Environmental groups and forest products companies that signed the Canadian Boreal Forest Agreement say significant strides have been made in implementing the accord.
Signatories have established a secretariat to co-ordinate the ecological and market agendas of national and regional working groups, convened an independent science advisory team, and intensified outreach efforts with aboriginal groups, provincial and municipal governments, and interested stakeholders.
Major international customers of Boreal forest products representing more than C$140bn in revenue are supporting the agreement through the recently set up Boreal Business Forum, and the agreement’s first independent assessment of progress by auditing firm KPMG is under way.
Regional working groups are looking at conservation planning in Alberta, Quebec and Ontario.
Original commitments to suspend logging in 29 million hectares of boreal forest, representing virtually all of the habitat of woodland caribou in company tenures and to cease do-not-buy and boycott campaigns have been upheld. These both are creating the space for joint conservation planning.
“It has been an amazing year,” said Avrim Lazar, president and CEO of the Forest Products Association of Canada FPAC.
“Together with environmentalists, we are learning to take a pragmatic and productive problem-solving approach towards integrating the economic and environmental challenges in the Boreal Forest.
“This unprecedented agreement is serving as a shining example to other industries and countries that there can be a win-win rather than win-lose approach to resolve difficult issues.”
