The National Boreal Caribou Knowledge Consortium (NBCKC), which launched in 2018 under Canada’s federal action plan for boreal caribou, was a forum for knowledge sharing, knowledge generation, and knowledge mobilization. The NBCKC was coordinated by a secretariat within Environment and Climate Change Canada (ECCC) from June 2018 to March 2026. As coordination by ECCC comes to an end, the group is exploring ways that it might continue. Any updates related to the main table of the NBCKC will be posted here.

Members of the NBCKC represented federal, provincial and territorial governments, Wildlife Management Boards, Indigenous Peoples and communities, industry, environmental non-governmental organizations, and academic researchers. Several representatives who were part of the NBCKC were also members of a parallel body known as the Indigenous Knowledge Circle (IKC). The IKC advocated for the respectful inclusion of Indigenous Knowledge, supported the transition towards Indigenous-led management to support the recovery of caribou, and provided opportunities for learning about what is working and not working in Indigenous contexts.

The NBCKC also included several working groups and knowledge networks that were formed to assess what we already know, to ask what we still need to know, and to determine how to apply what we know to maximize caribou conservation and recovery goals. These groups included:

• The Monitoring Working Group
• The Habitat Restoration Working Group
• The Population Management Working Group
• The Caribou Health Knowledge Network

The NBCKC set ambitious targets and deadlines in order to resolve knowledge gaps by developing impactful guidance meant to inform caribou managers as they structure their respective programs. They built a powerful interactive map and populated it with over 100 caribou projects, the majority of which involve Indigenous peoples. Despite boasting a large membership consisting of keen, skilled, and focused individuals, the NBCKC was able to reach even higher levels of relevance and impact by joining their efforts with those of other initiatives. 

Follow this link to browse the repository of newsletters, guidance documents, best practices, tool kits and other resources that were developed collaboratively by the NBCKC.

Learn more about the NBCKC by visiting their interactive story map, available in English and French!

This single year Habitat Stewardship Program Species at Risk Stream project will improve threatened boreal caribou and endangered southern mountain caribou habitat by increasing undisturbed habitat within caribou ranges in west-central and north-western Alberta. It is supported by Environment and Climate Change Canada, AUPRF/PTAC and FLMF.

Caribou are declining across the boreal forest and the primary threat to population persistence is habitat disturbance. Restoration of disturbed habitat within caribou ranges is both a federal and provincial priority. 

The study area encompasses the entirety of the ranges of the Redrock Prairie Creek, A La Peche, Narraway, Little Smoky, and Chinchaga caribou herds in Alberta, excluding areas that fall within parks and protected areas (parts of the summer ranges of A La Peche, Narraway and Redrock Prairie Creek herds). 

This proposed project will use high-resolution remote sensing data on seismic line regeneration, GIS based data of ecosite and site characteristics, and existing field data (ungulate food and species composition) collected along seismic lines in west-central and north-western Alberta. This will be used to determine how regeneration and other attributes of seismic lines affects use of these features by alternate prey (moose, deer, and elk) that attract caribou predators, and to identify seismic lines that are on a trajectory towards natural recovery versus those that will need active restoration.

We will use these new data to further refine priority seismic lines for reclamation identified through our previous HSP-funded work (empirical analysis of caribou, caribou predator, and human response to regenerating seismic lines). Ultimately, we will provide land managers with GIS-based maps of seismic lines in west-central and north-western Alberta prioritized for reclamation that maximise benefits for caribou, and that maximise the efficacy of restoration efforts. 

This project has been developed in collaboration with resource users within caribou ranges, and continual outreach activities (workshops, website updates, documents) throughout the project will make available the tools produced by this project for management and reclamation plans across the range of these five caribou herds. This will ensure that reclamation of caribou habitat is based upon science, and also that restoration effort is directed to areas are the most beneficial for caribou. 

This single year Habitat Stewardship Program Species at Risk Stream project will improve threatened boreal caribou and endangered southern mountain caribou habitat by increasing undisturbed habitat within caribou ranges in west-central and north-western Alberta. It is supported by Environment and Climate Change Canada, AUPRF/PTAC and FLMF.

Caribou are declining across the boreal forest and the primary threat to population persistence is habitat disturbance. Restoration of disturbed habitat within caribou ranges is both a federal and provincial priority. 

The study area encompasses the entirety of the ranges of the Redrock Prairie Creek, A La Peche, Narraway, Little Smoky, and Chinchaga caribou herds in Alberta, excluding areas that fall within parks and protected areas (parts of the summer ranges of A La Peche, Narraway and Redrock Prairie Creek herds). 

This proposed project will use high-resolution remote sensing data on seismic line regeneration, GIS based data of ecosite and site characteristics, and existing field data (ungulate food and species composition) collected along seismic lines in west-central and north-western Alberta. This will be used to determine how regeneration and other attributes of seismic lines affects use of these features by alternate prey (moose, deer, and elk) that attract caribou predators, and to identify seismic lines that are on a trajectory towards natural recovery versus those that will need active restoration.

We will use these new data to further refine priority seismic lines for reclamation identified through our previous HSP-funded work (empirical analysis of caribou, caribou predator, and human response to regenerating seismic lines). Ultimately, we will provide land managers with GIS-based maps of seismic lines in west-central and north-western Alberta prioritized for reclamation that maximise benefits for caribou, and that maximise the efficacy of restoration efforts. 

This project has been developed in collaboration with resource users within caribou ranges, and continual outreach activities (workshops, website updates, documents) throughout the project will make available the tools produced by this project for management and reclamation plans across the range of these five caribou herds. This will ensure that reclamation of caribou habitat is based upon science, and also that restoration effort is directed to areas are the most beneficial for caribou.