A new forest management plan aimed at protecting caribou will prevent the logging of 223,000 hectares of forest for 20 years.The plan, which was recently approved by the provincial Ministry of the Environment, covers part of the Pasquia Porcupine Forest Management Area, a two-million-hectare area with the town of Hudson Bay at its centre, said Gord Vaadeland of the Canadian Parks and Wilderness Society.
An additional 172,000 hectares of land have been designated as special management areas for caribou conservation. This means that while logging activity will continue in these areas to an extent, it will be done in a way that will improve caribou habitats, keeping in mind migratory paths, Vaadeland said.
Another 450,000 hectares will remain open to logging.