WWF report a cause for concern in Eeyou Istchee

A new World Wildlife Fund Canada report is raising red flags among staff of the Cree Nation Government (CNG).

The WWF study, Living Planet Report Canada, suggests that hundreds of species across the country have faced huge declines in numbers over the past 40 years, when the study began.

Looking at 900 species across the country for which there are data, the study found that roughly half had declined over that period, while 45% saw increases in population. Only 5% had stable population numbers.

The real significance wasn’t that half of the species had declined – that much could nearly be expected if animals were following simple boom and bust cycles known to ecologists.

Instead, it’s the scale of the decline. On average, of those species on the decline, they’ve lost 83% of their numbers. That means some have lost less, while some have lost even more. Averaged across all animals, there was still an 8% decline.

There are six main conclusions highlighted in the report:

• Habitat loss: less land (and water) for animals. This comes from human development – expanding urban areas, roads, dams, forestry, agriculture, etc;
• Climate change: the report notes that climate change is felt twice as strongly in Canada as in the rest of the world. Meanwhile, oceans are rising and acidifying, our seasons are changing, precipitation patterns are unpredictable, and many animals either can’t move or can’t adapt fast enough;
• Pollution: toxins and chemicals that come from the use of pesticides, sewage, agricultural runoff, plastic waste and microplastics.
• Invasive species: this is why there’s an effort to get people to clean their boats off when moving between bodies of water. The introduction of predatory foreign species results in an overconsumption of food that local species depend upon, or preys upon native marine animals;
• Overexploitation: hunting, fishing, trapping. This is particularly true in the oceans, where many species like sharks end up caught by accident;
• Cumulative and cascading effects: when more than one of the previous drivers combine, it can make the problem much worse, much faster, leading to further population declines.

The WWF report focused on mammals, fish, birds, reptiles and amphibians. Researchers also broke down the species by their distribution.

Animal species found in freshwater were mostly stable, thanks to conservation efforts were begun in the 1970s because many waterways were experiencing high levels of degradation at the time.

Animals found around marine (ocean) areas – mostly fish, with some birds and mammals – declined an average of 9% across the country.

The terrestrials, mostly made up of birds and some reptiles, declined by 9% since 1970.

The report also looked at the decline in species by geographic area, but noted that there was not enough baseline information starting in 1970 to include many Arctic species, which would include a number of species native to Eeyou Istchee.

Alan Penn, scientific adviser for the Cree Regional Authority’s Environment and Remedial Works Department, said he had “serious doubts” about whether the report’s conclusions were likely to hold true for Eeyou Istchee.

“The question needs to be put to the WWF – how good is this information?” asked Penn. “Who is getting it? Who is responsible for managing this kind of data?”

Penn noted that most of the information known about protected species in Eeyou Istchee only comes out during environmental assessments, and that not all ecosystems across the territory may be well known. Most Crees wouldn’t have direct experience or familiarity with many of the species named in the report, he added.

The value of the WWF report is to highlight the widespread species declines, Penn observed, as they may be relevant to the Cree territory. He intends to take up the issue with Cree leadership for further consideration.

Nadia Saganash, the Wildlife Management Administrator for the environment department, was much more concerned. “Any decline in species is important. We depend on healthy species, healthy wildlife, for the culture to survive,” she stated.

“We can see there’s a lot of species of concern in the territory, that’s at risk. We have several – notably woodland caribou, barren-ground caribou and the lake sturgeon are of concern, as well as polar bears and wolverines.”

Saganash agreed with Penn that it would be beneficial to undertake a similar study within Eeyou Istchee.

The territory has dealt with similar issues. Saganash noted there was a sharp decline in the wolf population in the 1990s that became a concern to the Cree Nation. Drastic measures were taken to address the issue, resulting in changes to forestry laws to protect the animals.

Woodland caribou and barren-ground caribou numbers were in decline as well, Saganash said, with impacts on food security. She said that for the woodland caribou, forestry and habitat degradation are the main factors behind the decline.

The barren-ground caribou was a more complex situation, with natural population cycles over the decades, but there have also been pressures put on them because of various harvests and predators, as well as their access to food, Saganash noted.

A project was put into place to monitor the natural reintroduction of wolverines into the territory, since they had been effectively extinct in the territory for many years, and are considered endangered by the federal government.

Penn explained that many Cree are not entirely enthusiastic about the reintroduction of wolverines, being a particularly destructive animal that’s difficult to harvest and which destroys other animal traps. Regardless, their increased presence has been detected across the territory.

The most concerning development, both Penn and Saganash agree, concerns lake sturgeon. The James Bay population is listed as of special concern by the federal government.

Saganash explained that in Eeyou Istchee, there have been impacts on the sturgeon from dams, road construction over their spawning grounds, as well as the harvest.

It’s a species that needs to be monitored, since it can take up to 25 years for a female to spawn, and it is big and slow-moving.

With the James Bay and Northern Quebec Agreement in 1975, this population of lake sturgeon was reserved exclusively for the Cree.

However, Penn explained, this also gave the federal government an excuse to ignore its status, and to justify not supporting the Cree government’s efforts at conservation.

“Because it’s in the land claims agreement, they simply don’t deal with it. That’s also to some extent true with the caribou. If they sense that a species is being used by a Native group, they say that there’s nothing they can do about it,” explained Penn, who added that the CNG doesn’t have the resources to adequately implement the type of conservation needed.

Penn doubts that the federal government or the province will get involved, leaving the onus on the Cree to protect dwindling animal stocks. That includes raising awareness among Cree hunters and fishers to explain that these species may not survive much longer if current harvesting and development practices continue.

According to Saganash, this also means that more resources have to be put into wildlife monitoring. “Currently there’s only two staff members at the CNG in the wildlife unit, it’s difficult to follow all these issues in the territory,” she explained.

According to the Paix des Braves agreement, she noted, there are provisions for hiring Cree conservation officers, which currently is still under Quebec’s jurisdiction.

The report concluded with a number of calls to action, focused on increased monitoring and sharing of data, more research and an increased response to the threat of climate change, and an expansion of protected areas.

Launching the report, David Miller, WWF-Canada’s President and CEO, said that, “People do have the power to make a difference by becoming citizen scientists, restoring habitat, embracing a low-carbon lifestyle and supporting the decisions that government, industry and communities need to make. By taking action we can, collectively, ensure more wildlife don’t land on the at-risk list in the first place.”