongoing

The Government of Canada has invested significant efforts into supporting partner-led boreal caribou recovery efforts. Over 2018-19 to 2022-23, ECCC committed $116.3 million in boreal caribou related projects to over 90 recipients from provincial, territorial, and Indigenous governments, co-management boards, Indigenous communities and organizations, ENGOs, industry organizations and academic institutions. Over the same period, ECCC leveraged an expected $209.1 million of matching funds from partners, in cash and in kind. Of the total amounts, ECCC committed $55.3 million to provinces and territories (leveraging an expected match of $96.3 million), $54.9 million to Indigenous governments, organizations and co-management boards (leveraging $98.1 million), and the remaining $6.1 million to other recipient types (leveraging $14.7 million). The majority of ECCC’s funding in support of boreal caribou projects was sourced from Canada Nature Fund and Enhanced Nature Legacy, in particular the Pathway to Canada Target 1 Challenge and Species at Risk Stream.

Of ECCC’s total funding, $1.3 million was provided through the NBCKC to support 39 caribou projects (Indigenous-led projects represented $1.16 million and 36 of the projects) related to knowledge sharing, monitoring and restoration.

ECCC collaborated with Athabasca Chipewyan First Nation and Mikisew Cree First Nation to complete a conservation agreement in 2022. ECCC also collaborated with Cold Lake First Nations to complete a conservation agreement in 2019.

Between 2018-19 and 2022-23, NRCan contributed $1.2 million to eight Indigenous-led projects in support of boreal caribou recovery that addressed several topics/themes including:

1. inclusion of Traditional Knowledge into decision making processes for boreal caribou conservation, including monitoring, restoration and recovery efforts, range planning and adaptive land management principles;
2. prioritization of forest restoration and recovery efforts to improve boreal caribou critical habitat; and,
3. increasing research on silviculture practices that reduce the impact on caribou habitat and support caribou recovery by involving local communities to determine more sustainable land management options

All projects provided the opportunity to First Nations and Indigenous governments to create employment for their community members while participating in the comprehensive community resource planning and management processes. Existing partnerships with industry and other stakeholders were enhanced, and Indigenous and non-Indigenous stakeholders have shared benefits of this work.

NRCan contributed a further $700,000 to forest habitat restoration for boreal caribou through the 2 Billion Trees program. Projects took place in Alberta and Ontario, applying restoration treatments to a total of 207 ha

19

When planning and implementing recovery measures for boreal caribou, the federal government will continue to look for associated benefits and to minimize any potential adverse impacts to other species and take those into consideration

ECCC; Medium

Ongoing

ECCC has provided G&C funding to Lakehead University to support the Benchmarking and modelling caribou and multi-species adaptive management in Northwest Ontario project. This project represents a collaboration between the private sector, Lakehead University, the provincial government, and the federal government and was developed to investigate caribou-related land management strategies in the Brightsand and Churchill boreal caribou ranges through a multi-indicator lens (social, economic, and ecological), including consideration for other species.

See Item 7 for Western Boreal Caribou Initiative and Ring of Fire Cumulative Effects and the boreal caribou co-benefits papers that demonstrate the value of boreal caribou habitat to other species at risk and conservation values

20

Complete assessment to inform collaborative development of national caribou monitoring standards building on the NBCTC report on caribou monitoring methods and integrating new technology

ECCC; Medium

Initiated

In 2021-22, on behalf of the NBCTC, ECCC commissioned a literature review (Pearson et al., 2022) of current and historical data collection and analysis methods used to estimate boreal caribou survival, recruitment, and population growth rate (lambda), as well as the development of an R package and Shiny app, informed by the literature review, to provide provinces and territories with a standardized approach to estimate lambda from collaring data. The approach is continuing to be refined, with financial support from the Government of Alberta, and will allow increased comparability of reported growth rates between provinces and territories.

The NBCKC Monitoring Working Group ^{Footnote 69} is comprised of experts, knowledge holders and leading practitioners in the field of caribou monitoring and representative of the NBCKC’s diverse membership (see Item 1). Since its establishment in 2018, the working group has prepared a series of monitoring guidelines and best practices recognizing the different constraints and needs across regions and organizations. This community of practice roundtable has built a Boreal Caribou Monitoring Methods Toolkit^{Footnote 70}, including an interactive decision tree, best practices guidance documents and infographics related to aerial, telemetry-based, indirect and local and harvester-based monitoring

21

Monitor and assess habitat disturbance and recovery across 51 ranges by completing the five-year update to the 2010 disturbance mapping using 2015 Landsat imagery at both 30 m and 15 m resolutions

ECCC; High

Complete

ECCC’s Science and Technology Branch previously updated and mapped human disturbance information using satellite imagery and data (Landsat-5 data from 2008-2010, and Landsat-8 data from 2015). Coarser-resolution (30 m) information is available for 2010 and 2015 mapping on Environment Canada Data Catalog, and ECCC published finer-resolution (15 m) information for the 2015 period in May 2019

22

Update range boundaries and status of self-sustainability of local populations, based on new or more refined evidence provided by the provincial and territorial jurisdictions, as well as the results of ECCC’s updated disturbance mapping, in a proposed amendment to the Recovery Strategy

ECCC; High

Initiated

The status of self-sustainability of the SK1 local population was updated in 2020 in the Recovery Strategy. In 2022, ECCC updated the Integrated Risk Assessment methodology used for determining self-sustainability of a local population to better incorporate uncertainties in data, as well as updated data. ECCC is targeting publication of a proposed amended Recovery Strategy that includes updates to range boundaries and the self-sustainability status of all local populations (among other updates) by 2025.

ECCC is in the process of reviewing new range boundaries submitted by provinces and territories

23

Publish the first five-year Report on the Implementation of the Recovery Strategy for boreal caribou

ECCC; N/A

Complete

As noted in the 2018 Action Plan, the first five-year report was published on October 31, 2017. The current report is the second report on implementation of the boreal caribou Recovery Strategy

24

If the Minister determines that any portion of critical habitat is unprotected, prepare a report on steps being taken to protect critical habitat

ECCC; High

Ongoing

Reports on steps taken to protect portions of boreal caribou critical habitat, as required under SARA section 63, were published in April 2018, December 2018 and June 2019. Since December 2019, reporting on boreal caribou critical habitat protection steps has been wrapped up into a multi-species report. This multi-species reporting continues for every six-month period

NT1

Northwest Territories

> 300

not available

24

8

31

> 300

not available

28

9

35

22

10

30

BC1

Maxhamish

100–300

not available

0.5

57

58

100–300

2

67

68

100–300

increasing

2

69

69

BC2

Calendar

100–300

not available

8

58

61

100–300

declining¹

16

53

61

100–300

declining

18

55

63

BC3

Snake-Sahtahneh

> 300

declining

6

86

87

100–300

declining¹

5

77

79

> 300

increasing

4

79

79

BC4

Parker

< 100

not available

1

57

58

< 100

declining

3

57

57

< 100

not available

3

59

59

BC5

Prophet

< 100

not available

1

77

77

< 100

declining

10

78

78

< 100

not available

10

78

79

N/A

Maxhamish

–

–

–

–

–

–

–

–

–

–

100–300

increasing

1

67

68

N/A

Calendar

–

–

–

–

–

–

–

–

–

–

100–300

declining

16

57

64

N/A

Snake Sahtahneh

–

–

–

–

–

–

–

–

–

–

> 300

increasing

4

79

79

N/A

Westside Fort Nelson

–

–

–

–

–

–

–

–

–

–

100–300

increasing

3

67

67

AB1

Chinchaga (including BC portion)

100–300

declining

8

74

76

100–300

declining

9

79

80

100–300

increasing¹

7

80

81

AB2

Bistcho

100–300

declining

20

61

71

> 300

declining

40

58

75

> 300

stable

42

60

77

AB3

Yates

> 300

stable

43

21

61

100–300

stable

42

20

55

100–300

stable

48

21

58

AB4

Caribou Mountains

> 300

declining

44

23

57

> 300

declining

46

27

62

> 300

stable

38

29

56

AB5

Little Smoky

< 100

declining

0.2

95

95

100–300

stable

0.4

96

96

100–300

increasing¹

0.4

96

96

AB6

Red Earth

100–300

declining

30

44

62

100–300

declining

40

48

72

> 300

increasing

38

50

73

AB7

West Side Athabasca River

100–300

declining

4

68

69

> 300

declining

5

70

72

> 300

stable

9

72

75

AB8

Richardson

100–300

not available

67

22

82

> 300

stable

74

23

88

> 300

stable

68

24

83

AB9

East Side Athabasca River

100–300

declining

26

77

81

> 300

declining

28

78

84

> 300

increasing¹

32

80

85

AB10

Cold Lake

100–300

declining

32

72

85

> 300

declining

33

76

87

> 300

stable¹

14

77

79

AB11

Nipisi

< 100

not available

6

66

68

< 100

not available

9

75

77

< 100

declining

37

80

85

AB12

Slave Lake

< 100

not available

37

63

80

< 100

not available

39

74

87

< 100

declining

37

77

88

SK1

Boreal Shield

not available

not available

55

3

57

> 300¹

stable

58

3

60

> 300

stable

55

3

57

SK2

Boreal Plain

not available

not available

26

20

42

> 300

not available

30

20

45

not available

not available

26

22

44

N/A

West Administrative Unit of the Boreal Plain

not available

not available

44

17

56

N/A

Central Administrative Unit of the Boreal Plain

100–300

declining

19

27

42

N/A

East Administrative Unit of the Boreal Plain

not available

not available

4

19

22

MB1

The Bog

< 100

stable

4

12

16

100–300¹

not available

6

14

19

100–300

declining

6

15

20

MB2

Kississing

< 100

stable

39

13

51

100–300¹

not available

39

15

54

not available

not available

19

15

33

MB3

Naosap

100–300

stable

28

26

50

not available

not available

28

28

52

100–300

declining

28

29

52

MB4

Reed

100–300

stable

7

20

26

not available

not available

7

20

26

not available

not available

7

20

26

MB5

North Interlake

< 100

stable

4

14

17

< 100

not available

4

14

18

< 100

not available

4

17

21

MB6

William Lake

< 100

stable

24

14

34

< 100

not available

25

17

36

not available

not available

25

17

37

MB7

Wabowden

100–300

stable

10

19

28

100–300

not available

10

20

28

100–300

increasing

10

20

28

MB8

Wapisu

100–300

stable

10

14

24

not available

not available

11

13

24

100–300

not available

11

13

25

MB9

Manitoba North

not available

not available

23

10

32

not available

not available

23

11

33

not available

not available

23

12

34

MB10

Manitoba South

not available

not available

4

11

15

not available

not available

4

12

16

not available

not available

4

13

17

MB11

Manitoba East

not available

not available

26

3

29

not available

not available

26

3

29

> 300

stable

26

3

29

MB12

Atikaki-Berens

> 300

stable

31

6

35

not available

not available

29

6

34

> 300

not available²

27

6

32

MB13

Owl-Flinstone

< 100

stable

25

18

39

< 100

not available

25

18

39

< 100

not available³

28

18

43

N/A

The Bog

–

–

–

–

–

not available

not available

–

–

–

100–300

declining

6

19

24

N/A

Naosap

–

–

–

–

–

not available

not available

–

–

–

100–300

declining

23

24

45

N/A

Partridge Crop

–

–

–

–

–

not available

not available

–

–

–

> 300

not available²

29

8

36

N/A

Wabowden

–

–

–

–

–

not available

not available

–

–

–

100–300

stable

13

18

29

N/A

Molson

–

–

–

–

–

not available

not available

–

–

–

> 300

stable

27

3

30

N/A

Atikaki-Berens

–

–

–

–

–

not available

not available

–

–

–

> 300

not available²

26

6

32

N/A

Owl-Flintstone

–

–

–

–

–

not available

not available

–

–

–

< 100

not available³

31

22

47

N/A

Interlake

–

–

–

–

–

not available

not available

–

–

–

< 100

not available

4

15

18

N/A

Kamuchawie

–

–

–

–

–

not available

not available

–

–

–

not available

not available

36

6

40

ON1

Sydney

not available

stable

28

33

58

< 100

declining

27

25

49

not available

not available

29

27

55

ON2

Berens

not available

not available

34

7

39

100–300¹

declining

31

6

37

not available

not available

36

7

42

ON3

Churchill

not available

not available

6

28

31

100–300

declining

8

28

34

not available²

not available

7

31

36

ON4

Brightsand

not available

not available

18

28

42

100–300

declining

19

26

41

not available²

not available

10

28

35

ON5

Nipigon

100–300

stable

7

25

31

100–300

declining

7

25

30

not available

not available

7

26

32

ON6

Coastal

> 300

not available

0

16

16

100–300

declining

0

15

15

< 100³

not available

0.4

16

16

ON7

Pagwachuan

not available

not available

0.9

26

27

100–300

stable

0.7

27

27

not available

not available

0.8

29

29

ON8

Kesagami

> 300

declining

3

36

38

100–300¹

declining

3

37

40

> 300^2,4

not available

3

38

41

ON9

Far North

> 300

not available

14

1

15

> 300

declining

15

1

16

> 300

not available

13

2

14