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Haida Gwaii
Vancouver, B.C.—Environmental groups ForestEthics, Greenpeace and Sierra Club of Canada, BC Chapter today welcomed the announcement of a new land use plan for Haida Gwaii.
FOR
IMMEDIATE RELEASE
December 12, 2007
Vancouver, B.C.—Environmental groups ForestEthics, Greenpeace and Sierra Club of Canada, BC Chapter today welcomed the announcement of a new land use plan for Haida Gwaii. The Plan is the outcome of several years of negotiations between the Council of Haida Nation and the Province of B.C.
The new agreement will double the amount of protected areas and apply Ecosystem-based Management on Haida Gwaii, part of the Great Bear Rainforest.
The
islands, off B.C.’s North Coast, have been heavily logged in the past, and the
announcement is a critical first step in ensuring the ecological integrity of this
globally unique part of the world.
The protected areas network and the full implementation of EBM on Haida Gwaii will see the establishment of plans and on-the-ground results that are internationally credible, improve ecological integrity and promote human well-being through the development of a conservation based economy.
With approximately half of the islands area protected the Haida land use plan reaches an exemplary level of protection in BC and shows unique leadership. The agreement provides an important opportunity to explore ways to share learnings from the implementation of EBM in other parts of the Great Bear Rainforest. That agreement was announced in February 2006 and would see the full implementation of EBM, guided by the EBM Handbook, on B.C.’s Central and North Coasts by March 31, 2009.
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For more information, please contact
Valerie Langer, ForestEthics (604-307-6448)
Lisa Matthaus, Sierra Club of Canada, BC Chapter (250-888-6267)
Stephanie Goodwin, Greenpeace (604-761-6722)