50. Stresses the significance of introducing an integrated approach to decision-making and administrative procedures such as regional planning, the licensing of construction projects and the refurbishment of dwellings by means of environmental, heritage and urban-planning practices, with a view to ensuring sustainable development in mountain areas; recommends that the potential of mountain areas should be exploited in order to promote the comprehensive development of tourism and the use of innovation in land development and, to that end, encourages local, decentralised initiatives and cooperation between mountain areas;

K. whereas forest management must be economically, ecologically, socially and culturally sustainable and whereas protecting forests, monitoring forest health, restoring damaged forests and safeguarding the environmental benefits, in particular regulation of the water cycle, are key elements of sustainable forest management; whereas a key aim with regard to forests is preserving forest health and vitality by protecting them against forest fires and atmospheric pollution, ...[+++]as well as against soil and water pollution and other damage caused by disease, pests and erosion,

K. whereas forest management must be economically, ecologically, socially and culturally sustainable and whereas protecting forests, monitoring forest health, restoring damaged forests and safeguarding the environmental benefits, in particular regulation of the water cycle, are key elements of sustainable forest management; whereas a key aim with regard to forests is preserving forest health and vitality by protecting them against forest fires and atmospheric pollution, ...[+++]as well as against soil and water pollution and other damage caused by disease, pests and erosion,

L. whereas forest management must be economically, ecologically, socially and culturally sustainable and whereas protecting forests, monitoring forest health, restoring damaged forests and safeguarding the environmental benefits, in particular regulation of the water cycle, are key elements of sustainable forest management; whereas a key aim with regard to forests is preserving forest health and vitality by protecting them against forest fires and atmospheric pollution, a ...[+++]s well as against soil and water pollution and other damage caused by disease, pests and erosion,

Mr. Yves Bergeron (Industry Chair in Sustainable Forest Management, UQAT/UQAM, Université du Québec en Abitibi-Témiscamingue: I would first like to address the issue of the frequency of forest fires, and then that of the consequences of climate change, as well as forest management and the optimization of biodiversity and the quantity of available timber.

Among the highlights and key developments in this trend have been the introduction of the Forest Practices Code in B.C. in 1995; the implementation of the provincial parks and protected areas strategy; the establishment of comprehensive land use planning processes in most of British Columbia; some progress in the development of standards for sustainable forest management; and the use of what was previously considered to be wood ...[+++] waste to produce high-end value-added wood products.