At the 15th Conference of the Parties (COP 15) of the UN Convention on Biological Diversity, nations from around the world finalized a new set of goals and targets to guide global action through 2030 to halt and reverse biodiversity loss. The goals include protecting 30 per cent of the world's land, water, and marine areas by 2030, as well as mobilizing at least USD 200 billion per year in domestic and international biodiversity-related funding from both public and private sources. FSC solutions directly contribute to the delivery of the Framework through the following indicators in the monitoring framework: *Target 10: Progress toward sustainable forest management and forest area under forest certification scheme like the Forest Stewardship Council. *Goal B: Certified forests with verified impacts on biodiversity conservation.

J.D. Irving, Limited (JDI)’s forestry and forest products operations continue to identify ways to reduce and reuse waste, and put to beneficial use within our business and community. Lake Utopia Paper has recently completed a $28.8 Million environmental upgrade. Their new Environmental Treatment Facility takes wastewater and converts the organic material to renewable biogas. It is then converted to steam, which provides energy to the mill. Lake Utopia Paper has seen a 23% reduction in greenhouse gas emissions. “This is a brand-new state of the art facility, that will serve Lake Utopia Paper for the long term,” said Rick Wasson, Manager of Technical Operations. “It will provide stability to the environmental system to ensure we are always meeting and extending our compliance obligations.” Click read more below for additional detail.

Millar Western’s 2017-27 Detailed Forest Management Plan (DFMP) for its Forest Management Agreement (FMA) area is nearing its final phase. In development for more than two years, the plan will guide forest management operations in the FMA area for the next 10 years. To ensure that the DFMP reflects local interests and priorities, Millar Western has sought public input at various junctures during its development. Starting October 4, it will begin its next and final consultation, beginning with a presentation of the draft Preferred Forest Management Scenario (PFMS) to Millar Western’s Public Advisory Committee. The next day, Millar Western will hold an open house at the Allan and Jean Millar Centre in Whitecourt, Alberta, from 11:00 am to 3:00 pm, to present the draft PFMS to all interested parties. “The PFMS is the result of an intensive back-and-forth process, whereby we use computer models to achieve the best balance among environmental, social and economic objectives on the land base,” said Chief Forester Bob Mason. “Whereas earlier consultations were focused on determining forest values — the features stakeholders deem important and wish to preserve on the landscape — the PFMS has accounted for those values and proposes harvesting volumes, locations and timeframes for the plan period.”