18. Biodiversity of Canadian Forests
371
"Caracas declaration" resulting from the Fourth World Congress on
National Parks and Protected Areas in 1992, and innumerable national
reports and strategies. Several initiatives of particular relevance for
forestry having global , as well as national and local, applicability are
briefly reviewed below.
International
The United Nations Convention on Biodiversity, which was signed by
more than 150 nations at the "Earth Summit" in Rio de Janeiro in 1992
and came into force in Decemeber 1993, calls for the development of
national strategies for biodiversity. The Convention is legally binding on
all parties to it, and the possibility exists for negotiation of protocols
dealing with specific issues. Forestry is one issue that may be subject to
such a protocol. Canada is actively pursuing this goal through the development of jurisdictional (federal and provincial) and sectoral plans, including forestry. The National Forest Sector Strategy (Canadian Council
of Forest Ministers , 1992) concentrates heavily on biodiversity , and will
form a basis for the forest component of the national Biodiversity
Strategy.
Various other international initiatives, while not legally binding, serve
to focus attention on biodiversity and serve as a framework for action.
The World Conservation Union (IUCN), in partnership with UNEP and
the World Wide Fund for Nature (WWF), has published Caring for the
Earth: A Strategy for Sustainable Living (World Conservation Union et
aI., 1991). The document constitutes a development of the World Conservation Strategy, published by the same agencies in 1980. Chapter
14 deals with forest lands, and lists 10 "Action Items," which include
establishing a comprehensive system of protected natural forests, increasing national capacity to manage forests sustainably; adopting environmental policies that protect ecological services and biodiversity; and
expanding efforts to conserve forest genetic resources.
The World Resources Institute (WRI), in partnership with IUCN and
UNEP, has also produced the Global Biodiversity Strategy (World Resources Institute et aI., 1991), following a number of consultative meeting
with governments, industrial, and nongovermental organizations around
the world. The strategy is obviously closely related to Caring for the
Earth , with two of the three partners also responsible for the latter
document. However, while Caring for the Earth deals with all aspects of
sustainable living, the Global Biodiversity Strategy covers specifically
the conservation of biodiversity. The strategy notes that among the
fundamental causes of biodiversity loss are the steadily narrowing spectrum
of traded products, economic systems and policies that fail to value the
enviroment and its resources, deficiencies in knowledge and its application ,
and legal and institutional systems that promote unsustainable exploitation.
371
"Caracas declaration" resulting from the Fourth World Congress on
National Parks and Protected Areas in 1992, and innumerable national
reports and strategies. Several initiatives of particular relevance for
forestry having global , as well as national and local, applicability are
briefly reviewed below.
International
The United Nations Convention on Biodiversity, which was signed by
more than 150 nations at the "Earth Summit" in Rio de Janeiro in 1992
and came into force in Decemeber 1993, calls for the development of
national strategies for biodiversity. The Convention is legally binding on
all parties to it, and the possibility exists for negotiation of protocols
dealing with specific issues. Forestry is one issue that may be subject to
such a protocol. Canada is actively pursuing this goal through the development of jurisdictional (federal and provincial) and sectoral plans, including forestry. The National Forest Sector Strategy (Canadian Council
of Forest Ministers , 1992) concentrates heavily on biodiversity , and will
form a basis for the forest component of the national Biodiversity
Strategy.
Various other international initiatives, while not legally binding, serve
to focus attention on biodiversity and serve as a framework for action.
The World Conservation Union (IUCN), in partnership with UNEP and
the World Wide Fund for Nature (WWF), has published Caring for the
Earth: A Strategy for Sustainable Living (World Conservation Union et
aI., 1991). The document constitutes a development of the World Conservation Strategy, published by the same agencies in 1980. Chapter
14 deals with forest lands, and lists 10 "Action Items," which include
establishing a comprehensive system of protected natural forests, increasing national capacity to manage forests sustainably; adopting environmental policies that protect ecological services and biodiversity; and
expanding efforts to conserve forest genetic resources.
The World Resources Institute (WRI), in partnership with IUCN and
UNEP, has also produced the Global Biodiversity Strategy (World Resources Institute et aI., 1991), following a number of consultative meeting
with governments, industrial, and nongovermental organizations around
the world. The strategy is obviously closely related to Caring for the
Earth , with two of the three partners also responsible for the latter
document. However, while Caring for the Earth deals with all aspects of
sustainable living, the Global Biodiversity Strategy covers specifically
the conservation of biodiversity. The strategy notes that among the
fundamental causes of biodiversity loss are the steadily narrowing spectrum
of traded products, economic systems and policies that fail to value the
enviroment and its resources, deficiencies in knowledge and its application ,
and legal and institutional systems that promote unsustainable exploitation.