Yellowknife (July 02/03) - According to an environmental group, the NWT government isn't doing enough to promote conservation.

In its annual Report on International Obligations, the Sierra Club gave the territory a C for its effort to control climate change and B- for bio-diversity.

While the Sierra Club applauded the government's decision to protect over 70,000 square kilometres of the Nahanni River watershed, it criticized the NWT for its stand on the Mackenzie Valley pipeline and diamond mining.

The Sierra Club called the NWT policy on climate change "schizophrenic," saying the government embraces the Kyoto but still promotes fossil fuel exploration.

"We weren't really surprised with the report," said Emery Paquin, director of the Environmental Protection Service.

"We have taken some positive measures to protect the environment... including the development of a greenhouse gas strategy. But the NWT are in the middle of an industrial expansion."

The NWT government did get higher marks that its counterparts in Nunavut and the Yukon. Nunavut received a D- for bio-diversity and C- for climate change, while the Yukon pulled in a D- for bio-diversity and a B- for climate change.

Among the provinces, Quebec received the highest grades while the federal government was lauded for its ratification of Kyoto.