Caribou Guardians
In a cramped cabin in western Canada, Starr Gauthier’s mornings begin with a comforting routine. As the sun flits through stands of mountain evergreens, she brews coffee, chops wood and prepares food – for her co-worker and for the endangered caribou whose fate rests in her hands. “I get fired up every morning knowing that we’re actually doing something that matters,” says the former oil worker.
“And it’s not just that we’re serving a purpose for our community and the ecosystem around us. We’re serving a global purpose. And I’m grateful to be a part of that,” she says as she refills a trough with hand-collected lichen for the caribou in the maternity pen.
Gauthier, a member of the Saulteau First Nation in British Columbia, is part of an Indigenous-led effort that has saved a caribou herd from destruction. The group’s success in using a carefully guarded maternity pen has become an example for Indigenous communities grappling with the catastrophic loss of biodiversity.
The pen, in a forest along the slopes of the Selkirk mountains, is surrounded by about 1.5km (1 mile) of black geofabric wall and protected by two layers of electrified fencing. Inside, a ridge runs down the middle, dividing the enclosure into a wide meadow and an area of thick forest.
Photography for Reuters. Read the complete story at The Guardian.com
