Interested in protecting and recovering Caribou? West Coast Environmental Law (WCEL) has provided some excellent guidance for feedback to the Province’s form. See their ideas below, and when you’re ready to submit, click here:

https://engage.gov.bc.ca/caribou/section11agreement/

Are there any actions in Annex 2 that you strongly disagree with? Please describe them and explain why you do not support them.

From WCEL: The Section 11 agreement has very few concrete measures to address the root cause of caribou population decline: habitat loss and fragmentation. On the crucial subject of caribou habitat protection and restoration, Table 2 of the Section 11 agreement is mostly a plan to make more plans. Disappointingly, the language in Table 2 regarding regulatory measures to protect caribou habitat is vague and non-committal; the agreement to “Seek to bring forward regulatory measures” does not commit the parties to developing regulations to protect caribou habitat. The provincial and federal governments should be focusing on protecting habitat now, as well as other caribou recovery measures. The provincial government should stop permitting logging and other disturbances in caribou habitat until these activities can be shown to not harm caribou populations. Ongoing wolf culls cannot be supported in the absence of habitat protections.

Are there any actions in Annex 2 that you strongly support? Please describe them and explain why you support them.

From WCEL: The acquisition of  land for caribou habitat are a good first step and the government should undertake to acquire more caribou habitat in order to protect it. The activities underway to restore caribou habitat by rehabilitating roadways through caribou habitat are good. I support the federal and provincial governments working to encourage and empower Indigenous communities to help with caribou recovery. Science and traditional knowledge can work together to produce good results.

The creation of the BC-Canada Caribou Recovery Science Committee to provide science and science advice focused on the recovery of southern mountain caribou in British Columbia is a good thing, but it should be independent and include caribou biologists with published academic research on caribou.

Are there any actions that you think are missing from the draft Section 11 Agreement? Please describe them and explain why you feel they should be added.

From WCEL: There is no commitment to habitat protection in the Section 11 agreement. Habitat protection is a necessary part of species recovery. At a minimum, an interim moratorium on destruction of caribou habitat should be put in place while herd plans proceed. The BC-Canada Caribou Recovery Science Committee should be independent and at arms-length from government, and include researchers with published work on caribou biology.

Overall, do you support the Parties entering into the Section 11 Agreement? Why or why not?

From WCEL: Entering into an agreement under Section 11 of the Species at Risk Act is essential if we are to have any hope of protecting and recovering southern mountain caribou herds. However, the Section 11 Agreement must be strengthened to provide interim habitat protection, and to focus on habitat protection and restoration as the key to long-term caribou recovery, because habitat fragmentation, alteration, and loss is at the root of caribou decline. Ongoing wolf culls cannot be supported in the absence of habitat protections.