Save The ‘Bou

<—- Yes, this image loaded correctly. Yes, it’s a quarter. And yes, it’s missing the all-too-familiar Caribou. And that’s the point.

Save the ‘Bou is a great campaign by a collection of organizations to get 5,000 emails sent to the Office of the Premier in Ontario, calling for the protection of Woodland Caribou. 5,000 also happens to be the number of Woodland Caribou that remain in the Southern Boreal Forest of Ontario.

Herds of Woodland Caribou used to stretch across the North American Taiga region, from Alaska to Newfoundland, and as far south as Washington. Yes, that means they used to run rampant across BC, but when was the last time you saw a caribou around? In fact, the Cariboo district, (you know, that whole middle section of this province) is named after the once abundant numbers of the beautiful animal that used to roam the area.

Incidentally, I started wondering if I had ever seen a Caribou ‘live-and-in-person’, and then I remembered this picture of myself as a young tike while on a road trip through Alberta with my Dad. (Oct 29 Update – I’ve been informed this is actually an elk! Both elk and caribou are members of the deer family, and look fairly similar, but just goes to show you how much I know )

Now, according to Wikipedia, A herd still lives in Alberta, and in other regions their chance of survival is diminishing due to threats like commercial logging. Such is the case Ontario’s Southern Boreal Forest.

So that’s what this campaign is about, and all you need to do is sign a pre-written letter for Premier Dalton McGuinty. It only takes about 30 seconds so do it! Right now, they’re at about 1000 emails, which means 4,000 to go in a short time.

Feel Good Click of the Day: 5000 Emails for 5000 Caribou

That’s what a new online campaign titled, “Save the Bou,” is hoping to achieve in Ontario by December 31, 2009.

The same Woodland Caribou that appears on the quarter in your pocket is quickly disappearing from the southern Boreal Forest of Ontario (just 5000 remaining), despite a promise from Premier McGuinty, over two years ago, to protect the animal’s habitat.

Don’t Be Shallow

Social media is often accused of being shallow and all about self-affirmation, well why not go deep and affirm the right of Ontario’s Woodland caribou to survive by sending an email to Premier McGuinty today, directly from the petition page (www.savethebou.ca) before joining our Facebook community at www.facebook/savethebou and tweeting your good deed (there’s the self-affirmation part!) and hopefully re-tweeting the campaign’s feed at www.twitter.com/savethebou. Remember to invite interested friends to become fans of the FB page.

Save Caribou and Protect Our Climate

Canada’s Boreal Forest is the largest terrestrial storehouse of carbon on earth, making it a vital regulator of global climate. When caribou habitat is logged, carbon is released into the atmosphere. When caribou habitat is preserved, trees and soil can absorb more carbon and keep it in the ground where it belongs. A 50% reduction in logging in the Boreal would reduce global warming pollution equivalent to taking all the passenger cars in Canada off the road.

An Early Christmas Present For Ontario’s Caribou?

With only 5000 caribou left, and 76 days remaining before the end of 2009, every day that passes without a credible caribou conservation strategy means another flip of the coin for the survival of Ontario’s caribou. If Premier McGuinty isn’t persuaded to do the right thing by Dec. 31st, new logging plans for caribou habitat will be drafted in the new year and that means more logging and fewer caribou by this time next year.   Give these critters an early Christmas present.

Every little click helps!