With a provincial election tomorrow, the Ancient Forest Alliance is summarizing the position of BC’s main political parties for its supporters.
No. 4: Bring in legislation to make it illegal to cut any more giant, old-growth trees. The Ancient Forest Alliance alerted the public to plans to log the Avatar Grove, near Port Renfrew, saving it just in time. But the group is now warning the last of B.C.’s ancient trees will soon be lost unless something is done.
“In many ecosystems of B.C., old-growth forest is incredibly scarce — 91 per cent of valley bottom ancient forest growth on the southern coast has been logged of the classic monumental trees. Are you willing to commit to fully ending old-growth logging in any regions or ecosystems of B.C.?”
New maps of BC’s southern coast highlight the ecological crisis in BC’s forests due to old-growth logging. The most conservative figures from the preliminary analysis of Vancouver Island and the southwest mainland reveal that at least 74% of the original, productive old-growth forests have been logged, including at least 91% of the biggest, best old-growth stands.
The volume of raw logs exported from B.C. more than tripled between 2002 and 2012, prompting forestry workers to join with the Ancient Forest Alliance to push for more stringent log-export restrictions. During the last decade, 30,000 forest workers lost their jobs and more than 70 mills shut down, said Arnold Bercov, Pulp, Paper and Woodworkers of Canada forestry officer.
The Ancient Forest Alliance would like to thank LUSH Handmade Cosmetics for the contribution made through their "Charity Pot" grant program. This great support helps us push forward our major provincial campaign to protect endangered old-growth forests and ensure sustainable second-growth forestry in BC. The Charity Pot program works to fund a diversity of grassroots organizations including ones such as Sea Shepherd.
The following is a graph from Statistics Canada showing the steep decline in forestry employment levels in British Columbia that took place most dramatically during the reign of the BC Liberal Party from 2001 until 2013 (2011 is the last year shown in this graph).
Environmental groups are suing the provincial government in hopes of saving the last remaining pockets of coastal Douglas fir forests on Vancouver Island. The groups are claiming that the province is violating its own laws, which are supposed to protect ecosystems from destruction.
“The BC Liberals have decimated the province’s forestry workforce through massive raw log exports, industry deregulation, and unsustainable practices. 30,000 BC forest workers lost their jobs and over 70 mills were shut down under the BC Liberals, yet they've allowed companies to cut at near record levels,” stated Arnold Bercov, national forestry officer of the Pulp, Paper, and Woodworkers of Canada. “Under the BC Liberals, we lost both our forests and our jobs, it’s nuts.”
Hosted by the Comox Valley Land Trust, Lake Trail Neighbourhood Connections and the Comox Valley Conservation Strategy, The Ancient Forest Alliance will present a slideshow about the ecology, policies and status of BC's old-growth forests as part of the their upcoming tour of key BC communities to promote old-growth protection and sustainable second-growth forestry.
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