Great Bear Rainforest Becomes Legacy for the World

At this time of incredible economic and environmental upheaval, it is an inspiration to know there is now a place on the planet where white Spirit Bears will continue to roam amidst 1000-year-old trees. The Great Bear Rainforest is a forest that is second-to-none in both its ecological diversity and the amount of carbon locked in its trees and soil. It's also a place where local First Nations communities have the chance for a prosperous and sustainable future.

A tremendous amount of effort has gone into creating this legacy - a legacy that allows environmental values and economic needs to work together, rather than against each other.

Canopy is proud of the roles its many partnerships have played in helping secure this iconic place. Over the past ten years Canopy has worked closely with our environmental allies to secure protection in the Great Bear Rainforest. We have engaged many of our publishing and print partners to encourage the BC government, as well as pulp and paper producers in the region to reach the GBR Agreement, and in more recent years, to actually live up to that commitment. Over the past ten years, many of the companies we work with have participated in this campaign. Today we're all part of protecting this globally significant rainforest and the species that call it home.

As part of the Great Bear Rainforest Agreement:

- 2.1 million hectares of British Columbia's Great Bear Rainforest has been formally protected

- $120 million in new financing is already flowing into local and First Nations communities to kick start new conservation economies in the region

- Regulations set for ecosystem-based management (or 'lighter touch logging') - these regulations put an additional 700,000 hectares of high value forests off limits to logging

Canopy will continue to work closely with our environmental allies to ensure that progress towards full implementation of eco-system based management continues over the next five years.

Photo: Andrew Wright

We would like to offer a heartfelt congratulations to our environmental colleagues in Rainforest Solutions Project, ForestEthics, Greenpeace and Sierra Club for all of their incredible work. Likewise, congratulations to the BC government, First Nations governments and the five forestry businesses (Coast Forest Conservation Initiative) for their contributions towards this historic environmental and social achievement.

December 10, 2009 Update:

NEARly One million hectares of Great Bear Rainforest now certified sustainable

Today forest companies operating in the world's largest intact tract of coastal temperate rainforest took the next step in gaining marketplace recognition for their products. Already signatories to the internationally renowned Great Bear Rainforest Agreement, Western Forest Products, Interfor and BC Timber Sales, supported by pulp and paper producers Catalyst Paper and Howe Sound Pulp and Paper (partly owned by Canfor) have gained Forest Stewardship Council Certification (FSC). Building on the legal protection of a third of the region and critical first steps towards implementing Ecosystem-based Management across the land-base, a portion of operations for these companies now have the stamp of approval from FSC. FSC is the only forest certification system currently endorsed by environmental and indigenous organizations.

Canopy has worked closely to support the cutting edge work of Greenpeace, ForestEthics and Sierra Club in their efforts to protect the Great Bear Rainforest. Full implementation of the Great Bear Rainforest Agreements is expected by 2014. We look forward to FSC certification of all products from the region in the future as the agreements become a reality on the ground.