Who's Watching the Forest?
From Canadian Parks and Wilderness Society (CPAWS)
November 2, 2000
TORONTO, ONTARIO, CANADA — In his annual report released today, Environmental Commissioner Gordon Miller has given the Ministry of Natural Resources a poor grade for its efforts to monitor forestry operations in the province.
The annual report states, “Overall, the Environmental Commissioner’s Office has observed continued problems with MNR’s forest compliance program, repeated failure of MNR to submit required annual reports on forest management to the Ontario Legislature, and reluctance by MOE to monitor and enforce the terms and conditions of MNR’s approval for forestry activities under the Environmental Assessment Act.”
“This report confirms our policy and field research,” said Chris Henschel, coordinator of the forest program for the Wildlands League. “Recognition of these problems led to the development of our own Forest Watch program. Together with Sierra Legal Defence Fund, we have conducted and published the results of three field audits, and will be publishing three more in the near future. We have found levels of non-compliance with environmental safeguards that are cause for serious concern. We’re committed to finding this information and bringing it to the public.”
Forestry companies operating on public land are required to respect laws and regulations aimed at protecting the environment during forest management. Their level of compliance with these safeguards is largely unknown due to poor monitoring and reporting by the Ministry of Natural Resources.
“It is unacceptable that MNR has only published one annual report on compliance in the last six years,” said Tim Gray, executive director of the Wildlands League. “If there are problems in the forest, the public has a right to know about them.”
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For more information, contact:
Tim Gray
Executive Director
Canadian Parks and Wilderness Society (CPAWS) - Wildlands League
416-971-9453
tim@wildlandsleague.org
Web site: http://www.wildlandsleague.org