          
DID YOU KNOW...Pine, spruce, aspen, poplar and larch trees dominate the forestlands of Canada's Boreal. |
Media CentrePress Releases2003Time is now to conserve Canada's boreal forest, Report shows little progress since 1999June 23, 2003 - Ottawa Time is running out for Canada to conserve one of the world's largest remaining intact forest ecosystems. A June 1999 Canadian Senate report called for action to conserve Canada's boreal forest because it is "increasingly under siege". But a review of progress since then shows that the major thrust of the Senate recommendations have not been acted upon, even though pressure to develop the remaining intact portions of Canada's boreal forest continues to grow. The Boreal Forest at Risk: A Progress Report was released today by the Canadian Boreal Initiative (CBI), established earlier this year to promote better scientific understanding, conservation and management of Canada's vast boreal forest ecosystem. "Canada has one of the few remaining opportunities to conserve what amounts to one-quarter of the world's remaining large forests. While it's not too late to move on the Senate report's recommendations, if governments don't act now, the fate of Canada's boreal region will be determined on a piece meal basis," says Cathy Wilkinson, Director of the CBI. Covering more than six million square kilometres ranging from coast to coast across the centre of Canada, the boreal forest region has irreplaceable ecological values. It is one of the world's largest sources of fresh water, it filters our air, and it moderates our climate by storing carbon in its soils and vegetation. In addition to about 1.4 million people - mainly First Nations -- hundreds of wildlife species, including at least three billion of North America's birds, live in the region. "There are both short-term and long-term concrete actions that governments can take to conserve Canada's boreal forest. We need to act now, before new development decisions are made about large portions of Canada's boreal region that are still intact. More than 30% of the boreal forest has already been allocated for industrial development, much of it in the past decade," says Wilkinson. "The most important item to move on is an agenda for land use planning that will place conservation at the forefront. Governments need to work with local communities, industry and conservation groups to make this happen," adds Wilkinson. Examples of immediate action that governments can take to follow up on the Senate report include completing the network of representative protected areas across Canada that was promised by 2000. The recent World Wildlife Fund Nature Audit estimates that less than half of this network is in place. Governments should also move immediately to address their obligations regarding land and Aboriginal peoples, and to improve monitoring of wildlife species. Related Backgrounders
-30- For more information: |
| Contact Us Links FAQs |
 |
 |
 |
