Manitoba's east shore wilderness,
Pristine wilderness offers world class sanctuary for woodland caribou
According to the World Resources Institute (1) just 20 per cent of the earth’s forests remain intact and undisturbed. Nearly 50 per cent of these undisturbed forests are found in the boreal forests of Canada, Russia, and Alaska.
The boreal forest is Earth’s largest source of fresh water and its vast forests are considered the “northern lungs of the planet.” It is also the planet’s largest single land storehouse of carbon. As such, it plays an important part in regulating Earth’s climate.
“I don’t want to lose the boreal forests in Manitoba because I didn’t do anything when
I had an opportunity and a responsibility to do it.”
Premier Gary Doer — August 3, 2002
Almost five billion years in the making, Canada’s boreal forest is the largest contiguous stretch of wilderness left on earth. One of the most significant intact tracts in Canada’s boreal forest is the 150,000 square kilometre East Shore Wilderness Area on the east side of Lake Winnipeg.
The East Shore is a mosaic of interconnected wildlands, encompassing diverse tree species such as pine, spruce, poplar, and birch, as well as innumerable wetlands, lakes, rivers, and bogs. It provides forest habitat for many wildlife species including lynx, black bears, moose, foxes, owls, and the woodland caribou.
woodland caribou foraging in the boreal forest Photo credit: Terry Parker
Ancient travelers of its intact ecological tapestry, the woodland caribou have lived largely undisturbed for countless generations in the East Shore. The area provides everything woodland caribou need, including calving grounds and lichens, an essential food source.
To ensure the continued survival of Manitoba’s woodland caribou, Premier Gary Doer has an obligation to honor his personal commitment to adequately protect Manitoba’s boreal forests. To meet this obligation, the Wilderness Committee is pushing for the ecological integrity of the East Shore to be fully protected through a network of large interconnected parks, protected areas, wildlife reserves, cultural heritage sites and conservation restrictions on how industrial development is allowed to proceed in unprotected areas.
The first step is to conserve adequately large, interconnected areas of the East Shore to maintain a globally unique caribou sanctuary, as a model for scientific and traditional knowledge, wildlife protection, sustainable community development and climate regulation.
If, on the other hand, government inaction allows woodland caribou to be logged to extinction, we would lose an integral strand in the Canadian boreal’s fragile web of life. For a fragile ecosystem like the boreal forest to retain its proper balance, every thread within that fabric must remain strong.
(1) More info on the World Resources Institute Pan-Boreal Mapping Initiative at forests.wri.org
