Environmentalists say national conservation deal not working in Alberta

EDMONTON – Some Alberta environmentalists say a national agreement between the forestry industry and conservation groups isn’t working in the province.

Keepers of the Athabasca and the Alberta Wilderness Association say logging is still going on inside caribou habitat and in buffer zones set up to protect the animals’ ranges.

In the Canadian Boreal Forest Agreement reached four years ago,major forestry companies agreed to preserve forests and environmentalists ended a boycott and media campaign against those companies.

It applies to more than 73 million hectares of public forests and has been called the world’s largest conservation deal.

A spokesman for the group overseeing the deal says it takes time to work out how it will work.

Aran O’Carroll says pressures on Alberta’s landscape make the province a uniquely challenging place to work.