The Monitoring Working Group (MWG) of the NBCKC

In order to make decisions on how best to conserve and protect caribou, we need to have accurate information on caribou populations. Although this information could be applied more generally if everyone collects the same kind of data in the same way, the variability of caribou habitat across the country makes such standardization difficult. For example, what works for monitoring caribou in the mountains of British Columbia, may not work in the boreal plains of Saskatchewan, the forests of Quebec, or the hills of Labrador. Therefore, for caribou monitoring programs to be successful in the long term, they must consider the array of methods available for Knowing caribou, and follow best practices when applying each of those methods.

The goals of the MWG were: 

1. To explore the diversity of monitoring priorities and constraints across the boreal range;
2. To evaluate the variability in methods used to monitor boreal caribou across Canada; and
3. To recommend ‘best practices’ for applying various boreal caribou monitoring techniques in Canada.

The MWG met every second month to gather and share information, provide input to NBCKC projects, and advance their own projects.

The group created a toolkit to help users select the boreal caribou monitoring methods which may be applied to their program and/or re-evaluate the methods currently being used in their area. The objectives of this toolkit are:

1. To centralize existing resources relevant to the monitoring of boreal caribou, 
2. To provide valuable and accessible guidance for anyone engaged in, or planning to initiate, monitoring programs, and 
3. To identify where knowledge gaps still exist, such that toolkit users may see opportunities to contribute resources to the toolkit. 

Be sure to read more about the Monitoring Working Group's toolkit project by clicking here.