BC Forest Product Companies Examine Conservation-Based Management

Newsbriefs

An unusual collaboration among British Columbian forest products companies and environmental groups will examine

conservation-based ecosystem management of temperate rainforests. Four of the largest timber companies in BC (Canadian Forest Products, Fletcher Challenge Canada, Western Forest Products, and Weyerhaeuser) will work with Greenpeace, the Sierra Club of British Columbia, the Rainforest Action Network (RAN), and the Coastal Rainforest Coalition. Under the collaboration, announced in late July, the groups will develop an ecosystem management framework that will encompass the range of ecological, cultural, and economic values found in the area. In a July 28 article in

Pulp and Paper Online, Greenpeace forest campaigner Catherine Stewart called the initiative “potentially a significant and precedent-setting step towards ending many years of conflict over forest management on the coast of British Columbia.”