Province moves ahead on sustainable forest management

Kevin Aylward, Minister of Forest Resources and Agrifoods, is pleased with the progress that the department is making in developing provincial criteria and indicators for sustainable forest management for Newfoundland and Labrador.

In response to today's release by the Canadian Council of Forest Ministers (CCFM) of the Criteria and Indicators of Sustainable Forest Management in Canada - the technical report and the 'popular' version, Mr. Aylward confirmed the progress made by the province to ensure that local indicators can be effectively used in the district forest management planning taking place throughout the province.

"It is very significant that the forest ministers across Canada endorsed a common understanding of sustainable forest management by identifying the key values that Canadians wish to sustain and enhance," said Mr. Aylward, chair of CCFM. "My department is now moving ahead to refine these values to reflect the place of the forest in the lives of Newfoundlanders and Labradorians. We are aiming to bring our own regional and local criteria and indicators to the public in early 1998, and I would emphasize that public consultation will continue to be a vital component of this process."

The province will expand on the framework provided by CCFM which recognizes that: (1) forests need to be managed as ecosystems; (2) forests provide a wide range of environmental, economic and social benefits; (3) forest management needs to evolve to reflect the best available knowledge and information; and, (4) public information and involvement is important in promoting sustainable forest management.

The two documents released today by CCFM were initiated in 1993, as an outcome of the endorsement of a national forest strategy, Sustainable Forests: A Canadian Commitment. The Criteria and Indicators were developed in a transparent, open and inclusive process involving officials and scientists from the federal, provincial and territorial governments, as well as experts from the academic community, industry, non-government organizations, the Aboriginal community, and various other public interest groups.

1997 10 02

4:40 p.m.

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