Some principles and criteria to make Canada's protected area systems representative of the nation's forest diversity

Abstract

Recently, the need for protected areas has gained prominence at all levels of government. In its 1992 National Strategy, the forest sector committed itself to protecting the diversity of forest ecosystems in Canada. In this review the authors advocate that representativeness is more than a criterion by which areas are selected for protection: it is a fundamental principle. The authors examine how this principle can be applied and suggest that features of the landscape define the scale on which a comprehensive system of protected areas is built. Also discussed is the role for forest ecosystems that have been disturbed by human activity in such a system. The main recommendation is that landscape should be accepted as the basic stratification by which representation is to be judged. This article suggests that a comprehensive system of protected landscapes will, in large measure, represent the nation's diversity of animal and plant communities. Until it is clearly evident that timber management can accommodate the broad array of conservation needs, forest managers should consider designating areas for protection in which the integrity of ecosystem functions and dynamics can be assured for both managed and natural forest types under their control. -from Authors