Calls to action in Val-d’Or to save the caribou herd

About 60 people took part in the event, which comes 24 hours after a Commission stop in La Sarre.

For almost all of the stakeholders, it is clear that the survival of the Val-d’Or caribou herd is greatly threatened, which now numbers seven individuals, placed in enclosures. But a strong message has been sent to the Commission: it is not too late to act.

It’s too late if we don’t do anything, that’s for sure, says Henri Jacob, president of Action boréale. If you abandon a species because there are very few left, tomorrow we will end up with another species on the line and in danger. It gives the wrong signal. The reason for its decline is mainly the forestry industry. We say to him: go shop the territory and then we will say that it is too late

The organization and other stakeholders recalled that a recovery plan presented in 2018 would make it possible to raise the population to 50 animals and ensure its self-sufficiency. This plan notably involves the establishment and restoration of a 2,100 square km protection area and the participation of the Refuge Pageau to promote the birth of new animals.

Henri Jacob regrets that this plan was never applied. He believes that the very premise of the Commission set up by Minister Pierre Dufour is biased and that it aims to gain time.

If it was a commission for the caribou, the question should have been how we can save it, he says. There we wonder what can we do not to lose a cubic meter of wood. But the commission recognizes that these are the wrong questions to ask. All the data is there. There were consultations in the 80s, 90s, 2000s and there in 2022. At some point, action will be needed.

Henri Jacob of Action boréale addresses the Commission on woodland and mountain caribou.

Photo: Radio-Canada / Marc-André Landry

The Anishinaabe communities also made their voices heard before the Commission. In emotional testimony, Ronald Brazeau, Acting Director of the Lac-Simon Department of Natural Resources, described the situation as alarming.

The concern, we hear it in all the communities and in the speech of our elders, he specifies. We have tried to be heard many times, but we are never represented and listened to. We’ve been talking about it for 30 years and yet we had all the tools. We have taken part in all the consultation tables, but our voice does not seem to be listened to. It’s time to see the forest for something other than volumes of wood to cut.

In emotional testimony, Ronald Brazeau, Acting Director of the Lac-Simon Department of Natural Resources, described the situation as alarming.

Photo: Radio-Canada / Marc-André Landry

Lac-Simon recalled that it submitted its own restoration plan to the government, prepared in 2020 by researcher Martin-Hugues St-Laurent. This plan identifies habitats that would be more favorable to the caribou population than those presented by the Commission, while integrating the traditional knowledge of Aboriginal people.

The government’s scenario is unrealistic, says Ronald Brazeau. We have identified sectors of mature forests and everything is in our study. We are not asking to protect the entire territory. It is never too late to act. Let’s make decisions and do it.

The president of the Commission, Nancy Gélinas, welcomed the testimony of the First Nations with interest, she who feared a wind of boycott.

They are inevitable actors in the future. The First Nations must be present and directly involved in the actions that will be taken and I am happy that they testified. We will include their words in our report as a testimony of hope.

The Commission on forest-dwelling and mountain caribou passing through Val-d’Or.

Photo: Radio-Canada / Marc-André Landry

Nancy Gélinas also remembers the will of the community of Val-d’Or to mobilize to save the habitat of the caribou.

Yes, we heard a frustration, but I especially remember that people here want it to work. We’ve been talking about it for 40 years, solutions have been proposed, we must act. I felt a power behind us so that we could make realistic proposals that were accepted by the Ministry. Ultimately, it goes beyond the seven caribou. It is the territory and the culture that go with it. Although it’s going to be difficult and the current seven animals may not be part of a future herd of 50, we felt that the desire to preserve the habitat is what matters mostshe concluded.