Our failure to act will be the demise of the caribou

How do I express the central importance of caribou for Indigenous Peoples and Arctic ecosystems in a 500-word editorial? It’s impossible, because it’s a matter that resides in the bloodstream, not in a document. It’s about knowing the caribou are near by the appearance of new flies on a windowpane. Of being able to field-dress the animal in minutes, blindfolded. Of honouring ancestral near-relatives who starved in years when the caribou didn’t come. These are matters of the heart, not the mind. 

In 2014, at the request of WWF’s Global Arctic Programme, I authored the (frankly prescient) Circum-Arctic Conservation Plan for Migratory Tundra Caribou and Wild Reindeer. This plan outlined a pre-emptive approach for relatively abundant caribou, such as the Porcupine herd that calves in Alaska; a precautionary approach for herds in decline or at population lows, which describes the majority of herds in the Arctic; and a recovery approach for populations at severe risk, such as High Arctic Peary caribou. The goal for all these strategies was to ensure that caribou populations could fluctuate sustainably, under relatively natural conditions, for the long term. 

The conclusion of my proposed plan read: “Without immediate action, there is a real danger that wild caribou/reindeer, by virtue of their perceived abundance, could be largely ignored and left to fend for themselves. The result would almost certainly be serious degradation of herds and populations, leading Arctic nations in a decade or so to resolve to do something when it is too late.”

HOW ARE CARIBOU DOING TODAY

So…how are we doing 10 years later? I believe we are presiding—our generation, right now, in real time—over the potential loss of this circum-Arctic cultural and ecological treasure. The evidence is before us in the form of synchronous, dramatic population declines for most herds worldwide.

In my country, Canada, where all the great migratory caribou herds are now formally classified as “threatened,” the best hope for protecting at least some critical habitat is to approve the 2023 Recommended Nunavut Land Use Plan—the largest land-use plan in the world. Yet, after 18 years, five previous drafts, and hundreds of local consultation meetings, the recommendations of community-based Inuit remain stalled in the political and bureaucratic systems of both Indigenous and non-Indigenous “decision-makers.” While the plan languishes, areas that have been recommended for protection by Inuit, such as caribou calving areas, are being compromised through extensive mineral staking and other proposed industrial developments.

Looking around today, I’d say that caribou matters of the heart have been stymied by disconnected matters of the mind. In his mandate letter to all recently elected federal government officials, Mark Carney, Canada’s new prime minister, wrote: “You will be expected and empowered to lead…and to bring decisive action to your work.” It is long past time to bring the spirit of this directive to bear on the plight of caribou—not just in Canada, but throughout the Arctic.