The four pillars of the…

The four pillars of the current Ontario Government’s ‘Forest Strategy’ is heavily supportive of the industrial logging industry, but makes absolutely no mention of its responsibility to protect forest ecosystems and wildlife habitats. In fact, the overall strategy is destined to further endanger Boreal forests, and the many endangered and at-risk species, both plant and animal, that call these forests ‘home’.

For example, “making strategic investments in Forest Access Roads” means further incursions into pristine forest areas and, therefore, increased fragmentation of wildlife habitats such as that of the endangered forest caribou. Extending roads into these areas also gives hunters and predators, such as wolves, easy access to vulnerable caribou populations. Many scientists believe a large number of Canada’s caribou herds are on the verge of extinction. Ontario’s forests need to be protected, not further degraded through intensive industrial logging operations.

The Ontario government’s Forest Sector Strategy should have, as it’s first pillar, a guarantee that protections for wildlife, especially those at-risk and endangered, are paramount, and that no commercial or industrial interests will override those protections.