CPAWS welcomes commitment for FSC certification on all public lands in western Nova Scotia

Published on Mar 13 2015

(HALIFAX) – The Canadian Parks and Wilderness Society (CPAWS) welcomes the statement from the Minister of Natural Resources that the Nova Scotia government will attain Forest Stewardship Council (FSC) certification on all public lands in western Nova Scotia.

“This is an important commitment”, says Chris Miller, National Conservation Biologist for CPAWS. “FSC is the gold-standard for forestry certification systems and requires a high level of rigour and environmental performance to achieve.”

In late 2012, the Nova Scotia government acquired 220,000 hectares of private land in western Nova Scotia from Resolute Forest Products, known as the “former Bowater lands”.  At the moment, only one of the three districts is FSC certified, covering about 92,000 hectares of the Medway District.

CPAWS looks forward to working collaboratively with the Nova Scotia government as they apply for FSC certification.

“It’s important for the FSC certification process to be completed before the lands are leased to a consortium of forestry companies,” says Miller.  “Collectively, we must undertake a proper high conservation value forest assessment, as a first step, to better understand the ecosystem dynamics at play on these lands”.

To learn more about the importance of the FSC commitment for the western public lands, click here.

Contact:
Chris Miller, Ph.D.
National Conservation Biologist
Canadian Parks and Wilderness Society
cmiller@cpaws.org