Canadian Parks and Wilderness Society (CPAWS)

Background

In May 2010, twenty-one forestry companies and nine leading environmental organizations signed the Canadian Boreal Forest Agreement, a three-year conservation accord covering 72 million hectares of Canada’s boreal forest – an area larger than Texas containing some of the world’s last remaining intact forest landscapes. The agreement temporarily halted logging on 27 million hectares of caribou habitat, and suspended the campaigns dissuading customers from purchasing Boreal forestry products that cost industry an estimated $200 million, and vaulted Canada to the forefront of sustainable forestry globally.

The environmental signatories (ENGOs) to the Boreal agreement are: Canadian Boreal Initiative, Canadian Parks and Wilderness Society, Canopy, David Suzuki Foundation, ForestEthics, Greenpeace, The Nature Conservancy, Pew Environmental Group International Boreal Conservation Campaign, and Ivey Foundation.

After decades of conflict pitting environmental organizations against forestry companies in Canada, an agreement has been reached which dramatically alters this relationship. Taking a whole-systems approach to land use issues, the recently signed Canadian Boreal Forest Agreement (CBFA) binds formerly opposed stakeholders in a win-win arrangement. It is a framework agreement which has placed a moratorium on logging in ecologically sensitive areas and suspended ENGO campaigns against participating companies while the parties negotiate full scale implementation. Intensive negotiations will identify specific forest areas across Canada and put in place the means to protect them.

Grant Description

The grant will provide support for effective ENGO participation in negotiations and implementation of the CBFA across five regions of the Canadian Boreal Forest, and on five overarching goals for the agreement. Maximizing the conservation gains under the agreement will require a high degree of coordination between the ongoing “outside” work with markets and governments and the “inside” work of negotiating under the agreement. A coordinating ENGO secretariat will ensure that work in each area is consistent with the overall objectives of the CBFA and will provide troubleshooting support where needed.

CPAWS

Visit cpaws.org for more information

Overview

  • 2010-2013
  • $ 450,000
  • Funding Type: Past Initiatives
  • Initiatives: General contributions