On International Day of Forests, Conservationists Call for Modernization of BC Forestry Amid Tariff Threats

Conservationists call for the protection of old-growth forests and incentives and regulations to ensure a modernized, value-added, second-growth forest industry.

Victoria, BC – Ahead of International Day of Forests on March 21, the Ancient Forest Alliance (AFA) and Endangered Ecosystems Alliance (EEA) are calling on the BC government to protect old-growth forests and to modernize the province’s forest industry in response to growing challenges, including the threat of escalating U.S. tariffs. The groups are advocating for a transition to a sustainable, value-added, second-growth forest industry, the protection of old-growth forests by working with First Nations and the development of incentives for a conservation-based economy. This would help build a diversified, resilient economy in BC while undertaking the vital and overdue protection of endangered ecosystems.

“The BC government can go in two basic directions in response to the current tariff threats from the U.S.:  take the easy but foolish route by falling back on the destructive status quo of old-growth logging and raw log exports, or instead take the opportunity to invest in a modernized, sustainable, value-added second-growth forest industry that is the future of forestry in BC, while protecting the last old-growth forests,” said Ken Wu, Executive Director of the Endangered Ecosystems Alliance. “The province can be unwise and myopic, or smart and forward-looking. I sense that Premier Eby personally tends towards the latter approach, but we need to hold him to it and to help facilitate this transition.”

To help BC’s forestry sector remain competitive and sustainable, AFA and EEA are calling for policies that encourage a modernized, value-added, second-growth forest industry and the incremental elimination of raw log exports. This should include financial incentives for new industry investments in value-added and engineered wood products made from second-growth wood. These incentives can include rebates derived from the log export “fees in lieu” and PST and property tax relief, as well as government support for R&D and domestic and international market development for sustainable wood products. Undertaking log export restrictions and facilitating eco-forestry practices, such as longer harvest rotations and selective commercial thinning, as well as tenure reform and the establishment of regional log sorts, could further help to scale up the transition.

The call for modernization comes as the BC government commits to nearly $1.23 million to three forestry enterprises in Revelstoke through its BC Manufacturing Jobs Fund to help retrofit operations to process smaller-profile logs, increase value-added production, and reduce reliance on old-growth logging.

Alongside these measures, the groups emphasize the need for a BC Conservation Economy Strategy to support sustainable economic opportunities in regions where the large-scale expansion of the protected areas system is taking place. The province should establish government-supported business development hubs that provide financial incentives, in-kind business development support, and workforce assistance to build a diversified economy in the communities surrounding new protected areas. 

“The protection of old-growth forests and the implementation of a Conservation Economy Strategy in BC can result in diverse economic opportunities, including in tourism and recreation, real estate, enhanced commercial and recreation fishing due to habitat protection, carbon offset projects, and non-timber forest products,” said TJ Watt, Campaign Director of the Ancient Forest Alliance. “Coupling this with a transition towards a sustainable, value-added, second-growth forest sector, it can help BC future-proof its economy.”

To safeguard old-growth forests in BC, the government must develop an overarching provincial Protected Areas Strategy (PAS). This would entail proactively approaching and working with First Nations to protect candidate protected areas identified by the province, First Nations, and conservation groups in priority ecosystems as defined via Ecosystem-Based Targets. Ecosystem-Based Targets based on science and Traditional Ecological Knowledge should be used to identify the most endangered and least protected ecosystems, including the last big-tree old-growth forests.

Meanwhile, logging deferrals of the most at-risk old-growth forests identified by the Technical Advisory Panel (TAP) have stalled. To date, only about half of the priority at-risk old-growth stands, approximately 1.23 million hectares of 2.6 million, have been deferred from logging, alongside another 1.21 million hectares of more marginal stands. 

To help secure the remaining 1.37 million hectares of priority old-growth deferrals, AFA and EEA are renewing their call for immediate “solutions space” funding for First Nations to defer logging in old-growth forests where timber revenues are a key source of income for the First Nations. A portion of the BC Nature Agreement funds are a potential source, which could be directed toward new deferrals and extensions of existing ones.

Beyond immediate deferrals, the BC government must implement the overdue Biodiversity and Ecosystem Health Framework, a policy framework to support the paradigm shift the government committed to that would place ecological integrity at the forefront of land and resource management. The framework should mandate legally binding, Ecosystem-Based Targets that include forest productivity distinctions to ensure that the most at-risk, least represented ecosystems are protected.

For these measures to be effective, Ecosystem-Based Targets must guide the establishment of large, legislated protected areas like Provincial Conservancies, not just conservation reserves like Old-Growth Management Areas (OGMAs) and Wildlife Habitat Areas (WHAs) which also require the closure of logging loopholes in their regulations. Currently, the boundaries of OGMAs can be altered under timber industry pressure, while logging is allowed in various types of WHAs that are supposed to protect old-growth dependent species. Strengthening protections within these reserves is essential to the permanent protection of the remaining old-growth forests in BC.

“We acknowledge the genuine historic progress in undertaking policies to expand the protected areas system and to pave the way to protect old-growth forests that have been committed to by the BC government in recent years. However, this International Day of Forests, we call on the government to urgently fill the remaining policy gaps to protect endangered old-growth forests and modernize the forestry industry, not only as an environmental imperative but to bolster sustainable jobs and businesses across BC amid rising challenges,” said TJ Watt, Campaign Director of the Ancient Forest Alliance.