Protecting Woodland Caribou

MP Jim Eglinski, Member of Parliament for Yellowhead, is pleased to announce funding to protect Woodland Caribou in westcentral Alberta. The Aseniwuche Winewak Nation, located near the Town of Grande Cache, has been granted $102,590 by Environment and Climate Change Canada through the Aboriginal Fund for Species at Risk Program.

“Having worked with CPAWS in the past regarding the Woodland Caribou, I am excited to see important work being done to protect our local populations,” stated MP Eglinski. “This project will aim to engage the people of the Aseniwuche Winewak Nation of Canada in the preservation and recovery of the Woodland Caribou in and around our riding of Yellowhead.”

This current project targets two Species at Risk Act-listed species of Woodland Caribou namely the Boreal population (Threatened), which is an Aboriginal Fund for Species at Risk regional priority species, and the Southern Mountain population (Threatened). Proposed project activities include local community engagement in species at risk monitoring and management activities by skill-specific training for Aseniwuche Winewak Nation members to conduct data collection and activity monitoring during key migration periods.

“Community engagement and local monitoring is an important step in protecting the habitat of species at risk and the preservation of biodiversity within our forests. Together, we can achieve great things and protect the abundance and variety of life that is part of our country’s natural heritage,” concluded MP Eglinski.