Congratulations to Forest Ethics!

Letter from Forest Ethics, May 18, 2010
Greetings,

Today will go down in history as the day the largest conservation initiative in the world was announced. And we are proud to say that it's happening right here in Canada.

ForestEthics and eight other environmental organizations have just signed a historic agreement with the Canadian forest industry to conserve our precious Boreal Forest and critical woodland caribou habitat. It starts with a three-year moratorium on logging across more than 29 million hectares--an area the size of New Zealand. Now, it's time to get to work developing lasting protection proposals for the Boreal Forest, woodland caribou, and our climate.

To all of our longtime supporters in BC, this is your legacy: The Great Bear Rainforest Agreement set a powerful example that directly influenced today's announcement.

But this ambitious initiative will only come to fruition if the Canadian public takes on an active role. Will you help make sure this agreement is successful? Take the pledge to become a Boreal Watchdog, and send your encouragement to the corporate leaders of the logging industry now.

Like the Great Bear Rainforest, Canada's Boreal Forest is critical to the health of our communities, environment, and climate. It filters our air and water, provides habitat to millions of songbirds and species at risk like woodland caribou, and absorbs and sequesters millions of tonnes of carbon. Until this agreement, the Boreal Forest has been logged at a rate equivalent to two acres a minute, 24 hours a day, every day of the year.

Make no mistake, this agreement is a game-changer. Logging in caribou habitat is now on hold on in more than 29 million hectares while concrete plans to protect woodland caribou habitat and other important regions of the Boreal Forest are jointly developed by environmental groups and the Forest Products Association of Canada (FPAC) and presented to governments. This agreement also includes a commitment from FPAC to minimize their carbon footprint and to jointly develop and adopt best practices for all forestry operations.

Almost ten years ago, conservation groups and the logging industry in BC decided to work together to end the controversy over logging the Great Bear Rainforest. Now, we're embarking on an even larger conservation initiative--to protect the vast Boreal Forest, which spans across Canada.

The scale of this agreement is unprecedented, and has the potential to conserve one of the world's last remaining intact forests before it's too late. Getting from truce-agreement to conservation on the ground will require the support--and watchful eyes--of all those who care about woodland caribou and the Boreal Forest.

Become a Boreal Watchdog now, and make sure industry, the Canadian government, and the world knows we're committed to seeing this through.

Thank you for being a part of something truly amazing.

Sincerely,

Candace Batycki
Director of Forest Programs
ForestEthics