Canadians have a unique opportunity to build new approaches to development and conservation that respect the wild character of this region and that restore ecosystems and landscapes where they have already been altered by resource extraction and development.

The best way to protect the highly valuable and increasingly globally rare natural values of the boreal forest is to ensure that big picture land-use planning precedes any further resource allocations aor development decisions - including road building - in this region.

Only by looking at the big picture and the long-term can we ensuer the protection of the whole suite of species and systems that make up the boreal forest. Too many of the Earth's natural systems are in trouble due to over-exploitation, pollution and short-term thinking.