Episode 89: Can Managed Forests Help Canada Meet Its 30x30 Conservation Goal?
Forest For The Future - PodcastsShow Notes
Title: Episode 89: Can Managed Forests Help Canada Meet Its 30x30 Conservation Goal? Author(s): Worm, Loa Dalgaard Description: Conservation is often associated with national parks and protected areas. But what about places that are delivering benefits for biodiversity while being managed for other purposes? In this episode of Forest for the Future, we return to Canada to explore Other Effective Area-Based Conservation Measures, or OECMs, and their potential contribution to the country’s 30x30 conservation goal.
Host Loa Dalgaard Worm is joined by conservation expert Alison Woodley, Megan Lafferty, Director of Area-based Conservation at Nature Conservancy of Canada and Co-Chair of the IUCN World Commission on Protected Areas’ OECM Specialist Group, and Vivian Peachey, Director of Climate and Landscape Solutions at FSC Canada. Together, they unpack what OECMs are, how they differ from protected areas, and where FSC-certified forests could play a role.
Drawing on a project involving FSC Canada, Ontario Nature and Environment and Climate Change Canada, the conversation explores the opportunities within conservation area networks in certified forests. It also examines the practical challenges of competing land uses, shared responsibilities and ensuring that conservation lasts beyond a forest management licence. The guests explain why FSC certification alone does not establish OECM recognition, and why Indigenous rights, leadership and free, prior and informed consent are foundational to this work.
The episode also looks at FSC’s Verified Impact tool and its potential to connect measurable conservation outcomes with financial support for forest managers and their conservation partners, including Indigenous communities. Throughout the conversation, the focus is on what happens beyond the numbers: the quality of conservation, the people involved, and the arrangements needed to sustain biodiversity over time.
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