Mr. Martel, let's talk about the facts.
The fact is that there is only one subspecies of caribou in Quebec and that is the woodland caribou. There are three ecotypes of this subspecies: the migratory caribou, which is found further north; the boreal caribou, which is found in the forest; and the mountain caribou, which are found in mountainous regions. These ecotypes have been defined and classified by biologists according to the environment or location in which the caribou live. Such is the reality of the only subspecies that exists in Quebec. It bears repeating because it is important to understand that.
For the boreal caribou, the one that lives in the forest, it is important to look at the different census information and data that have been collected since 2013. I am thinking about the ones included in the boreal caribou recovery plan, the data published by the Gélinas commission and the data from the report produced in 2022 by the Équipe de rétablissement du caribou forestier du Québec, the recovery team. This data indicates a relative stability in the boreal caribou ecotype between 2013 and 2023. Again, I am talking about the boreal caribou ecotype.
I would like to mention another key aspect regarding the boreal caribou ecotype. The last census helped shed light on the fact that 80% of individuals counted are in protected areas that are already dedicated to their protection, or in the northern part of the northern limit where there is no forestry harvest or forest management intervention.
The picture of the boreal caribou ecotype is much more nuanced. On the one hand, there is the fact that there is only one subspecies in Quebec. On the other hand, there is the situation of the boreal caribou ecotype. The enumeration of the entire subspecies helps put into perspective the fact that the subspecies is not threatened in Quebec.