Report Underscores Urgent Need for Decisive Action to Conserve Canada’s Boreal Region
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Industrial Development Proposals Leave Canada’s Boreal Region At Risk
The vast and intact state of Canada’s Boreal region makes it the world’s greatest conservation opportunity says a new report by the Canadian Boreal Initiative. According to The Boreal in the Balance: Securing the Future of Canada’s Boreal Region, this important region faces an uncertain future because expanding industrial development proposals are outpacing conservation efforts in certain parts of the vast region.
The CBI report is the first-ever national report to examine the status of boreal conservation activities related to land use planning, Aboriginal rights, protected areas, sustainable development, and research.
“Canada can be a world conservation leader – but our opportunity is time- limited,” said CBI Director Cathy Wilkinson. “There is an urgent need to plan first, before development decisions are made,” she said. “We can both protect the ecological and cultural values of this world treasure, and accommodate world-class sustainable development. All sectors need to work together to ensure we still have this opportunity in the years to come.”
The study highlights the Mackenzie Valley, northern Saskatchewan, the East Side of Lake Winnipeg, and Labrador as areas of greatest potential for conservation-based planning in advance of new industrial developments, and points to the key role of Aboriginal people in developing innovative conservation models across the country.
“Our ancestors and elders have always recognized the importance of the Boreal region to the health and well-being of our planet and all people. For thousands of years, they looked after our Traditional Territory to ensure that future generations will have a healthy life,” said the Poplar River First Nation. “We welcome this report that shows the urgent need for Canada to conserve this region. We have the opportunity now to stop the trend of destroying our environment and the Human destruction that follows. We also welcome the recognition and respect shown to our elders and their knowledge and to the importance of First Nations taking the lead role in planning for lands protection or true sustainable development within their traditional territories.”
The study documents the national and global ecological importance of the vast region, including its key role in mitigating the impacts of climate change, and its importance to Aboriginal people, northern communities, and the country as a whole.
“Canada’s Boreal region is a conservation opportunity on an unprecedented scale. Our challenge is to reverse the traditional conservation paradigm by considering conservation needs before, not after, development decisions have been made,” said Dr. Fiona Schmiegelow of the University of Alberta, whose work is noted in the report. “Putting conservation first means thinking differently, and more ambitiously, than ever before.”
In its survey of sustainable development efforts across the region, the report identifies those in the forestry sector who are leading the development and adoption of world-class resource management practices, such as those of the Forest Stewardship Council (FSC). It calls on others in the forestry sector, and in other industries to establish and adopt such standards.
“Domtar is proud to participate in a conservation process that aims at prior identification of boreal forest values, and at securing the scientifically-appropriate degree of protection for them,” said William George, Vice-President Branding, Marketing and Corporate Communication Domtar Inc. “We are committed as well to maintaining and expanding Forest Stewardship Council certifications of its forest lands and mills, consistent with the Boreal Forest Conservation Framework objectives around world-class forestry practices within the managed portions of the boreal forest.”
The report details how decisions about the future of the region are already being made through land use planning proposed or underway in over 60% of the Boreal and calls for these and all land use planning processes to be comprehensive and based on scientific and traditional ecological knowledge. It notes that less than 10 percent of the region is currently protected from industrial development.
“The need for governments to become involved and provide leadership with the conservation of Canada’s boreal is increasingly urgent, particularly given the incredible amount of fresh water that lies within the vast region,” said Gary Stewart, manager of conservation programs for Ducks Unlimited Canada’s Western Boreal Program. “Over a third of this great forest is water and wetlands critical to migratory birds, global climate and human health,” he said. “We need to continue to expand balanced conservation efforts that are guided by science and traditional knowledge and ensure the maintenance of critical boreal ecosystem functions like water quality and supply.”
@ January 31, 2005