Newly published research argues Indigenous hunting didn’t cause the collapse of once-mighty caribou herds in Canada’s North and harvest bans only force First Nations to shoulder the blame for problems they didn’t create. The paper in Science Advances concludes the more likely cause for the disastrous declines is the cumulative effects of mineral exploration. “The amount of caribou being harvested today is a fraction of what it would have been 20, 30 years ago. “We’re distracting people from what is a more central or problematic issue.”That issue, Parlee says, is habitat disturbance, mostly from mineral exploration. Elders say it can be over 100 years before caribou habitat recovers.”Instead of restricting a vital food that lies at the heart of Dene culture, the territory should focus on land-use planning to protect caribou ranges, Parlee suggests.

Source: National Post February 28, 2018 18:56 UTC