Call for Participation

Survey on Canada’s Progress in Meeting Commitment to Implement the Expanded Programme of Work on Forest Biological Diversity

Global Forest Coalition (GFC) is undertaking an independent monitoring of Canada's progress in meeting our committment to implement the Expanded Programme of Work (POW) on Forest Biological Diversity of the the UN Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD). This is part of a project to independently monitor 20 countries in their similar committments.

The independent monitoring involves distributing surveys to a wide range of Canadian organizations including NGOs, FNs, government, academia and any others who work in or have an interest in forest biodiversity in Canada. In addition to the surveys, one or more workshops will be held to consult directly with representatives or organizations with knowledge about the status of forest biodiversity in Canada. The results will be compiled in a report that will be presented at a special session of the CBD in Bonn, Germany in May 2008 along with reports from the other 19 countries.The intention is to influence the progress on forest biodiversity conservation worldwide and associated concerns of indigenous and forest-dependent peoples.

Read the English background documents on the CBD Expanded Program of Work on Forest Biological Diversity (CBD POW) that the survey questions relate to.

Read the French background documents on the CBD Expanded Program of Work on Forest Biological Diversity (CBD POW) that the survey questions relate to.

This is a request to Canadian NGOs involved in forest biodiversity conservation in Canda to complete the survey. This can be done simply by going online:

English online survey

French online survey

The deadline to complete the survey is Friday August 17th 2007.  

For further information, contact Lynn Palmer at cbdmonitor@tbaytel.net

Global Forestry Coalition is particularly interested in the perspective and concerns of indigenous and other forest-dependent people  with regard to forests and forest biodiversity. Following is background information on GFC and their mission.

The Global Forest Coalition, founded in 2000, is an informal and inclusive coalition of Non-Governmental Organizations (NGOs) and Indigenous Peoples' Organizations (IPOs) from all over the world engaged in the global policy debate related to forests.. GFC s a successor to the NGO Forest Working Group, which was established in 1995 as an informal network of 15 to 20 NGOs from all regions that participated in international forest policy meetings and organized joint advocacy campaigns on issues like Indigenous Peoples' rights, the need for socially just forest policy and the need to address the underlying causes of forest loss.

The mission of the Global Forest Coalition is to reduce poverty amongst, and avoid impoverishment of, indigenous peoples and other forest-dependent peoples by advocating the rights of these peoples as a basis for forest policy and addressing the direct and underlying causes of deforestation and forest degradation. Further information about Global Forest Coalition can be found on their website.