VICTORIA – The Province is providing $6.5 million over three years for caribou habitat restoration in British Columbia.

The funding will be administered to qualifying organizations through the Habitat Conservation Trust Foundation’s (HCTF) Caribou Habitat Restoration Fund.

Human influence on the landscape – including forestry, mining and roadbuilding – has altered caribou habitat. Projects pursued under the fund will focus on restoring habitat through both functional and ecological approaches. Examples of functional restoration activities include planting trees, spreading coarse woody debris and installing fences to disrupt linear thoroughfares that advantage predators. Ecological restoration activities include encouraging native plants and trees that support the return of caribou habitat to its undisturbed state.

The Province granted an initial $2 million to HCTF in April 2018 to implement a caribou habitat restoration program, which aims to rehabilitate habitat in areas prioritized for recovery efforts. During its first intake, HCTF provided funding to 11 projects led by First Nations, government, industry and not-for-profit societies. See attached backgrounder for more details.

Applications are being accepted by HCTF to fund the second round of habitat restoration projects. This intake closes Friday, Nov. 1, 2019, at 4:30 p.m. (Pacific time).

The Province has already committed $47 million over three years to build a comprehensive, science-based approach to protect and preserve B.C.’s 54 caribou herds. This recovery program aims to restore this iconic Canadian species to a sustainable population.

Since its inception in 1981, the HCTF has invested over $180 million in grant money to more than 2,800 conservation projects in B.C., with the goal to restore, maintain or enhance native fish and wildlife populations and habitats.

Learn More:

To apply for funds through the HCTF, or for more information, visit: https://hctf.ca/

A backgrounder follows.

With an initial investment of $2 million in 2018, the Habitat Conservation Trust Foundation was able to fund 11 habitat projects, including:

Kotcho Lake restoration area

• Fort Nelson First Nations Lands Office
• The project is designed to benefit the Snake-Sahtahneh caribou herd by limiting predator use of legacy seismic lines and using re-vegetation to increase habitat suitability for caribou in the northeast region of B.C.

Tweedsmuir-Entiako caribou lichen restoration area

• Society for Ecological Restoration in Northern B.C.
• The project is designed to benefit the Tweedsmuir-Entiako caribou herd by seeding lichen over 50 hectares of area that was affected by the Chelaslie wildfire.

Caribou Flats

• Chu Cho Environmental LLP
• The project is designed to benefit the Chase caribou herd by restoring 10 kilometres of forestry roads, using functional and ecological restoration techniques.

Clisbako caribou rehabilitation project

• Ministry of Forests, Lands, Natural Resource Operations and Rural Development
• The project is designed to benefit the Itcha-Ilgachuz caribou herd by rehabilitating roads to reduce predator travel.

Whitesail reach

• Society for Ecological Restoration in Northern B.C.
• The project is designed to benefit the Tweedsmuir-Entiako herd by clearing debris from the shoreline of calving islands on Whitesail Lake.

Amoco Road Restoration

• Nîkanêse Wah tzee Stewardship Society
• The project is designed to benefit the Moberly (Klinse-Za) and Scott caribou herds by using functional restoration treatments on a road built for oil and gas exploration 56 kilometres west of Chetwynd in the northeast region.

Ulkatcho

• Ministry of Forests, Lands, Natural Resource Operations and Rural Development
• The project is designed to benefit the Itcha-Ilgachuz herd by rehabilitating roads to deter predator movement.

Adams Groundhog Road rehabilitation and reforestation

• Ministry of Forests, Lands, Natural Resource Operations and Rural Development
• This project is designed to benefit the Groundhog herd through forestry road rehabilitation and treatment of cutblocks.

Otter

• Canadian Forest Products Ltd.
• This project is designed to benefit the Hart Ranges herd by rehabilitating about six kilometres of road to restore connectivity between two areas of intact habitat (Omineca region, northeast of Prince George).

Black Creek/Pickell Creek area

• Blueberry River First Nation
• The project is designed to benefit the Chinchaga caribou herd by restoring seismic lines in the northeast region. 

Tumuch

• Canadian Forest Products Ltd.
• This project is designed to benefit the North Cariboo herd through rehabilitation of more than 12 kilometres of road.