GROUNDBREAKING SCIENCE REPORT REVEALS WORLD GOVERNMENT'S PROTECTED AREAS TARGET WILL LEAD TO MASS EXTINCTIONS

GROUNDBREAKING SCIENCE REPORT REVEALS WORLD GOVERNMENT'S PROTECTED AREAS TARGET WILL LEAD TO MASS EXTINCTIONS
VANCOUVER, BC 16 June 1997

Today PST at Robson Media Center (800 Robson Street, downtown Vancouver), world renowned scientists, Drs. M.E. Soule and M.A. Sanjayan, released a report assessing the biological implications of protecting only 10 or 12 per cent of the worlds ecosystems. The report, commissioned by Greenpeace and released on the verge of Earth Summit 2 in New York, highlights that up to half of the world's biological heritage is threatened with extinction unless current caps on protected areas are broadened. British Columbia's endangered temperate rainforests were used as the case study for this preliminary report.
"National targets for protection, of say, ten percent are could mean the extinction of roughly 60 per cent on average, of each nation's biotic heritage," said Dr. Michael Soule, founder of the Society for Conservation Biology.
Based on this report, Greenpeace is calling on world governments to: 1) Triple the existing area of protected forests by the year 2000, towards a goal of ecologically-representative protected areas that are large enough to maintain viable populations of associated species and natural dynamics; 2) Restoration of under represented forest ecosystems to meet the protected areas species conservation goals; 3) Eliminating the conversion of natural forests to semi-natural or monoculture plantations; 4) Continuing the process of respecting and demarcating all indigenous peoples' lands; 5) Participation of indigenous peoples in conservation measures, based on the recognition of their rights to manage and use their traditional forest areas.
Specific to British Columbia's endangered coastal temperate rainforests, Greenpeace demands: 1) No logging in any of the remaining pristine rainforest valleys; 2) No new roads in the temperate rainforest; 3) An immediate end to clearcutting; 4) Deferral on 45% of each representative ecosystems in B.C. until proper conservation needs assessments have been completed and implemented.
"The 12 per cent target for land area protection is not sufficient to maintain viable populations of species in British Columbia," said Dr. M.A. Sanjayan. "The 12 per cent target is a political construct that is not borne out by good science. Even more disturbing is the fact that over 60 per cent of what has been protected in B.C. since 1992 has been rock and ice."
Leading conservation organizations in British Columbia responded by supporting Greenpeace and urging the BC provincial government to remove the 12% limit on protected area status. More than 40 NGOs noted in an open letter to BC Premier Glen Clark that BC is home to the largest undisturbed tract of ancient temperate rainforest in the world, but 36 of the 76 unprotected intact valleys in BC's Great Bear Rainforest are scheduled to be logged in the next five years.

FOR MORE INFORMATION CONTACT:
Greenpeace in Canada: Tzeporah Berman, Patrick Anderson and Alison Turner
(604) 253-7701 or (604) 220-7701.