Caribou are one of Canada’s most iconic species, yet decades of government inaction have pushed many herds into decline, in many cases irreversibly. Nowhere is this failure more evident than in British Columbia’s Inland Temperate Rainforest, where the Deep Snow Mountain Caribou, found nowhere else on Earth, are approaching extinction. This outcome was not inevitable. Governments have long known that habitat destruction from logging, roadbuilding, and industrial expansion is the primary cause of Caribou decline. They acknowledged the science and publicly committed to protecting critical habitat. Yet they repeatedly failed to translate recognition into enforceable action, choosing political convenience over decisive protection. Temporary deferrals, fragmented programs, and reliance on short term measures such as killing wolves have been used to avoid meaningful habitat protection. Habitat loss continued, Caribou numbers collapsed to fewer than 1,500 animals, and several herds became functionally nonviable, a foreseeable and preventable outcome of policy failure.

The Great Caribou Rainforest Conservation Area Harmony proposed represented a rare and credible opportunity to reverse this trajectory. It offered governments a practical, Indigenous led, knowledge-based pathway to protect critical Caribou habitat while advancing commitments on reconciliation, biodiversity protection, climate mitigation, and old growth forest conservation. Public support was strong, Indigenous Nations were prepared to lead, and the ecological and economic case was clear. Yet BC and Canada failed to act with the urgency required, despite repeatedly acknowledging the significance of the proposal and its alignment with their stated priorities. Instead, they defaulted to process, delay, and incrementalism, allowing continued industrial pressure where protection was both feasible and urgently needed. The consequences of this missed opportunity are now stark. Without decisive action, the loss of Deep Snow Mountain Caribou and the collapse of the Inland Temperate Rainforest will not be remembered as natural disasters, but as the direct of deliberate inaction, repeated postponement, and a sustained unwillingness to align policy with stated commitments. BC also missed an exceptional opportunity to demonstrate the power of collaboration
over confrontation.

 

To Learn More

  Will BC Save the Inland Temperate Rainforest and Its Endangered Mountain Caribou Before It’s Too Late?

  Full Proposal for the Great Caribou Rainforest Conservation Area

One-page Overview of the Great Caribou Rainforest Conservation Area

Presentation of the Great Caribou Rainforest

Reports & Updates

  The Endangered Deep-Snow Mountain Caribou of BC’s Interior Wetbelt

Provincial Legislation Affecting Conservation in British Columbia With a Focus on Southern Mountain Caribou (2021)

Additional Studies

  Red-Listed Ecosystem Status of Interior Wetbelt and Inland Temperate Rainforest BC