Seventy-two million hectares of Canadian forest will be safe from unsustainable logging practices under a deal reached by timber companies and environmentalists. Supporters hope the Canadian Boreal Forest Agreement will not only protect indigenous bio-diversity, but set a standard for forest-protection models around the world.
Logging will be totally banned on some of the land, in the hope of sustaining endangered caribou populations. Timber companies hope the deal will bring commercial gains, as timber buyers seek higher ethical standards.
The total protected area is about twice the size of Germany, and equals the area of forest lost globally between 1990 and 2005.
“The importance of this agreement cannot be overstated,” said Avrim Lazar, president and CEO of the Forest Products Association of Canada (FPAC). “We’re thrilled that this effort has led to the largest commercial forest conservation plan in history.”
The Canadian Boreal Forest Agreement (CBFA) brings together FPAC’s 21 member companies and nine environment groups, many of which have fought a bitter battle against what they have sometimes criticised as rapacious logging.
Throughout the protected lands – which run right across the country from the Pacific to the Atlantic coasts – companies and environment groups are pledging to work together to implement “world-leading forest management and harvesting practices”.
The effects of forest protection on wildlife, particularly caribou, will be monitored; and timber will be certified as coming from sustainable sources.
To read a BBC report, see http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/science_and_environment/10123210.stm.