PESSAMIT, Canada — Even though he lives in
the middle of Canada’s boreal forest, Jean-Luc Kanape can sometimes go weeks
without seeing a single caribou. But for as long as he can remember, the
animals have been part of his life.
اضافة اعلان
For centuries, “our ancestors survived thanks to the
caribous — using its meat, pelts, and tools made from its bones,” says Kanape,
a member of the Innu Indigenous group. “Now, it’s our turn to help them.”
The caribou is a symbol of the power of the
subarctic boreal forest, but also the beating heart of Canada’s Indigenous
culture. But the broad-snouted deer is “at risk”, Kanape says, notably because
of the loss of its natural habitat.
In Quebec province, the animal’s future is
threatened by the lumber industry, which is crucial in some areas, providing
60,000 jobs, but which also contributes to mass deforestation.
Governments “are supposed to protect all living
beings in their territory” but “do nothing” for the caribous, says Kanape, who
helps the community identify and tag the remaining herds.
All around the 47-year-old’s cabin, located not far
from the St Lawrence River but a two-hour drive from the nearest village, there
is evidence of deforestation — the once lush mass of spruces and poplars has
been hacked up.
Predators
Recent data suggests that
caribous, which are called reindeer in Europe, have a better chance of survival
if at least 65 percent of their living habitat is preserved.
But in this part of Canada, roughly 80 percent of
their habitat has been disturbed in some way. Tree harvesting helps renew the
forest, but that also brings about changes in the native flora and fauna.
Moose have
arrived en masse — which also means the animals that prey on them have arrived
too, notably wolves, whose migration has been facilitated by paths cut in the
wilderness by the lumber companies.
When Kanape heads out to track caribou herds, he
uses both ancestral teachings and surveillance data collected by drones.
Whether traveling by boat along the river, in his
pickup truck, or on foot, he scours the ground for hoof prints. Each autumn,
those hoofs adapt, their edges sharpening to allow the caribous to break
through the ice to get at a major food source: lichen.
In recent weeks,
Kanape was tracking a female caribou and her calf, who were living in a
partially deforested area — putting them at risk.
“How can I make them understand that they’d be
better off in more wooded areas?” says Kanape. “She came here because she knows
the area, which is totally normal.”
Growth
From the Canadian Rockies in
the west to Quebec’s forests in the east, the caribou has seen its territory
dwindle over the last 150 years, and the population has declined — a shift that
nothing seems to reverse.
Since 2003, the caribou has been listed as a species
at risk of extinction, and is one of the most studied animals in North America.
In Canada, its survival will depend on the expansion
of the oil, lumber, and mining industries. The country has struggled to
implement viable plans to protect the species, researchers say.
Overall, experts are concerned that the fate of the
caribou is a “tipping point” — and thus that the animal should be considered an
“umbrella species” worthy of protecting, so that other animals in their habitat
are indirectly saved.
“Dozens of species that don’t get the same attention
also need ancestral forests — it’s a natural habitat that is vital for many,”
explains Martin-Hugues Saint-Laurent, a biologist at the University of Quebec
in Rimouski.
Canada’s boreal forest is home to 85 species of
mammals, 130 species of fish, and 300 different bird species, many of them
migratory.
“The forest is not just about the trees,” says Louis
De Grandpre, a scientist who has been researching the issue for 30 years. “We
are just barely starting to understand the scope of what’s happening under our
feet in the forest subsoil, where bacteria, mushrooms, and a myriad of
microorganisms are all at work.”
The Innu people, who believe they are just as much a
part of the forest ecosystem as all other living creatures, advocate for the
creation of a protected forest zone.
Kanape has a far-reaching, philosophical outlook —
the animal kingdom will ultimately triumph.
“When humans disappear from the Earth, the planet will be
even more beautiful. It will reclaim itself,” he says.
Read more Odd and Bizarre
Jordan News
.jpg)
.jpg)
