March 5, 2018…

March 5, 2018

Species C. By failing to protect boreal caribou critical habitat, Ontario severely undermines its position as a climate leader in Canada.

Recommendations

Having already missed the federal deadline for submitting boreal caribou range plans based on the federal government's 2012 Recovery Strategy, Ontario will further undermine efforts to protect boreal caribou by exempting the logging industry from science-based conservation requirements. We urge Ontario to allow these exemptions to expire and implement mandatory and enforceable protections for boreal caribou critical habitat, developing these protections in close partnership with Indigenous Peoples. These protections should ensure that no more than 35 percent of each caribou range is degraded, as outlined in the federal government's 2012 Boreal Caribou Recovery Strategy.

As part of these efforts, Ontario should facilitate Indigenous-led habitat protection. Indigenous Peoples have lived sustainably with Canada's boreal landscapes for thousands of years and many are in a unique position to lead broadly beneficial land-use plans for the boreal forest. Ontario should act to position Indigenous-led land-use planning as central to its policies to protect boreal caribou habitat.

The amendments to Ontario Regulation 242/08 prioritizes nearly unchecked industrial development at the expense of the traditional practices of Indigenous Peoples, umbrella species like the boreal caribou, and the global climate. We urge Ontario to reconsider its proposal to extend this species-threatening policy for two more critical years.

A failure to enforce the Ontario's ESA on the logging industry risks undermining the confidence of the international marketplace in the sustainability of forest products sourced from the province. As the destination for over 80% of the forest product exports from Ontario, the U.S. marketplace has a responsibility to ensure that its demand does not come at the expense of the boreal caribou and Indigenous communities.

Ontario has the opportunity to protect some of its most treasured species and landscapes, and we call on Ontario to embrace the leadership it previously sought on boreal caribou protection.

[Original Comment ID: 213326]