CALGARY — Simon Dyer, policy director with the Pembina Institute,
made the following statement in response to the Government of Canada's release
of a
draft recovery strategy for woodland caribou:
"By allowing 95 per cent of woodland caribou habitat in
northeastern Alberta to be lost, the Government of Canada is proposing that
Canadians 'write off' virtually all the habitat that supports Alberta's caribou
herds in order to promote irresponsible levels of oilsands development.
"The federal government is ignoring options to protect and
restore caribou habitat in northeastern Alberta, and instead proposing to rely
on killing off wolves to avoid having to put a limit on oilsands development.
"This approach is unacceptable when the government could
have protected caribou habitat by establishing conservation areas and
implementing higher standards for industrial activity, such as requiring faster
land restoration and moderating the pace and scale of oilsands development.
"After years of delay, the federal government has
abandoned caribou in Alberta's oilsands region without even trying to protect
their habitat from the cumulative impacts of oilsands development. Given the
number of viable options available to protect caribou habitat, it's astonishing
to see the government setting the bar so low with its draft recovery plan."
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Contact:
Simon
Dyer
Policy
director
403-322-3937
Background:
A copy
of the federal government's draft recovery strategy for boreal woodland caribou
is available
online.
Learn more about the
Pembina Institute's fight to protect Alberta's boreal woodland caribou on our blog.
