Concrete actions will be put in place to protect the Val-d’Or woodland caribou herd

SOURCE: Council of the Anishnabe Nation of Lac Simon

Published on June 21, 2018

Thanks to the leadership of the Community of Lac Simon and the support of the Government of Canada

The Anishinabe community of Lac Simon (Lac Simon), in collaboration with the Kitcisakik and Long Point First Nations, is proud to announce the development and implementation of a strategy to protect and restore the Val-d’Or woodland caribou herd. To do so, the First Nations can count on the support of the Government of Canada, which, through a contribution agreement, is investing $1.26 million over five years for various conservation measures.

As the community of Lac Simon has been pointing out for several months now, the decline in the population of the Val-d’Or woodland caribou herd also has the effect of limiting the exercise of Aboriginal Aboriginal rights. “The Aboriginal communities of the sector have done their part over the past twenty years by voluntarily ceasing hunting, an ancestral practice, in order to preserve the Val-d’Or woodland caribou herd. Lac Simon, like all the actors involved in this new partnership, is proud to be able to play a central role in the development and implementation of measures that will help re-establish the Val-d’Or caribou herd,” said Lac Simon First Nation Chief Adrienne Jérôme.

The woodland caribou is an important, even emblematic, species for Aboriginal peoples and for all Canadians. The Val-d’Or woodland caribou herd is still threatened with extinction, but we will now have the means to take concrete action for the conservation and protection of its habitat, said Geneviève Tremblay, biologist for the Council of the Anishnabe Nation of Lac Simon.

The measures will be implemented by the First Nations with the support of Environment and Climate Change Canada and the Ministère des Forêts, de la Faune et des Parcs. They include various research projects designed to evaluate the relevance and effectiveness of recovery strategies, the identification of priority habitat sectors to be restored, the closure and reforestation of forest roads, the implementation of a predator control program and awareness initiatives.

These actions are a first step towards the recovery of boreal caribou and the restoration of their habitat. The Anishinabe communities of Lac Simon, Kitcisakik and Long Point are committed to protecting boreal caribou. However, we believe that the protection of this emblematic species requires the involvement of everyone and that is why we will continue to work with our partners to achieve this goal. concluded Ms. Adrienne Jérôme, Chief of the Lac Simon First Nation.

In closing, the Council of the Anishnabe Nation of Lac Simon wishes to recall its mission: To offer the community the services necessary for its socio-economic well-being, in a healthy and safe environment, in addition to preserving and defending the Anishnabe identity, ancestral and territorial rights for sustainable development in an approach of equality and respect.