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Released: 24 September, 2002
Dhaliwal Releases Forest Biodiversity Report
OTTAWA — Canada continues to make progress in
conserving the biodiversity of its forests. The Honourable Herb Dhaliwal,
Minister of Natural Resources Canada, today released Canada’s
Forest Biodiversity: A Decade of Progress in Sustainable Management,
following the Canadian Council of Forest Ministers’ meeting in Halifax.
“This report profiles how our forest community is meeting its
commitments on biodiversity,” said Minister Dhaliwal. “Canada
is the steward of ten percent of the world’s forests. We need to
keep assessing our performance to ensure that our forests remain diverse
and continue to contribute to our quality of life.”
The report presents Canada’s progress against the five goals of
the Canadian Biodiversity Strategy: conserving biodiversity and using
resources in a sustainable manner; improving understanding of ecosystems;
promoting the need for conservation; creating incentives to support biodiversity;
and working with other countries on conservation.
Canada has been successful in maintaining biodiversity in its forests
for several reasons: many of its forests are under public management,
they are located in remote northern regions and they are largely undeveloped.
The Canadian Biodiversity Strategy, the essence of which is reflected
in the National Forest Strategy, was developed in response to an agreement
reached in 1992 at the Earth Summit in Rio de Janeiro. The Convention
on Biological Diversity seeks to maintain the extent, diversity and health
of the world’s forests. Canada ratified the Convention in December
1992, the first industrialized country to do so.
“Biodiversity is an issue that touches many sectors and groups.
This report examines how the forest community promotes conservation and
sustainable management,” said Minister Dhaliwal. “The First
Nation Forestry Program and the Model Forest Network are examples of what
can be accomplished through partnerships and innovative approaches.”
Over the past decade, the forest community has built a framework to address
the fundamental issues of ensuring that the conservation of biological
resources is an integral component of forest management, and providing
adequate protection of wildlife. To do so, it has used geographic information
systems to create referenced inventories, and has helped develop biodiversity
objectives and monitoring protocols. In addition, the forest community
has focused on partnerships between sectors and jurisdictions, such as
the National Forest Strategy Coalition Group and the Model Forest Network,
that follow an ecosystem-based approach to forest management.
The release of this report follows the Sixth Conference of the Parties
to the Convention on Biological Diversity in April 2002. At that Conference,
Minister Dhaliwal proposed the establishment of national compliance mechanisms
to protect the biodiversity of the world’s forests. The report will
also prove useful in developing Canada’s new National Forest Strategy,
which will be presented at the 9th National Forest Congress
in Ottawa in May 2003, in advance of XII World Forestry Congress, which
Canada will host in Québec in September 2003.
This initiative builds upon the Government of Canada’s commitments
to supporting research and development, and to ensuring a clean, healthy
environment, which are essential elements of our quality of life.
Revised November 19, 2002
For information, media may contact:
Heather Bala
Director of Communications
Office of the Minister
Natural Resources Canada
Ottawa
(613) 996-7252
James Lévêque
Media Relations
Natural Resources Canada
Ottawa
(613) 992-4447
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