The low number of predators and the frequent cool breeze off the ice covered Arctic Ocean, which keeps insects at bay, are just some of the characteristics that make this area worthy of a two-month-long 1000 km migration for the caribou. According to Environment Canada biologists, calf survival is eight to eleven per cent greater for calves born in the 1002 lands.

Experience with petroleum development at Prudhoe Bay indicates that calving caribou from the Central Arctic Herd avoid roads, pipelines and human activity. Such displacement from preferred calving locations can translate into a negative energy balance, resulting in lower calf survival and ultimately, lower productivity rates for the Porcupine Caribou Herd.

A Way of Life

The Gwich'in people, who live in settlements spread across the Northwest Territories, Yukon and Alaska, occupy the same lands as the Porcupine caribou herd. They have relied on this herd for sustenance and their way of life for millennia. Maintaining the herd is essential to maintaining the way of life of the Gwich'in people. The calving grounds have always been held sacred by the Gwich'in and there has been an understanding within the Gwich'in community that no disturbance or hunting should take place in that area. The Gwich'in people have a longstanding taboo against even visiting the area.

In Canada, the Porcupine Caribou Management Board, the Gwich'in Steering Committee, and Renewable Resource Councils in each Gwich'in community have been working to ensure the long-term survival of the herd. These native-led and co-management organizations facilitate research, set and track harvest levels, monitor the health of the herd, advise governments on management practices, and lobby for conservation of key caribou habitat.

According to the Porcupine Caribou Management Board, harvest levels by both native and non-native hunters continue to stay within the sustainable range of three to five per cent of the total population. However, development is expected to cause an increase in disturbance and displacement of calving caribou, upsetting a delicate balance and ultimately causing a decline in caribou productivity.

This is why Canada opposes drilling for oil and gas in the most sensitive portion of the herd's range. Canada has long encouraged the United States to provide permanent wilderness protection for the 1002 lands in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge.

A Changing World

The world is changing before our eyes. People have altered ecosystems more in the past 50 years than in any other time in human history. And, the trend is continuing.

Many ecosystem changes have been essential to meeting globally growing needs for food and water: they have helped reduce the proportion of malnourished people and improve human health. However, ecosystem manipulation has also caused significant environmental damage and reduced the Earth's long-term ability to meet essential needs.

The world's poorest people are already being left behind; continuing to be malnourished, living with curable diseases and suffering the immediate consequences of failing ecosystem services.

Millennium Ecosystem Assessment
The United Nations convened the Millennium Ecosystem Assessment between 2000 and 2005 to review the consequences of ecosystem change for human well-being and to establish the scientific basis for necessary improvements to conservation and sustainable use of ecosystems worldwide. Using knowledge held by the private sector, scientists, local communities and indigenous peoples, the assessment's 2000-plus authors and reviewers synthesized, collated, and evaluated existing research on ecosystems worldwide.

The assessment focuses on the links between ecosystems and human well-being and, in particular, on "ecosystem services." An ecosystem is a dynamic complex of plant, animal and microorganism communities and the nonliving environment interacting as a functional unit. Ecosystem services are the benefits people obtain from ecosystems. These include provisioning services such as food, water, timber and fiber; regulating services that affect climate, floods, disease, wastes, and water quality; cultural services that provide recreational, aesthetic, and spiritual benefits; and supporting services such as soil formation, photosynthesis, and nutrient cycling.

The Past Few Decades
Humans are fundamentally changing the Earth as we know it. Farmed areas now cover one quarter of the Earth's landscape. Reservoirs hold three to six times as much water as natural rivers. And, 20 per cent of coral reefs have been lost along with 35 per cent of mangrove area. When it comes to species, all regions of the world are becoming more and more similar to one another because of increased travel and shipping of species. At the same time human activity is causing unprecedented species extinction so that there are fewer types of species on the planet.
Fast Facts:

The Millennium Ecosystem Assessment focuses on "ecosystem services" and the links between ecosystems and human well-being.

Between 1960 and 2000, the world population doubled to 6 billion people and the global economy increased by more than six times.

Roughly 1.7 million people die annually as a result of inadequate water, sanitation, and hygiene.

Increased incidence of floods and droughts, and rising sea levels are expected as global temperatures rise 2.0-6.4 °C.

Industrial fishing has brought on a 90 per cent reduction in commercial fish in much of the world.