The Canadian Boreal Initiative was founded in 2003 as an integrated vision for promoting sustainable development in the Canadian boreal forest. It is an unusual set of bedfellows, the signatories to what we call the “Boreal Forest Conservation Framework”.
From its inception it's been pan-Canadian as a solution, integrated in terms of protection and development, and working across sectors to find solutions. We have corporate members as core signatories and founders, including Suncor, Alberta-Pacific, Tembec, and Domtar. We have first nations, from the Innu to the Kaska, the Deh Cho, Poplar River, and other first nations. We also have an interesting spectrum within the NGO community, with Ducks Unlimited, the World Wildlife Fund, ForestEthics, and the Canadian Parks and Wilderness Society.
My organization serves as a convenor and a secretariat for that group, which has been promoting together this vision of both large-scale protection to allow for long-term ecosystem integrity across the boreal forest, and world-leading sustainable development practices in industrial sectors.