Living legacy making strides.

Ontario's Living Legacy, the Ontario governments natural heritage program, is making unprecedented strides in Crown land sustainability.

In a recent announcement the provincial government revealed Ontario will be the first jurisdiction in the world to gain certification by the Forest Stewardship Council (FSC), a non-profit, international organization that promotes environmentally sustainable, socially beneficial and economically viable management of the world's forests.

Ontario's Living Legacy initiative was launched by the province in March 1999 and centres on the creation of 378 parks and protected areas in Ontario. So far, 46 parks and protected areas have been regulated, and three signature sites the Great Lakes Heritage Coast, the Kawartha Highlands and the Lake Nipigon Basin - have been launched.

The key component of Ontario's Living Legacy is the Ontario Forest Accord, an historic partnership that offers recommendations and measures to strengthen the economy of Northern and central Ontario.

The partnership is made up of the forest industry, environmentalist and government, and is designed to protect natural resources while supporting a strongly competitive forest industry.

The FSC certification, which is currently under review, will further support the forest industry and strengthen the ties within the Ontario Forest Accord, Brett Kelly, a communications assistant to the natural resources minister, says.

"The certification means the FSC will recognize forests managed under Ontario regulation and it means that companies harvesting in those forests will not have to duplicate the regulatory efforts that they already do," Kelly says. "They wont have to provide the same audits for the FSC."

He adds that the certification will even help Ontario's lumber industry by opening the doors to new markets.

"(The certification) is significant because it will help our lumber industry in terms of new markets and marketing strategies. It also points to the fact that we have excellent forest practices in Ontario."

But before the certification can be awarded, Ontario's existing practices must undergo a thorough review.

"Right now representatives of the FSC are sitting down with our ministry, staff in Sault Ste. Marie and going line by line to see how much our regulations are in accordance with FSC regulations and doing a gap analysis," Kelly says. "So we're looking to see what the result of that is going to be."

He says the review process was to be wrapped up at the end of April, with any necessary changes following soon after.

"We're going to go to a third party when that's done to make sure everything is on the up and up, that way - sort of a review. We are-hoping to be finished by the end of April."

In the meantime, the partners backing the Ontario Forest Accord continue to investigate improved forest management. An interim report on the accord's progress was prepared by the Ontario Forest Accord Advisory Board (OFAAB) and released in early March, Kelly says,

Upon receiving the report, John Snobelen, minister of natural resources, says the steps being taken toward implementing key commitments in the Ontario Forest Accord are an encouraging sign that the new partnership in the woods is working.

"I am encouraged by the substantial progress that has been made under the leadership of the Ontario Forest Accord Advisory Board in implementing major provisions of the accord," Snobelen says. This progress has been made possible by the goodwill and vision of all the partners around the table."

Snobelen says he is convinced that Ontario's approach to developing shared solutions will become an example for other jurisdictions to follow.

The Ontario Forest Accord was signed in March 1999 by the forest industry, the Partnership for Public Lands (a joint effort of the World Wildlife Fund, the Federation of Ontario Naturalists and the Wildlands League), and the Ministry of Natural Resources. The three parties that signed the accord now sit on OFAAB, which oversees its implementation.

"The Ontario Forest Accord Advisory Board is a specific example of the partnerships occurring. We have people from the ministry sitting down with members from the environmental groups and members from the industry coming forward with recommendations under the forest accord. That's the perfect example of a partnership right there."

The accord supports an unprecedented expansion of parks and protected areas, encompassing 12 per cent of the 39 million hectares of public lands and waters covered in Ontario's Living Legacy planning area, while at the same time protecting the long-term supply of wood fibre for northern mills.