The agreement in the Great Bear Rainforest – and the
unprecedented consensus among industry, ForestEthics, Greenpeace,
the Sierra Club of Canada-BC Chapter, First Nations, governments
and local communities that made it possible – marks a watershed
event in modern conservation and recognizes that a sustainable
economy is vital to a sustainable environment.
Private funds will flow to a conservation endowment fund,
dedicated solely to conservation management, science and
stewardship jobs in First Nations’ communities. Public funds will
be used for investments in ecologically-sustainable business
ventures within First Nations’ territories or communities.
“Today we have secured the largest integrated conservation
investment package in North American history” said Scott Paul of
Greenpeace. “Once again all eyes are on Canada’s Great Bear
Rainforest and our innovative, precedent-setting approach to
protecting the environment.”
The Great Bear Rainforest is part of the largest coastal
temperate rainforest remaining on Earth and supports some of the
oldest surviving cultures in the Western Hemisphere. The lands and
waters support wolves, six million migratory birds, grizzly bears,
black bears, rare white Spirit bears and First Nations’ communities
that have lived here for more than 10,000 years.
“Today’s announcement completes the holistic model of
conservation in the Great Bear Rainforest,” said Lisa Matthaus,
Campaigns Director, Sierra Club of Canada, BC Chapter. “Coastal
communities can finally move forward to create meaningful,
sustainable solutions for their people and the environment they
depend upon.”
The funding announcement supports agreements to create a lasting
model of conservation in the Great Bear Rainforest by formally
protecting 5 million acres from logging and placing more than 19
million acres under strict land management guidelines called
ecosystem based management by 2009. Making these agreements real on
the ground and shifting logging practices remains the next big
challenge.
“The challenges of our age require innovative approaches that
place a premium on a healthy environment. With today’s announcement
we’re proving that conservation can attract investment and actually
support jobs that won’t threaten the living systems that we depend
upon,” said Merran Smith, BC Coast Program Director,
ForestEthics.
For the last two years, The Nature Conservancy and a core group
of U.S. and Canadian foundations including The William and Flora
Hewlett Foundation, The Gordon and Betty Moore Foundation, David
and Lucile Packard Foundation, The Rockefeller Brothers Fund,
Wilburforce Foundation and Tides Canada Foundation have together
raised more than $58 million (USD) in private, philanthropic
funding to conserve the Great Bear Rainforest.
“The economic challenges facing the people of the Great Bear
Rainforest are as important to address as the area’s conservation
challenges,” said Steve McCormick, President and CEO of The Nature
Conservancy. “Protected areas are vital to the future of the Great
Bear Rainforest, yet they alone are not enough to ensure the
long-term survival of the rainforest and the human and natural
communities within it. The establishment of this public-private
fund is a global model of what conservation must become – an
inherent part of economies, environments and cultures.”
VVPR info: [email protected]
Exp. contact date: 2007-02-21 00:00:00
