Environment Canada misses another deadline to release long-delayed plan for endangered caribou 

səl̓ílwətaʔɬ (Tsleil-Waututh), xʷməθkwəy̓əm (Musqueam), and Skwxwú7mesh (Squamish) territories (VANCOUVER, B.C.)  – Environmental organizations are criticizing Environment and Climate Change Canada (ECCC) for missing yet another deadline to finish mapping critical habitat for endangered Southern Mountain Caribou herds in B.C. The groups had given ECCC until March 19 to produce a proposed updated recovery strategy under the federal Species at Risk Act (SARA) that includes full habitat maps.  

ECCC committed in the original June 2014 recovery strategy to finish critical habitat mapping by the end of 2014. In January, Ecojustice lawyers, on behalf of Wildsight, Wilderness Committee, and Stand.earth, sent a letter to then-ECCC Minister Steven Guilbeault pointing out that ECCC was over ten years past this deadline. The groups called on the Minister to complete the identification of critical habitat for the Southern Group of Southern Mountain Caribou and begin protecting that habitat from further destruction as soon as possible. 

Yesterday, on March 19, ECCC sent a reply and claimed to have made “consistent progress” since 2021 and that an updated recovery strategy is “on target” to be released in 2026. ECCC did not explain why their timeline for updating the recovery strategy had ballooned from six months (originally with a December 2014 deadline) to 12 years (latest 2026 deadline).

Given the likelihood of an imminent federal election, the groups will look to the incoming Minister to address ECCC’s lengthy and unlawful delays, and the resulting harm to several critically-endangered caribou herds. They will consider turning to the courts for relief if ECCC fails to complete the habitat mapping and release an updated strategy soon after the election. 

Most of Canada’s at-risk species, including Southern Mountain Caribou, are in decline because of loss of their habitat. Complete mapping of the habitat that species need for their survival and recovery is a foundational step in their protection and recovery. Ecojustice, Wildsight, Wilderness Committee, and Stand.earth are urging Environment and Climate Change Canada to take immediate and necessary steps to prevent more local extinctions of this iconic species.

###

Images and maps are available for media use here.

Media contacts: 

Eddie Petryshen | Conservation Specialist, Wildsight
 eddie@wildsight.ca (Mountain Time)

Tegan Hansen  | Senior Forest Campaigner, Stand.earth (English, French)
 tegan@stand.earth (Pacific Time)

Torrance Coste | Associate Director, Wilderness Committee
 torrance@wildernesscommittee.org (Pacific Time)

Shayoni Mehta  | Communications Strategist, Ecojustice  smehta@ecojustice.ca (Pacific Time)