[Reflects recent insights from ecology about "preserving" too-small scattered remnants. An excerpt:] The panel’s key recommendation is that a full 50 per cent of the boreal forest should be set aside as permanent wild land — a much more aggressive conservation target than experts have previously proposed. “It has become apparent that substantially more habitat protection than previously recognized is needed,” the panel concludes. “Older recommendations — that setting aside 10-12 per cent of a region’s land base would be sufficient to maintain a region’s biodiversity and ecological processes — are now known to reflect major underestimates.” The panel insists that “to maintain ecological processes and the full complement of wildlife species, at least 50 per cent of an ecosystem or broad-scale landscape should be incorporated into a network of conservation areas that are free of industrial disturbance.” While the panel says conservation initiatives “should accommodate Aboriginal traditional uses of the land and should be managed or co-managed by Aboriginal governments,” it also states that ecological protection zones should also be “enshrined in civic institutions” so that environmental commitments “cannot be changed to accommodate short-term political pressures and sensitivities.”
Posted on: Mon, 22 Jul 2013 12:34:58 +0000
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