The Canadian Boreal Forest Agreement (CBFA) is a collaborative, multi-year agreement that was signed in 2010 by major Canadian forest companies and environmental groups. The agreement commits signatories to achieving strategic goals that address both environmental and economic sustainability in the boreal forest. The geographic scope of the agreement spans more than 72 million hectares of boreal forest across Canada.
Canfor and Canfor Pulp remain committed to the Canadian Boreal Forest Agreement, both at the national level and with regional work in Alberta and British Columbia where we operate.
The CBFA commissioned a study to understand the barriers and opportunities to developing and implementing world-leading forestry practices – one of its key goals. The resulting status report, released in August 2014, showed that resource stewardship can be improved an ecosystem-based management approach where industries integrate their activities and share information.
The status report cited examples of best practices from our forest operations. For example, in Tree Farm Licence 48 in northern BC, we have retained higher amounts of wildlife trees -- 14 % of the area harvested since 1995. We also use the BC government’s EcoGen Predictive Ecosystem Model to manage wildlife habitat, biodiversity and forest productivity in the licence area.
Our staff are active in the Alberta and British Columbia regional working group, and the current work plan is focusing on an area in west central Alberta, which includes a portion of our Grande Prairie Forest Management Area. It is one of the most challenging landscapes in Canada, and will require creative outcomes to be successful.
Canfor also participates on the national working groups including Goal 1 Forest Practices, which recently reached a significant milestone by agreement on an approach to implementing the natural range of variation.
At the International Union for Conservation of Nature World Parks Congress in November, environmental consultant Wynet Smith described the agreement as a model of how collaboration among industry, conservationists and government can achieve environmental and economic objectives.