Please note that the draft Interim Guidance on Caribou will be made available in French, and a separate consultation period will be announced for comments on the French draft.
The impact of forest management practices on Species at Risk (SAR), including woodland caribou, has emerged as an issue of significant debate in Canada. Populations of woodland caribou are at varying degrees of risk and particularly sensitive to habitat disturbance. Considering the concern among many FSC customers and stakeholders regarding the impact of forestry operations on species at risk such as the woodland caribou, providing clear and consistent direction on this issue is of particular importance.
The National Boreal Standard was accredited by FSC International in August 2004, and will be revised once the new FSC Principles and Criteria are accepted by the FSC membership, which is anticipated to take place in 2011. It is recognized that during the review of the National Boreal Standard the requirements specific to species at risk will have to be revisited. In order to inform the National Boreal Standard Revisions process, in January 2010 the FSC Canada Board of Directors established a Science Panel to review the current Indicators in the Standard, and to prepare a publicly available peer-reviewed Report of Recommendations on potential changes to the Standard. The Science Panel’s Report of Recommendations was posted on the FSC Canada website for public comment in July 2010, and comments on the report were received from four organizations.
On November 2nd 2010, the members of FSC resident in Canada passed a motion that the Report of Recommendations by the Science Panel ("Caribou and the National Boreal Standard: Report of the FSC Canada Science Panel) “be used as the primary basis for immediately drafting interim guidance and incorporating practical indicators into the revised Canadian Boreal Standard”.
On January 18, 2011 the FSC Canada Board of Directors approved a Terms of Reference that outlines the requirements for developing interim Guidance on Species at Risk, specifically caribou for the National Boreal Standard (2004). As per this document, the Guidance on Species at Risk (caribou) must meet the following criteria:
- Guidance must consider the needs of Aboriginal, economic, environmental and social interests;
- Guidance must be in line with requirements of FSC-STD-20-002 (v3) ‘Structure, content and local adaptation of Generic Forest Stewardship Standards’;
- Guidance may not alter the language of Indictors in the accredited National Boreal Standard (2004);
- Guidance must strive to generate benefits to SAR (caribou) within the forest management unit over a reasonable period of time; and Guidance must include verifiers and sufficient detail to allow for consistent implementation and auditing of requirements.
FSC Canada would like your input and comments on the draft Guidance for Species at Risk (caribou) in the National Boreal Standard. When preparing your comments please take into consideration the purpose for which the guidance has been created, and the criteria listed above. Please note that unless confidentiality is requested, all attributed comments will be made publicly available, and that anonymous comments shall not be considered.
Please submit all comments electronically to standards@fsccanada.org by May 6, 2011 and include your NAME, AFFILIATION, and CONTACT INFORMATION.