Taiga Rescue Network

Taiga Rescue Network (TRN) is an international network of more than 200 non-governmental organizations, indigenous peoples and individuals working to defend the world's boreal forests. TRN was established in 1992 to give a voice to support, link and publicize local struggles fighting for the boreal forests and its peoples. The Boreal Forest Network (BFN) is the North American affiliate of the Taiga Rescue Network.

The [http://www.taigarescue.org/index.php?view_article=31 platform] is the founding document of the network. It outlines the aims and methods of TRN, and provides guidelines for the work of its coordination bodies.

Mission and Goals

TRN's mission is support local struggles and strengthen the cooperation between individuals, NGOs and indigenous peoples and nations concerned with the protection, restoration and sustainable use of the world' boreal forests by means that ensure the integrity of natural processes and dynamics.

The goals of the network are 1) Promoting socially beneficial, economically viable and ecologically sound management of the boreal forests; 2) Ensuring Indigenous Peoples rights are respected and local control of resources is guaranteed; 3) Protecting old-growth Northern forests; and 4) Halting destructive extraction and wasteful consumption of products from boreal forests.

Methods

Education and Advocacy

The network works to disseminate information among governments, industry, and the general public about boreal forest issues by publishing Taiga News [http://www.taigarescue.org/en//index.php?view=taiga_news] , the only quarterly publication covering social and environmental issues relating to the entire boreal region; producing fact sheets on sensitive areas under particular threat; compiling profiles of key industry players; publishing reports and studies that critically analyze the trends and challenges facing the boreal region; participating in an on-going dialogue with public administrations and the private sector on local, national and international levels to strengthen environmental regulations related to forest protection and sustainable forest management in the boreal region; organizing a biennial international conference bringing together various stakeholders (scientists, environmental organizations, indigenous peoples support groups, industry, media).

Campaign Coordination

TRN promotes cooperation through joint projects among NGOs and indigenous peoples by uniting and informing the NGO and indigenous communities through meetings, conferences and seminars; publishing a monthly internal newsletter The Boreal Bulletin with concise and up to date strategic information; managing several topical email lists to improve project coordination and information exchange; supporting environmentalists and indigenous peoples in the boreal region with small grants.

Research and Policy Analysis

Among others, the network coordinates NGO input into various national and international processes and facilitate joint position papers outlining the NGO vision for sustainable forestry in the boreal region; monitors the various national and international certification and ecolabelling processes and actively support independent, performance based certification, such as the approach promoted by the Forest Stewardship Council (FSC); identifies forests with high conservation value and work towards their conservation through the establishment of protected areas; and leads the way in mapping trade links of boreal products.

External links

* [http://www.taigarescue.org TRN]
* Newsletter [http://www.taigarescue.org/en//index.php?view=taiga_news Taiga News]