VANCOUVER — The Competition Bureau has opened an inquiry to see if forestry industry claims of sustainable management on vast stretches of Canadian woodlands are false advertising.
At stake is Canada’s most commonly used method of assuring consumers that the wood and paper products they buy are harvested in accordance with modern ecological principles. It is promoted by the Forest Products Association of Canada and is said to certify sustainable forestry on more than 120 million hectares.
Ecojustice says companies are allowed to define for themselves what constitutes an old-growth forest. The initiative defines long-term as up to 80 years — too short to measure real sustainability and more in line with harvest schedules. “[Sustainable Forestry Initiative] employs no means of assuring that certification to the SFI standard achieves sustainable forest management,” the complaint says.“In the absence of mandatory requirements, there is no standard against which performance could be judged inadequate,” it argues.
Metnick said certification is only awarded to companies that have passed a third-party assessment. Companies are audited annually, which includes a field inspection component, he said.
Maybe we should stop logging in BC and start buying from countries with little to no regulations or forestry standards. Why not, who cares about the Amazon or Russia, it’s not in our backyard.
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