Plan for Boreal Caribou
News Release
National Consultation Plan for Boreal Caribou ignores the
Majority of Aboriginal Peoples in Ontario
(WABIGOON, ONT. – August 22, 2010) The National Consultation Plan for the development of a national recovery strategy for the woodland caribou (boreal population) has ignored non-Status Indians and many Métis in Ontario. Brad Maggrah, President of OCAP, is urging the federal Environment Minister, Jim Prentice to include the OCAP constituency in the gathering of traditional knowledge of the woodland caribou.
“There is no excuse for Environment Canada to ignore non-status and Métis in Ontario. The woodland caribou are an important part of Ontario’s northern forests. This species is ecologically, culturally and spiritually valued by our people,” said Maggrah. OCAP has a strong interest in seeing a self-sustaining caribou population in a healthy boreal forest in Ontario and has released an Action Plan for conservation of the woodland caribou.
Environment Canada is already three years late in meeting the statutory deadline for preparing a recovery strategy for the woodland caribou. In 2003, the boreal caribou was listed under the Species at Risk Act as Threatened. These caribou face a shrinking habitat due to expansion of resource extraction activities. Half of the boreal caribou herds are in decline and may die out in the next 100 years.
OCAP is a member of the Congress of Aboriginal Peoples (CAP) which has represented the rights and interests of off-reserve Status and non-Status Indians and Métis since 1971.
For more Information, please contact:
Brad Maggrah
Ontario Coalition of Aboriginal People
Tel: (807) 938-1321
