Thank you for the invitation.
I am here today representing the Forest Products Association of Canada, or FPAC, which is the voice of Canada's wood, pulp, and paper producers.
The forest sector employs more than 230,000 Canadians in 200 rural communities from coast to coast and is uniquely positioned to play a significant role in conserving biodiversity and species at risk.
FPAC members sustainably manage approximately 90 million hectares of land in Canada. That's an area approximately twice the size of Sweden or two and a half times the size of Germany. FPAC members manage forests in a manner that supports economic, environmental, and social sustainability, and work closely with indigenous communities across Canada.
I am going to tell you about three current forest sector activities that directly relate to the conservation of biodiversity and species and help Canada meet its conservation objectives. The first is certification, the second is conservation planning, and the third is FPAC's climate change challenge.
Regarding certification, for over 15 years, all FPAC members have had a third party certify their forest operations under at least one of three certification standards: the Canadian Standards Association, CSA; the sustainable forestry initiative, SFI; or the forest stewardship council, FSC.
Canada is a world leader in this area, with about 160 million hectares, or 43%, of the total certified forests in the world. Certification bolsters an already strong forest regulatory environment. In fact, Canada's forestry regulations and laws were cited in a study from Yale University as being among the most stringent in the world.
Of the many requirements for certification, perhaps the most relevant to this discussion is the requirement to conserve biological diversity, or biodiversity. All certification standards require the maintenance of naturally occurring ecosystems and habitat for species at risk. Conserving biodiversity is built into forest management planning.
Additional relevant certification requirements include the protection of riparian areas, which are those areas adjacent to permanent waterways; the protection of biologically or culturally significant sites; the use of ecosystem-based management approaches, or EBM; and the development of biodiversity research programs. All of these certification requirements are voluntary and significantly contribute toward Canada's conservation objectives.
The second activity I want to talk to you about is conservation planning. Conservation planning contributes to Canada's conservation objectives by helping to identify areas that require some form of conservation. The principles of conservation planning are incorporated into the multiple scales of forest management. For the past five years, the Canadian boreal forest agreement, or CBFA, has been one of the primary vehicles for conservation planning.
The CBFA is a collaboration among forest companies and the environmental groups in Canada. It's built on recognition of the importance of both conservation and a vibrant forest sector. The agreement covers over 70 million hectares of public forests and addresses everything from forest practices to recognition in the marketplace.
While the CBFA has six goals, the major achievements under the first three of these goals are most relevant to this committee.
Under our first goal, we have completed jointly developed guidance and auditing requirements for forest companies to implement practices that fall within the natural range of variation, or NRV, essentially mimicking nature and natural disturbance patterns.
Under goal two, we have jointly developed a protected areas planning framework, which is the basis for our conservation planning approach. Our regional planning tables also utilize a pan-boreal assessment tool that provides national context for existing protected areas and ecosystem representation. We look at the existing legally protected areas and set-asides and determine how we as CBFA signatories can contribute and build off of them to create additional protected areas, or conservation areas, that benefit ecosystem representation and provide habitat for species at risk. In addition, we seek to provide corridors between protected areas when it is beneficial for migratory species.
Under goal three, we have jointly developed a CBFA caribou action planning framework, which we are using in multiple regional planning groups across Canada as we speak. The caribou framework references the federal recovery strategy and looks for solutions that work for both species recovery and the maintenance of a viable forest sector.
In addition to these three goals, the CBFA acknowledges the critical importance of inviting indigenous communities, provincial governments, and other interested parties to our planning tables. We have been able to find creative win-win solutions and together have made significant contributions to conservation objectives, including guidance and approaches to help Canada in its conservation objectives and targets.
The last thing I want to talk about is FPAC's recently announced “30 by 30” climate change challenge.
This substantial commitment aims to improve the forest sector's carbon mitigation by 30 megatonnes of CO2 equivalent per year by 2030. This is a significant contribution to Canada's emissions reduction target. Reaching this target will require action on the part of many partners, including all levels of government.
Improvements can be found in the way we utilize harvested trees, in increased use of wood in buildings, and in further energy efficiencies at our facilities.
As part of our commitment, we will be implementing adaptation practices to help preserve functioning and healthy ecosystems. This includes using climate change predictions and best available information in our long-term forest management planning so that areas set aside for conservation will be providing those benefits, whether by carbon sequestration or preservation of habitat, well into the future.
The forest sector is uniquely positioned to contribute to Canada's conservation objectives, utilizing both protected areas and conservation measures built into sustainable forest management. This includes implementing the initiatives I touched on today.
Thank you for the opportunity to speak with you. I look forward to your discussion today and to answering any questions you may have.
Thank you very much. Merci beaucoup.