A man in a red jacket lays on a monumental western redcedar among hundreds of other fallen old-growth trees in a clearcut on northern Vancouver Island.

Clearcutting of Grove of Forest Giants on Northern Vancouver Island – Photos and Videos Document the Destruction

/in

For Immediate Release
May 10, 2023

Shocking photos and drone footage reveal the destruction of rare, big-tree old-growth forests on northern Vancouver Island in Quatsino Sound, highlighting the urgent need for dedicated funding to enable both temporary logging deferrals and permanent, Indigenous-led protected areas initiatives.

Conservationists with the Ancient Forest Alliance have documented with photos and video the clearcutting of a magnificent ancient forest in Quatsino Sound and are urging the BC government to immediately commit funding for old-growth protection to help prevent further loss of the most endangered old-growth forests in BC, plus identify at-risk old-growth forests for deferral that were missed due to mapping errors in the original process.

Ancient Forest Alliance (AFA) members TJ Watt and Ian Thomas came across the fallen remains of a grove of enormous western redcedars — some measuring upwards of 10 feet (3 metres) wide, on a field expedition in 2022. The 25-hectare old-growth cutblock, an area equivalent to over 50 football fields, is located on public lands in Tree Farm Licence 6, which is held by logging company Western Forest Products in Quatsino territory.

AFA’s TJ Watt provides some scale by lying down on the trunk of an old-growth western redcedar tree recently cut by Western Forest Products in Quatsino Sound.

“This was a superlative ancient forest,” stated AFA photographer and campaigner, TJ Watt. “I was floored by the sheer number of monumental redcedars that had been cut down. It was the most shocking example of industrial old-growth logging I’ve witnessed since the logging in the Caycuse and Nahmint Valleys. Dozens of centuries-old trees littered the ground, trees that were taller on their side than I was standing beside them. Some of them were alive earlier that day. After more than a century of high-grade logging in BC, groves of unprotected giants like these are extremely rare to find. To lose another one as special as this is heartbreaking.”

In November 2021, the BC government agreed to implement temporary logging deferrals in 2.6 million hectares of the most at-risk old-growth forests in BC. These priority deferrals were identified by an independent old-growth science panel, the Technical Advisory Panel (TAP), to prevent irreversible biodiversity loss while long-term land use plans are developed. To date, about 1.2 million hectares, or 46%, of priority deferral areas have been agreed upon by First Nations (whose consent and support are a necessity for any new deferrals or protected areas). More than half the areas recommended are still open to logging.

Despite being home to scores of giant trees, many of which would have been 500+ years old, this particular grove — and likely hundreds of others — was not included in the TAP’s original deferral recommendations due to the forest being incorrectly labelled as 210 years old in the province’s forest inventory database (40 years younger than the province’s 250-year-old threshold for being considered old-growth on the coast and to be included in deferral mapping).

A massive old-growth redcedar tree logged on Vancouver Island in Quatsino Sound

The TAP specifically mentioned the issue of inventory errors in their report (see pages 9, 10, 13), making clear recommendations to the BC government that on-the-ground assessments should be used to identify and defer big-tree old-growth forests that were missed in their preliminary analysis. Thus far, it appears the BC government has only used field verification to remove deferral areas that don’t meet the TAP criteria (which are to then be replaced with those that do) in order to facilitate logging, but they are not actively working to identify key old-growth stands that were missed during the TAP analysis due to mapping or inventory errors.

“Knowing that this irreplaceable ancient forest could potentially still be standing today if the BC government was using field verification to identify and defer old-growth forests missed due to mapping errors is a punch in the gut,” stated Watt. “We’ve continually raised this issue with the BC government but so far our concerns have been brushed aside. They only want to subtract old-growth from the priority most-risk category and not add any, even when it is their mistake. Citizens and scientists should be able to submit the locations of old-growth forests that meet the criteria for priority deferral but that have been missed for various reasons. Forest companies should also be obligated to field-verify cutblocks against the TAP deferral criteria before getting approval for logging. These images highlight the devastating impacts on the landscape due to provincial policy and funding gaps.”

A man in a blue jacket stands inside the base of a logged western redcedar in the middle of a massive clearcut on northern Vancouver Island.

AFA’s Ian Thomas stands inside a nearly 10 ft (3 m) wide stump of a fallen western redcedar.

Conservationists argue that without significant funding, it will be nearly impossible to secure the full suite of priority old-growth logging deferrals and their eventual permanent protection, especially in the highest-value old-growth forests with the biggest trees that are most coveted by industry.

“The BC government must come to the table with immediate funding, both in the short and long term, for the deferral and protection of old-growth forests,” explained Watt. “At least $120 million in ‘solution space’ funding is needed immediately to help facilitate logging deferrals by ensuring that First Nations communities aren’t forced to choose between setting aside at-risk old growth and generating revenue for their communities. In the longer term, at least $300 million in conservation financing is needed from the province and another $300 million more from the feds, as well as hundreds of millions more from private donors, to support First Nations’ sustainable economic development, stewardship jobs, and creation of new Indigenous Protected and Conserved Areas (IPCAs) linked to protecting the most at-risk old-growth forests and ecosystems. This can include new land-use planning, Indigenous guardians programs, and the development of sustainable economic alternatives to old-growth logging such as tourism, clean energy, sustainable seafood harvesting, non-timber forest products, and value-added, second-growth forestry.

A man in a red jacket stands among towering western redcedars in Quatsino Territory.

TJ stands beside a massive redcedar tree growing unprotected adjacent to the cutblock in Quatsino Sound.

Under pressure, the province recently committed to creating a new conservation financing mechanism by the end of June to be filled with philanthropic and private contributions but has yet to publicly commit any of its own funding towards the initiative. The long-awaited BC Canada Nature Agreement and the recent multi-billion dollar provincial budget surplus provide excellent avenues for securing the estimated $800-$1B+ in overall funding necessary to protect the majority of endangered old-growth ecosystems across BC

The Quatsino region on Vancouver Island has historically been hit hard by industrial logging, with less than 25% of its productive (big tree) old-growth forests remaining. Conservation biologists agree that when ecosystems fall below 30% of their original extent, they are at high risk of irreversible biodiversity loss. Despite this ecological emergency, nearby old-growth groves, including some forests specifically recommended for deferral are currently flagged for logging

“Driving to this ancient forest, one must pass through mile after mile of industrial tree farms that have replaced the once magnificent old-growth rainforests of Quatsino Sound. This grove was one of the last fragments of rich old-growth forest remaining in the area, a crucial reservoir of biodiversity and ecological resilience in a damaged landscape,” stated Watt. “Witnessing the disappearance of the last unprotected stands of old-growth forests on Vancouver Island leaves one with a profound sense of ecological grief. The BC government can and must use its vast resources to help pave the path toward the protection of what still remains.”

The BC government has committed to protect 30% of BC’s land area by 2030, to develop a conservation financing mechanism to support Indigenous Protected and Conserved Areas by the end of June, and to target protection for the most biodiverse areas — major commitments that the Ancient Forest Alliance commends. However, missing still is the immediate funding to facilitate deferrals among First Nations, provincial funding for conservation financing (not just a commitment to seek philanthropic funds), and ecosystem-based protected areas targets that include forest productivity distinctions.

This series of images and video is part of work Watt has created with support from the Trebek Initiative, a grantmaking partnership between the National Geographic Society and the Royal Canadian Geographical Society that supports emerging Canadian explorers, scientists, photographers, geographers, and educators with a goal of using storytelling to ignite “a passion to preserve” in all Canadians. Watt was among the first round of grant recipients in 2021 and was named a National Geographic Explorer and Royal Canadian Geographical Society Explorer.

Old-growth forests are vital to support endangered species, First Nations cultures, the climate, clean water, wild salmon, and tourism. Under BC’s current system of forestry, second-growth tree plantations are typically re-logged every 50–60 years, never to become old-growth again.

An aerial image of a patchwork of clearcuts in Quatsino Territory.

25 hectares (roughly 50 football fields) of prime old-growth forests were clearcut here in total by Western Forest Products.

 

 

 

Motion for Old-Growth Fund & Export Ban Introduced by MP Patrick Weiler

/in

For Immediate Release
May 5, 2023

MP Patrick Weiler Introduces Motion to Launch the $82 million Old-Growth Protection Fund ($164 million with BC matching funds) and to End Old-Growth Log and Wood Product Exports

The Ancient Forest Alliance (AFA) and the Endangered Ecosystems Alliance (EEA) give great thanks to Member of Parliament Patrick Weiler (West Vancouver-Sunshine Coast-Sea to Sky Country) for his new motion to help protect old-growth forests in BC and Canada.

Weiler has crafted a motion, introduced into federal Parliament yesterday, calling for the $82 million BC Old-Growth Protection Fund (increased from $50 million previously, and contingent on matching BC funding that would bring it to $164 million), to end the international export of old-growth raw logs and wood products from across Canada as quickly as possible (and by no later than 2030), and to protect old-growth on federal lands on Department of National Defense and National Park lands from any destructive infrastructure developments.

If implemented, these motions will be significant contributions to help protect old-growth forests in BC and across Canada, where the main “War in the Woods” over old-growth forests has taken place over half a century.

“We welcome this motion by MP Patrick Weiler. $82 million dedicated to old-growth protection in BC, when matched by the province for a total of $164 million, is no small sum. It would result in a major leap forward to protect old-growth forests here, along with a much larger federal-provincial BC Nature Agreement fund — as would a rapid phase-out on the export of old-growth wood products across Canada with an emphasis on second- and third-growth wood products instead. We commend Weiler for taking the initiative here to help keep the ball rolling for old-growth protection,” stated TJ Watt, Ancient Forest Alliance campaigner and photographer.

Ancient Forest Alliance campaigner & photographer TJ Watt stands beside a giant old-growth redcedar growing unprotected on northwestern Vancouver Island in Quatsino territory.

“The Biden administration in the US is now creating a pathway that could end old-growth logging on their federal public lands across the country, and BC and Canada need to do the same. MP Patrick Weiler is starting this process, and I hope his positive motion pushes the province to really get on track — as the province is directly in charge of provincially-managed Crown lands where the vast majority of old-growth forests stand, along with the local First Nations whose unceded territories it is. Premier Eby’s recent move to embrace the 30% by 2030 target and to undertake a conservation financing mechanism to fund First Nations IPCA plans should be applauded. However, there is still significant space for spin and sophistry to keep the status quo of old-growth forest liquidation safeguarded as new provincial policies are being developed. I can see many of the same old actors from the old-growth timber industry and old timber bureaucracy at work in this regard right now, and they are both pervasive and clever,” stated Ken Wu, Endangered Ecosystems Alliance executive director.

There are elements in the provincial government that appear to be employing a number of different strategies in an attempt to contain change and extend the life of the destructive status quo of old-growth liquidation, including efforts to minimize the centrality of fully protected areas — and instead to emphasize better old-growth logging rather than no logging of old-growth as the first consideration, as well as “conservation” areas that keep the door open for commercial old-growth logging. Other apparent strategies include minimizing ecosystem-based protected areas targets, including failing to distinguish between big-treed vs small-treed old-growth forests (forest productivity distinctions); minimizing the role of science and scientists in developing ecosystem-based targets in conjunction with Traditional Ecological Knowledge holders; and making conservation financing primarily about capacity and stewardship funding rather than about sustainable economic development funding to supplant the old-growth logging dependency in many First Nations communities.

Ancient Forest Alliance Campaigner & Photographer TJ Watt stands atop the stump of an old-growth redcedar tree cut in 2022 the Klanawa Valley on Vancouver Island in Huu-ay-aht territory.

The federal government has been offering significant funding for years of several hundred million dollars, contingent on an agreement for matching funds from BC — to drastically expand the protected areas system across the province as part of Canada’s commitment to protect 25% of the country’s land area by 2025 and 30% by 2030 (BC has committed to the latter target). Currently 15% of BC is in legislated protected areas. Negotiations over a BC Nature Fund between the federal and provincial governments have been ongoing for two and a half years (since January of 2021), and now include First Nations, and an agreement is expected in the not distant future.

Endangered Ecosystems Alliance executive director Ken Wu stands beside a giant old-growth redcedar tree growing unprotected on Nootka Island in Mowachaht/ Muchalaht territory.

The provincial government has also stated that they will have a conservation financing mechanism in place by the end of June, and the EEA and AFA are encouraging the province to ensure that they bring in both provincial and federal contributions into that fund (not just private donations) which can be used to help ensure both old-growth logging deferrals and protected areas, including by providing the needed funds to First Nations for their capacity, stewardship, and sustainable business development needs linked to new Indigenous Protected and Conserved Areas (typically legislated via Provincial Conservancy and various Protected Areas designations provincially).

The original sum of $50 million for a BC Old-Growth Fund has now been increased by MP Weiler and his colleagues to $81.9 million. If matched by provincial funds, it would be $164 million to help First Nations and other parties to specifically protect some of the grandest and most endangered old-growth forests in BC, with an emphasis on protecting Coastal and Inland old-growth rainforests and Interior Douglas-fir forests. Weiler also noted that additional federal protected areas funds are available from the $2.3 billion in terrestrial protected areas funding, as well as from the several billion dollar Nature Smart Climate Fund, that would also help protect old-growth forests in BC as part of the overall effort to expand protected areas in the province and across the country.

Old-growth forests across BC are on the unceded territories of diverse First Nations, whose consent is a legal necessity for the establishment of new protected areas on Crown/unceded First Nations lands (ie. the provincial government cannot unilaterally just protect old-growth forests in BC — the support of the local First Nations is needed, and the province should undertake the policy framework and provide key funding as part of the “enabling conditions” to facilitate interested First Nations to establish new protected areas). Across BC, many or most First Nations have a major economic dependency on timber revenues and jobs, including on old-growth forestry.

Land Guardian Domonique Samson with the Kanaka Bar Indian Band stands beside an old-growth Douglas-fir tree on a property recently purchased by the Nature-Based Solutions Foundation to be given back to the band with a conservation covenant.

“Conservation financing” refers to funding from governments and private sources for the development of sustainable economic alternatives in First Nations and other communities that enable the development of Indigenous businesses and jobs in eco- and cultural tourism, clean energy, sustainable seafood, non-timber forest products (eg. wild mushrooms) and other industries, linked to the establishment of new Indigenous Protected and Conserved Areas (IPCAs). In the Great Bear Rainforest, Haida Gwaii, and currently in Clayoqout Sound, major conservation financing funds from the federal and provincial governments, environmental groups, and carbon offset projects have enabled high levels of forest protection and conservation to move forward. The Endangered Ecosystems Alliance and the Ancient Forest Alliance, with our partner organization the Nature-Based Solutions Foundation, are now moving ahead with similar conservation financing projects to support old-growth protection initiatives and new IPCAs by the Kanaka Bar Indian Band near Lytton and the Salmon Parks initiative of the Mowachaht/ Muchalaht First Nation.

Over 80% of the medium to high productivity forest lands (places that typically grow the largest trees the fastest) in BC are now second-growth. With appropriate government incentives and regulations, old-growth forests can be protected while forestry employment levels could be enhanced with the development of a sustainable, value-added second-growth forest industry. This is particularly true if the extensive second-growth harvest (which currently is also unsustainable), which already contributes most of the cut in BC, is turned into higher end wood products in the province, rather than being shipped out as raw log exports. Eby is now starting to provide funding for a value-added transition for industry to manufacture smaller diameter (ie. mainly second-growth) logs, and we encourage him to continue this trajectory, while the federal government is also starting to support the value-added sector.

Old-growth forests are typically defined by the BC government as stands older than 250 years on the Coast and older than 140 years in BC’s Interior, although old-growth characteristics (canopy gaps, well-developed understories, multi-layered canopies, large woody debris) can develop in significantly younger stands in many areas.

Old-growth forests are vital to support endangered species, the climate, tourism and recreation, clean water, wild salmon, and diverse First Nations cultures whose unceded territories it is. Old-growth forests have unique characteristics that are not replicated in the ensuing second-growth tree plantations that they are being replaced with. Because they are re-logged every 50 to 60 years on BC’s coast and every 80 to 100 years in the Interior, they never become old-growth again. As a result, old-growth logging is not a sustainable activity under BC’s and Canada’s system of forestry but is more similar to “forest mining”.

A logging truck loaded with old-growth logs passes through the Klanawa Valley on Vancouver Island.

 

An aerial shot of a clearcut in the Caycuse Watershed in Ditidaht Territory.

Conservationists decry lack of funding to protect old-growth forests despite major provincial budget surplus and ecological crisis in the woods

/in

For immediate release
Tuesday, February 28th, 2023

Still needed is short-term funding for First Nations to offset lost logging revenues from accepting logging deferrals as well as long-term conservation financing to develop sustainable economic alternatives to old-growth logging linked to the creation of new Indigenous Protected and Conserved Areas.

VICTORIA (Unceded Lekwungen Territories) – Conservationists are disappointed that the BC government has failed to allocate critical funding in the 2023 provincial budget for old-growth protection despite having a major budget surplus and recently committing to creating a conservation financing mechanism to protect old-growth forests and biodiverse areas. The Ancient Forest Alliance has repeatedly called on the province to provide significant short- and long-term funding for First Nations, many of whom now have an economic dependency on the revenues of old-growth logging, to help further conservation efforts.

“Today the BC government missed an historic opportunity to use its multi-billion dollar budget surplus to help safeguard critically endangered old-growth forests and ecosystems,’” stated AFA Campaigner and Photographer, TJ Watt. “David Eby has committed to ‘accelerating’ the government’s efforts on old-growth, to protect 30% of BC by 2030, and create a conservation financing fund to protect old-growth forests and the most biodiverse areas. Allocating significant funding in this budget would have been the gas in the tank to accelerate those commitments. Instead, the conservation fund remains empty and the expectation so far is that it will be filled through private and philanthropic donations, a complete abdication of the province’s responsibilities.”

Two types of funding are still urgently needed from the province in order to help achieve the protection of old-growth forests: both short and long-term.

In the short term, at least $120 million in “solutions space” funding is needed to help offset lost logging revenues for First Nations who accept temporary logging deferrals in the most at-risk old-growth forests, as identified by the government’s independent science panel, the Technical Advisory Panel (TAP). To date, less than half of the 2.6 million hectares of the most at-risk ancient forests identified for deferral by the TAP have been secured and progress on additional priority deferrals has stalled, leaving over one million hectares of BC’s most at-risk old-growth forests without even temporary protection. The vast majority of old-growth forests in BC are located on the unceded territories of diverse First Nations communities, whose consent and support are a legal necessity for the creation of any new deferrals or protected areas.

A pink ribbon signalling a new road to be put in flies in front of an old-growth section in the Caycuse Valley on unceded Ditidaht Territory

A pink ribbon signalling a new road to be built through an old-growth forest in the Caycuse Valley on unceded Ditidaht Territory. Photo by TJ Watt – Ancient Forest Alliance.

“The province should use its massive budget surplus or unallocated funds at a later date to provide short-term funding to help offset lost logging revenues when asking First Nations, who have the final say on whether they want to defer logging or not in the most at-risk old-growth forests. The point of temporary logging deferrals is to ‘stop the bleed’ while long-term land use plans can be developed and the province — the one responsible for creating the ecological wounds in the first place — must use its vast resources to make the path to protecting old-growth as painless as possible,” stated Watt. “Without deferrals, many areas remain in a “talk and log” situation where, day by day, we continue to lose the best of the big-tree, ancient, and rare old-growth forests. $120 million in “solution space” funding would help to ensure that First Nations communities aren’t forced to choose between setting aside at-risk old growth and generating revenue for their communities. With billions of dollars in surplus money, there’s never been a better time for the province to fully fund all avenues of old-growth protection. Why haven’t they done so?”

In the long term, at least $300 million in conservation financing is needed from the province to support First Nations’ sustainable economic development, stewardship jobs, and creation of new Indigenous Protected and Conserved Areas (IPCAs) linked to protecting the most at-risk old-growth forests and ecosystems. This can include new land-use planning, guardians programs, and the development of sustainable economic alternatives to old-growth logging such as tourism, clean energy, sustainable seafood harvesting, non-timber forest products, and a value-added, second-growth forestry. Support for forestry workers and contractors, as well as legally defined compensation for major licensees, would be above and beyond this total.

The federal government has significant funding available to support environmental protection as well. $2.3 billion has been committed to help Canada achieve its international commitments to protect 25% of lands and waters by 2025 and 30% by 2030 (a goal to which BC has also committed) and of this, several hundred million dollars are available for the expansion of protected areas in BC, with $55 million specifically allocated to old growth in BC so far. The BC government must commit to providing matching funding and formalize the long-awaited BC-Canada Nature Agreement, which remains under negotiation, and would allow the federal funds to flow into BC.

Also missing from the budget is any investment into a much-needed “Provincial Land Acquisition Fund” which would help the province to purchase privately held lands of high conservation, scenic, cultural, and recreational value that are under threat from logging or development. The Ancient Forest Alliance has called for such a fund for more than a decade, which would start with an initial investment of $70 million, to be increased by $10 million a year until the fund reaches $100 million. The fund would fill a crucial gap in BC’s current conservation policies by allowing for the acquisition and permanent protection of endangered old-growth forests and other threatened ecosystems across the province that otherwise have no form of legislated protection.

A positive note was the allocation of $21 million over three years in funding for the development of eight new Forest Landscape Planning projects. Landscape planning work includes First Nations as well as a variety of stakeholders and is part of the pathway towards permanent protection for old-growth forests. However, conservationists stress that without significant conservation financing, future land-use plans will not go far enough when it comes to protecting BC’s rarest and most productive forest ecosystems. Conservationists also argue that the implementation of logging deferrals is the essential prerequisite for fulsome and comprehensive land-use planning, as it alone ensures that those ecologically critical forests will not be lost while planning is underway. Additionally, $101 million was committed to help preserve and enhance outdoor recreational opportunities in BC Parks and outdoor recreation sites and trails.

“David Eby promised to accelerate the protection of old-growth forests as well as protect 30% of lands in BC by 2030. That would be a major step forward for conservation, but it won’t happen for free,” stated Watt. “You wouldn’t promise a paradigm shift in health care or expect to build major new infrastructure without the money to back it up. The province should be using its multi-billion dollar surplus to help solve the decades-long battle to protect old-growth forests once and for all. It must also match and accept the hundreds of millions in funding available from the federal government to support Indigenous-led conservation efforts, including protecting old-growth forests. Every day there’s a delay, we further lose our chance to protect these irreplaceable ecosystems.”

Ancient Forest Alliance photographer TJ Watt stands beside an old-growth redcedar tree before and after logging in the Caycuse watershed in Ditidaht territory on Vancouver Island, BC.

Ancient Forest Alliance photographer TJ Watt stands beside an old-growth redcedar tree before and after logging in the Caycuse watershed in Ditidaht territory on Vancouver Island, BC.

– 30 –

Background info:

Conservation financing is an approach that was successfully used on BC’s Central and North Coasts, where $120 million was committed by the provincial and federal governments and conservation groups to support First Nations business development and economic alternatives to old-growth logging. The result was a globally significant conservation achievement, with 80% of what is now known as the Great Bear Rainforest being reserved from logging.

This funding helps to supplant the lost revenues and jobs from forgoing old-growth logging through the creation of alternatives such as eco-tourism, sustainable aquaculture, non-timber forest products, renewable energy, and even sustainable second-growth logging. It can also provide funds needed for First Nations’ guardian and stewardship programs.

Old-growth forests are vital to support endangered species, First Nations cultures, the climate, clean water, wild salmon, and tourism. Under BC’s current system of forestry, second-growth tree plantations are typically re-logged every 50–60 years, never to become old-growth again.

Government Signals Critical Shift Toward Greater Value-Added Wood Manufacturing and Potential Old-Growth Protection

/in

For immediate release
Wednesday, February 15th, 2023

Conservation group increasingly optimistic about old-growth protection as BC government adjusts forestry regulations, invests funding in value-added forestry, and commits to a conservation financing mechanism to help establish new Indigenous Protected and Conserved Areas (IPCAs).

Victoria / Unceded Lekwungen Territories – Premier David Eby announced critical changes to BC forestry policy today that could help fulfill promises to protect old-growth forests and create a more resilient value-added wood manufacturing industry. These changes include removing the “unduly restrict” clause that has historically limited the scope of conservation efforts by preventing forest reserves from interfering with timber supply; establishing a conservation financing fund to help with the establishment of new Indigenous Protected and Conserved Areas (IPCAs); investing $180m in support for value-added wood manufacturing to help the forest industry adapt to old-growth protection measures and using smaller-diameter trees while maintaining employment in the industry; and temporarily deferring an additional estimated 200,000 hectares of old-growth forests while longer-term land use plans can be developed.

“Removing the “unduly restrict” clause is as important a step symbolically as it is legally in helping facilitate the promised paradigm shift in the approach to old-growth forests and endangered ecosystems across the province,” stated Ancient Forest Alliance Campaigner TJ Watt. “For far too long the protection of old-growth forests, wildlife habitat, and other critical ecosystem services has been secondary to the push to industrially extract resources from the land. In light of the global biodiversity crisis we are in, we must first determine what needs protection before determining what, if anything, can be sustainably removed. We commend the BC government for taking this first step and hope it continues to take action by removing any remaining policy caps on regulatory protection measures such as Old-Growth Management Areas, Wildlife Habitat Areas, etc.”

The BC government has also committed to establishing a new conservation financing mechanism in the next six months to support First Nations’ capacity, sustainable economic development, and land stewardship, as well as the creation of new IPCAs. The vast majority of old-growth forests in BC are located on the unceded territories of diverse First Nations communities, whose consent and support is a legal necessity for the creation of any new protected areas. The BC government can’t unilaterally declare new legislated protected areas on the unceded territory of First Nations, many of whom are also heavily dependent on the revenues of old-growth logging for their economic survival. Conservation financing, which was critical to the protection of old-growth ecosystems in the Great Bear Rainforest, is needed elsewhere across BC to provide economic alternatives to old-growth logging, giving First Nations communities a fair choice and viable path to old-growth protection.

“For years we have been pushing for the province to commit to conservation financing that links protecting endangered old-growth forests through IPCAs with First Nations’ sustainable economic development,” notes Watt. “Creating conservation economies that allow new, sustainable jobs and businesses to flourish while preserving imperiled ecosystems is a win-win for humans and nature. The province must now dedicate a significant amount of its own funding to this plan, especially with its current budget surplus. Private funders and philanthropists will play an important role but cannot be expected to provide the scale of funding quickly enough in the time frame needed to keep all at-risk old-growth standing.”

Ancient Forest Alliance Co-Founder, Ken Wu, beside an old-growth redcedar in the unprotected Eden Grove near Port Renfrew in Pacheedaht territory.

The BC government has also committed $180 million to expand support for the value-added wood processing sector in BC, which includes support to mills to process smaller-diameter and second-growth trees. This is a crucial step to shifting the current model of old-growth logging in BC to a more sustainable second-growth industry that we have been advocating for, helping to protect endangered old-growth forests and forestry jobs at the same time.

On the deferral front, the province identified that a total of 2.1 million hectares of old-growth forest have now been deferred (temporarily paused) from logging but was unclear about how much of that included priority at-risk areas identified by the province’s science panel, the Technical Advisory Panel versus additional areas identified by First Nations for important cultural or ecological values. Based on the province’s last announcement, it remains possible that over half of BC’s most at-risk and biodiverse old-growth forests (i.e. the biggest and oldest trees in the rarest ecosystems) are still without temporary protection, underscoring the dire need for conservation funding. In addition, the government noted that 11,000 hectares of the most at-risk old-growth have been logged since they were first identified as candidates for immediate deferral, an area about as large as the entire city of Vancouver.

“Old-growth forests, with their 1000-year-old trees, are irreplaceable. The government must bring forth significant conservation financing to relieve the economic burden communities face in accepting old-growth logging deferrals and to help establish permanent protection measures through long-term land use plans and new Indigenous Protected and Conserved Areas,” stated Watt. “We are encouraged by the BC government’s latest commitments, now it’s time for it to fully fund the paradigm shift it has promised, set targets for the protection of each ecosystem type based on science, and ensure that protection is not skewed towards lower productivity areas of less ecological value and more towards the productive, biologically rich areas most heavily targeted by industry. The endangered ecosystems and countless creatures that depend on them for their survival—including us—are counting on the fulfillment of this promise.”

-30-

Background:

Conservation financing is an approach that was successfully used on BC’s Central and North Coasts, where $120 million was committed by the provincial and federal governments and conservation groups to support First Nations business development and economic alternatives to old-growth logging. The result was a globally significant conservation achievement, with 80% of what is now known as the Great Bear Rainforest being reserved from logging.

This funding helps to supplant the lost revenues and jobs from forgoing old-growth logging through the creation of alternatives such as eco-tourism, sustainable aquaculture, non-timber forest products, renewable energy, and even sustainable second-growth logging. It can also provide funds needed for First Nations’ guardian and stewardship programs.

Old-growth forests are vital to support endangered species, First Nations cultures, the climate, clean water, wild salmon, and tourism. Under BC’s current system of forestry, second-growth tree plantations are typically relogged every 50-60 years, never to become old-growth again.

BC Government Commits to Doubling the Protection of Lands in BC to 30% by 2030 and Creating a New Conservation Financing Mechanism to Help Establish IPCA’s

/in

For immediate release
December 9th, 2022

BC Government Commits to Doubling the Protection of Lands in BC to 30% by 2030 and Creating a New Conservation Financing Mechanism to Help Establish IPCA’s.

Framework for increased protection has been laid, major funding now needed to make it succeed.

Victoria / Unceded Lekwungen Territories – The Ancient Forest Alliance commends the BC government for committing to protecting 30% of lands in the province by 2030, including through the creation of new Indigenous Protected and Conserved Areas (IPCAs), which would double what is currently protected in legislated areas in BC. Nathan Cullen, Minister of Water, Land, and Resource Stewardship, has also been directed in his new mandate letter from Premier David Eby to “develop a new conservation financing mechanism to support protection of biodiverse areas.” No announcements around funding commitments have yet been made.

“The commitment to double legislated protected areas in BC has the potential to be a major step towards protecting endangered old-growth forests, ecosystems, and species across British Columbia,” stated Ancient Forest Alliance Campaigner & Photographer, TJ Watt. “The new premier should be commended for this. To ensure these promises can be made a reality, it’s imperative that major conservation funding is secured through the much anticipated BC-Canada Nature Agreement. We have the framework, now we just need the funding to implement it.”

An aerial view over the Klaskish Inlet where the unprotected East Creek and Klaskish Rivers meet the Pacific Ocean in Quatsino territory on Vancouver Island, BC. The Brooks Peninsula Provincial Park is in the background.

This is also the first time the provincial government has publicly acknowledged the need for conservation financing linked to protecting the most biologically diverse areas and the creation of new IPCAs. In British Columbia, under successive court rulings, First Nations ultimately decide which areas within their unceded territories get protected or not. The provincial government can provide enabling conditions for First Nations to protect old-growth forests by providing critical funding for land use planning capacity, stewardship jobs, and sustainable economic development linked to new protected areas. The province choosing the most biodiverse areas for candidate protected areas, should First Nations agree, is a vital step towards securing productive old-growth forests, where the greatest species richness tends to be.

“For years we have been pushing for the province to commit to conservation financing that links protecting endangered old-growth forests through Indigenous Protected Areas with First Nations’ sustainable economic development,” notes Watt. “Creating conservation economies that allow new, sustainable jobs and businesses to flourish while preserving imperiled ecosystems is a win-win for humans and nature. None of this happens for free, though. That is why the BC government now needs to accept and match the hundreds of millions of dollars that’s available from the federal government for expanding protected areas in BC through the much anticipated BC-Canada Nature Agreement.”

First Nations cultural tours, such as those pictured here in Clayoquot Sound, are just one example of sustainable business alternatives to old-growth logging.

The federal government has so far committed $3.3 billion over 5 years to expand terrestrial ($2.3 billion) and marine ($1 billion) protected areas, along with several billion dollars more for “natural climate solutions” that often overlap with nature protection initiatives. BC’s share of those funds is estimated to be between $200 to $400+ million, which also includes a dedicated $55.1 million Old Growth Nature Fund for the protection of the most at-risk old-growth stands, but only if the province matches this funding. When adding in potential funding from private donors, this could result in anywhere from $500M-$1B+ in total funding for conservation in BC.

“These latest commitments from Premier Eby appear to signal that the province is willing to move in the right direction. The Ancient Forest Alliance has long called for conservation financing to help establish new Indigenous-led protected areas that support sustainable enterprises, and for the government to adopt the federal protected areas targets at a bare minimum,” said Watt. “To make sure their actions truly make a difference on the ground, they must focus on the old-growth forests most at-risk, such as those with the grandest trees in the valley bottoms, as well as other endangered ecosystems across the province. Doubling the protected areas in BC by scooping up vast areas not under threat while allowing the logging of thousand year old trees to continue will only fuel the rampant public cynicism that’s resulted from broken political promises in the past. Ancient temperate forests in BC, and the communities and cultures that evolved amongst them for millennia, are counting on Eby to do the right thing.”

For interviews please contact TJ Watt at info@ancientforestalliance.org

Ancient Forest Alliance Photographer & Campaigner, TJ Watt, admires the unprotected old-growth Sitka spruce trees in Mossome Grove near Port Renfrew in Pacheedaht territory on Vancouver Island, BC.

Background:

Conservation financing is an approach that was successfully used on BC’s Central and North Coasts, where $120 million was committed by the provincial and federal governments and conservation groups to support First Nations business development and economic alternatives to old-growth logging. The result was a globally significant conservation achievement, with 80% of what is now known as the Great Bear Rainforest being reserved from logging.

This funding helps to supplant the lost revenues and jobs from forgoing old-growth logging through the creation of alternatives such as eco-tourism, sustainable aquaculture, non-timber forest products, renewable energy, and even sustainable second-growth logging. It can also provide funds needed for First Nations’ guardian and stewardship programs.

Old-growth forests are vital to support endangered species, First Nations cultures, the climate, clean water, wild salmon, and tourism. Under BC’s current system of forestry, second-growth tree plantations are typically relogged every 50-60 years, never to become old-growth again.

Before COP15, Conservation Groups call on BC Government to Commit to Funding and Targets to Expand Protected Areas in BC

/in

For Immediate Release
November 30, 2022

BC has a chance to protect the most endangered ecosystems and promote community economic, social and cultural well-being linked to nature conservation – and also to finally end the War in the Woods over old-growth forests.

In the lead-up to the UN Biodiversity Conference (COP15) in Montreal where 195 countries will meet next week to negotiate new international protected areas targets and policies, the Endangered Ecosystems Alliance (EEA) and the Ancient Forest Alliance (AFA) are calling on the BC government to commit to the federal protected areas targets to protect 25% by 2025 and 30% by 2030 its land and marine areas, at a bare minimum, and to ensure a significant federal-provincial funding package (the “Nature Agreement” that is currently being negotiated) that directs funding for the right “places, parties, and purposes” needed to ensure an effective protected areas system in BC.

The federal government has committed $3.3 billion over 5 years to expand terrestrial ($2.3 billion) and marine ($1 billion) protected areas, along with several billion dollars more for “natural climate solutions” that often overlap with nature protection initiatives.

BC’s share of those funds are between $200 to $400 million, yet the province has neither embraced the federal funds nor committed its own funds – nor even embraced the federal protected areas targets yet.

For the protection of the most at-risk old-growth stands, the federal government has also earmarked $55 million in a BC old-growth fund (a campaign for this fund was spearheaded by the Endangered Ecosystems Alliance with the Union of BC Indian Chiefs in 2020), contingent on BC providing matching funding for a total old-growth fund of $110 million – which again the BC government has not committed to.

For almost 2 years, the federal and BC governments have been in negotiations to develop a bi-lateral Nature Agreement on a funding package with protected areas targets for BC, yet still nothing has been announced just 1 week from the start of the UN Biodiversity Conference.

“Now is the time, in the lead-up to the UN Biodiversity Conference, for the BC government to commit to major federal funding and to provide its own funding on a sufficient scale. With significant funding and protected areas targets, including targets for all ecosystem types that ensures prioritization for the most underrepresented and at-risk ecosystems, such as the last of the ‘high-productivity’ old-growth stands with the biggest trees, we could see a historically unprecedented expansion of the protected areas system to safeguard the rarest and most endangered ecosystems in BC – and to end the half-century long ‘War in the Woods’. We’ve maintained for years that funding is the fundamental driver for protected areas expansion in BC, in particular to support First Nations sustainable economic development linked to new protected areas and for private land acquisition. Without this funding, major protected areas expansion in BC cannot happen at a scale and speed commensurate to the extinction and climate crises”, stated Ken Wu, Endangered Ecosystems Alliance Executive Director.

“Thousand-year-old trees with trunks as wide as living rooms and as tall as downtown skyscrapers are still being cut on a daily basis in BC. The provincial government has reaped billions from the logging of these highly endangered and irreplaceable ecosystems and now, with the planet facing a climate and biodiversity crisis that threatens the survival of even our own species, it’s time for them to give back. This means matching the federal government’s major funding commitments towards expanding protected areas in BC, adding additional funds of their own, and ensuring those funds are directed towards protecting the highest value forests that remain, not just scrub, rock, and ice. Leaving high-value old-growth forests standing needs to be made as economically viable for communities, even in the short term, as cutting them down”, stated TJ Watt, Campaigner and Photographer with the Ancient Forest Alliance.

AFA’s TJ Watt beside an old-growth redcedar stump near Port Renfrew in Pacheedaht territory.

Across BC, most old-growth forests and endangered ecosystems are on the unceded territories of diverse First Nations, whose consent is a legal necessity to establish new legislated protected areas in the province. The British Columbian government is currently under pressure to help finance First Nations old-growth logging deferrals and protection, in particular to fund First Nations sustainable businesses and jobs linked to new protected areas, a process known as “conservation financing”. Across BC, numerous First Nations have an economic dependency on old-growth timber revenues that has been facilitated and fostered by successive provincial governments. Unfortunately, the provincial government has not committed the key funding to First Nations to help them develop economic alternatives to old-growth logging (in such industries as tourism, clean energy, sustainable seafood, or non-timber forest products like wild mushrooms) as was done in years past to secure the protection for large sections of BC’s Central and North Coast (ie. the Great Bear Rainforest) and Haida Gwaii, and as is currently underway to protect most of Clayoquot Sound. Without the key funding, many or most cases First Nations will have no choice but to default back to the status quo of old-growth logging on large parts of their territories.

That is, major funding worth several hundred million dollars is needed to support sustainable economic alternatives (ie. business development) for First Nations communities linked to Indigenous Protected and Conserved Areas and old-growth logging deferrals. Compensation currently exists for First Nations forestry workers (ie. the labour side) via the province’s $185 million fund to support BC forestry workers affected by old-growth logging deferrals, while the province has also provided $12 million (an insufficient amount) to help First Nations undertake land-use planning, including assessing old-growth logging deferrals and the impacts to their communities. However, it is the “business side” of the equation – the largest part of funding needs, estimated to cost about $600 to $800 million for First Nations in order to supplant their old-growth logging interests (for example, to protect much of the Great Bear Rainforest, which is 6% of the land area in BC, $120 million in conservation financing was brought in from environmental groups and the provincial and federal governments, and tens of millions more in carbon offset funding) that will enable them to protect the most at-risk old-growth forests in BC – that is lacking from government at this time. Additional funds are also needed by First Nations to protect non-old-growth forest ecosystems as well – second-growth forests, grasslands, wetlands, etc.

At its core, to actually protect the most contested and endangered high-productivity old-growth forests sought after by the timber industry with the biggest trees and greatest biological richness, the conservation financing for First Nations businesses must be tied to supplanting old-growth logging interests specifically in the stands most coveted for logging. Simply providing capacity funding or labour support, or even economic development funding not linked to protecting the most valuable old-growth timber, is a recipe for the biggest and best old-growth stands to still fall, while new protected areas skirt around these monumental stands and instead protect smaller trees in the lower-productivity old-growth stands typically at higher elevations, in poor soils or in boggy landscapes, and that have fewer species at risk and which are far more represented in the existing protected areas system.

Unprotected old-growth forest at risk of future logging on Edinburgh Mountain near Port Renfrew in Pacheedaht territory.

In addition, to protect endangered ecosystems and old-growth forests on private lands, provincial and federal government funding is needed to purchase these lands. In BC, only about 5% of the lands are privately owned, concentrated on southeastern Vancouver Island, in the Lower Mainland, and in major river valleys in BC.

If the BC government ends up providing major funding and adopting the federal protected areas targets with a new Nature Agreement deal, there are still ways the agreement can come up short. For such a deal to be most effective, the funding must be directed to the key “places, parties, and purposes”:

Places: Priority must be given to the most endangered ecosystems that are most at risk from industry – in particular logging, agricultural conversion and suburban sprawl – in the major valley bottoms and lower elevations in southern BC where most of the people and industry are, and by no coincidence where most species and ecosystem at risk are. The government will tend to protect vast areas of lower productivity “rock and ice” – alpine areas at high elevations and far northern forests with minimal timber value in order to maximize the hectares protected for PR purposes and that minimize the impacts to most industries, which also minimizes protection for the vast majority of species and ecosystems at risk. These alpine, subalpine, far northern, and bog ecosystems are native ecosystems that deserve protection, but a far greater emphasis must be on saving the most contested, endangered ecosystems right now given the current ecological crisis.

The government also has to stop its “creative accounting” on how much they claim is protected in BC. About 15% of BC is in legislated protected areas – however, in some of its PR claims, the province has sometimes been adding an extra 4%, largely in tenuous conservation regulations, known as Old-Growth Management Areas and Wildlife Habitat Areas, that lack the permanency (OGMA’s can be moved around in chunks and logged, for example) and/or the standards (oil and gas and some logging is allowed in some types of WHA’s) of real protected areas.

Parties: Priority should be given to First Nations sustainable economic development linked to new protected areas and conservation reserves. Legally mandated corporate compensation for logging, mining and oil and gas companies should be years down the road – First Nations must come first, being Nations, as they decide the fate of their unceded territories. Land acquisition funding for private lands is also important.

In addition, as most First Nations have not initiated new land use planning processes where protected areas are decided, it is vital that much of the funding be “open” and uncommitted at this time to help drive protection options during the land use planning processes over the next couple years.

Purposes: Funding for the development of sustainable businesses for interested First Nations that is linked to new protected areas is by far the largest amount of funding needed – smaller funds are needed for First Nations capacity around land-use planning and deferral assessments and for interim jobs and labour needs. Without this core business development funding, protected areas will be add-ons that will largely skirt around the status quo of old-growth logging in the core areas with the biggest trees. The excuse of government saying that “First Nations haven’t been telling us they want conservation financing” is both incorrect in many cases, and often disingenuous when they haven’t even raised the possibility of any major conservation financing to First Nations.

Increasing the economic dependency of communities on old-growth logging, whether First Nations or non-First Nations, is the wrong approach for these conservation funds, including tenure buy-backs if they lack legal conservation measures to protect the remaining old-growth and endangered ecosystems.

Provincial funds are also needed from other sources – but not from the conservation funds of a Nature Agreement – to support incentives for a value-added, second-growth forest industry and the expansion of a smart, second-growth engineered wood products industry in general across BC.

It should also be noted that forestry revenue-sharing agreements do not constitute “conservation financing” for First Nations, contrary to the recent PR-spin of the BC government – quite the oppositive, it entrenches the economic dependency of the communities on old-growth logging (which would be akin to sharing oil and gas revenues, and then expecting the communities to then stop oil and gas activities).

“We hope the new Premier David Eby takes this chance for a major protected areas funding agreement of a sufficient size and with ambitious targets, aimed at the most endangered ecosystems and that prioritizes support for First Nations. He can end the War in the Woods and ensure the protection of the amazing diversity of endangered ecosystems across BC – what a great start to his first 100 days that would be and a historic leap forward for the planet!” stated Ken Wu, Endangered Ecosystems Alliance Executive Director.

EEA Excutive Director, Ken Wu, beside an incredible unproteted old-growth redcedar at Jurassic Grove near Port Renfrew in Pacheedaht territory.

More background info:

Old-growth forests are vital to support endangered species, First Nations cultures, the climate, clean water, wild salmon, and tourism.

Protecting nature is not only vital to avert the extinction crisis and the climate crisis (by drawing down vast amounts of atmospheric carbon into protected forests, grasslands, and wetlands) but research shows that nature and protected areas are vital for our health and for the economy.

Increasing studies show that being in forests and nature supports our mental and physical health, reducing all sorts of ailments and boosting our immune systems. Recent research has even shown that many trees and plants emit a defensive compound called “phytoncides” which boost our immune systems when we breathe them in.

Studies also show that protected areas, including protecting old-growth forests, attract and foster more diverse, resilient, and prosperous economies, including supporting businesses and jobs in the tourism and recreation sectors; commercial and recreational fishing industry by sustaining clean water and fish habitat; real estate industry by enhancing property values in communities near protected green spaces; non-timber forest products industries like wild mushroom harvesting; high tech sector by attracting skilled labour that locates to areas with a greater environmental quality of life; and by providing numerous ecosystem services that benefit businesses.

The province appointed an independent science team, the Technical Advisory Panel, in 2021 who recommended that logging be deferred on 2.6 million hectares of land with the grandest (biggest trees), oldest and, rarest old-growth stands while First Nations land use plans are developed over a couple years to decide which areas are permanently protected in legislation. These recommended deferral areas have been put forward by the BC government for the consent of local First Nations to decide which areas get deferred. Currently about 1 million of the recommended 2.6 million hectares (ie. 40%) are under deferral, while some areas have been logged. Unfortunately, the provincial government has not committed any concrete funding to First Nations to offset their lost revenues should they accept old-growth logging deferrals in areas where they have logging interests, nor to help them develop economic alternatives to old-growth logging.

EEA Executive Director, Ken Wu, by an old-growth Douglas-fir in the Nahmint Valley near Port Alberni on Vancouver Island in Hupacasath, Tseshaht, & Uclulet territory.

Spin-filled Announcement Reveals BC Government’s Failure to Ensure Net Gains in Old-Growth Logging Deferrals

/in

VICTORIA / UNCEDED LEKWUNGEN TERRITORIES – Yesterday the BC government released new and misleading statistics about old-growth logging on the one year anniversary of its science panel’s recommendations that logging should be deferred on millions of hectares of the most at-risk old-growth forests in BC. In November of 2021, the province’s independent science panel, the Technical Advisory Panel, recommended that the rarest, grandest, and oldest fraction of the remaining unprotected old-growth forests in BC, totalling 2.6 million hectares, be deferred from logging, while the province developed new management policies and legislation based on its Old-Growth Strategic Review panel’s recommendations.

Based on the BC government’s statistics (ie. the same ones they used last time), there has been no net increase in the deferred area since the BC government’s last official update in April, when they reported that 1.05 million hectares of the 2.6 million hectares (about 40%) recommended area had been deferred.

The implementation of the logging deferrals is contingent on the consent of local First Nations, whose unceded territories these are. However, the province has thus far failed to provide the critical funding for First Nations sustainable economic alternatives (to help develop such industries as tourism, clean energy, sustainable seafood, non-timber forest products, value-added second-growth forestry, etc) to offset and replace their reliance on old-growth timber revenues (in the form of logging tenures, joint venture agreements, and revenue-sharing agreements) that would make it economically feasible for most First Nations to support the deferrals and to protect old-growth forests. This funding process is known as “conservation financing”, and was undertaken in the Great Bear Rainforest and Haida Gwaii with a mix of funding from conservation organizations and the provincial and federal governments, and is currently underway in Clayoquot Sound, enabling significant protection levels for old-growth forests in those regions.

The lack of progress of any net gain in old-growth deferrals – the precursor to permanent, legislated protection – with still no announcement of vital provincial funding for First Nations sustainable economic development linked to the development of new protected areas, reveal’s the provincial NDP government’s efforts to contain change against the status quo of old-growth logging, while thousands of hectares of old-growth forests continue to fall each year.

Ancient Forest Alliance Photographer & Campaigner, TJ Watt, stands on top of a freshly cut stump in an old-growth forest recommended for deferral on southern Vancouver Island, BC.

“The BC government for many months now has been backsliding on their old-growth commitments, working to delay, deflect and slow the momentum for significant policy change for old-growth forests, away from the ‘paradigm shift’ that they committed to in theory in 2020. Instead of changing their ways, they’re changing their PR again. David Eby, the new premier of BC, can veer away from the anti-environmental backsliding of the BC government. He has said he wants to speed up the implementation of the province’s old-growth plans when he takes the reigns soon. This will require major funding specifically for First Nations sustainable economic development and for private land acquisition, that is, a commitment of many hundreds of million of dollars from the province alone, which should be combined with other funding sources including federal and non-profit conservation funds. This is the key to speeding up both deferrals and to enabling the permanent protection of those forests – I can’t stress that enough. There can be no ‘paradigm shift’ without the funding, the key missing piece here”, stated Ken Wu, Endangered Ecosystems Alliance executive director.

Furthermore, the province seems to be returning to its old ways of undertaking major misleading PR-spin and sophistry in their press releases.

Their press release for example noted a decline in the amount of old growth logging between 2015 and 2021, from 65,500 to 38,300 hectares logged, but failed to mention that overall logging rates have declined across the province for well over a decade due to a diminishing timber supply from massive pine beetle kill and wildfires as a result of climate change (exacerbated by old-growth logging) and by old-growth logging itself (leaving lower volume second-growth stands behind and fewer jobs, a process known as the “falldown effect”), and failing to attribute how much of the decline has been due to the logging deferrals since the initial set of deferrals in 2020.

Old-growth logs are hauled out of the woods in 2022 on southern Vancouver Island, BC.

In addition, the province’s press release minimizes the amount of old-growth forests that are still at risk, stating “In total, approximately 80% of the priority at-risk old growth identified by the panel is not threatened by logging because it is permanently protected, covered by recent deferrals and/or not economic to harvest.” This figure is based on the province’s repeated, misleading use of the figure that 4 million hectares of the most at-risk old-growth forests remain, and that only 800,000 hectares are at risk of logging. However, they fail to mention the context of the original amount (a bread-and-butter tactic of their PR-spin), that there were once about 20 million hectares of such forests in BC (ie. the vast majority of the medium to high productivity old-growth forests have been logged where most forest giants grow), and that 1.4 million hectares of the remaining fraction was in pre-existing protected areas and forest reserves, much of it for decades, unrelated to province’s old-growth plan. In addition, their reference to old-growth forests that are “not economic to harvest” refers to about 700,000 hectares of at-risk old-growth forests that are largely outside the Timber Harvesting Land Base – but which get added in (ie. will still get cut) as old-growth forests are logged-out in adjacent areas, thus making previously uneconomic stands economic to then harvest (ie. being outside the Timber Harvesting Land Base is not secure nor a conservation designation).

Old-growth forests are vital to support endangered species, the climate, clean water, wild salmon, First Nations cultures, tourism and recreation. Old-growth forests possess distinctive structures, biodiversity, and functions that are not replicated by the ensuing second-growth tree plantations that they are being replaced with, which are re-logged every 50 to 80 years in BC, never to become old-growth again. Virtually all industrialized countries are now logging second and third-growth forests (eg. 100 year old not 1000 year old trees), as is much of the rest of Canada, and BC is one of the last industrialized jurisdictions that supports the large-scale commercial logging of old-growth forests.

“For over a decade now we have been telling successive BC governments that the only pathway forward for old-growth protection in BC is to provide conservation financing for First Nations communities and to implement a provincial land acquisition fund to protect private lands,” said TJ Watt of the Ancient Forest Alliance “Now, since we have not seen the necessary funding put on the table to offset lost revenues from forgoing logging, we are seeing the BC government failing to keep its own promises to protect our most at-risk forests. My before and after photos of giant old-growth trees standing and then cut reveal exactly what that looks like on the ground.”

Ancient Forest Alliance Photographer & Campaigner, TJ Watt, beside a giant redcedar tree before and after it was cut in an old-growth forest recommended for deferral in the Caycuse watershed in Ditidaht territory on Vancouver Island, BC.

“The province seems to be returning to its ‘bad old days’ of terrible PR-spin and sophistry when it comes to the state of old-growth forests in BC, inflating the amount that remains and masking the amount at risk to deflect for their lack of progress in protecting them. It’s disingenuous for the province to somehow insinuate that the drop in old-growth harvest levels from 2015 are due to their policies – they weren’t even around in 2015 and it wasn’t until late 2020 when they committed to the Old-Growth Strategic Review panel recommendations – while total harvest levels have been dropping for about 15 years due to overcutting (ie. running out of old-growth from logging) and climate-change driven impacts of pine beetle and wildfires. Similarly, the classic spin of playing with statistics – of removing the context of how much has already been logged, and then cobbling together a variety of disparate and misleading categories to beef up the numbers of how much old-growth they’ve ‘saved’ signals that they are hiding their lack of progress and trying to contain change against the status quo of old-growth liquidation”, stated Ken Wu, Endangered Ecosystems Alliance executive director. “But with the political will and major new funding, with an incoming new leader, they can change this quickly. Let’s see what happens here.”

The Endangered Ecosystems Alliance and Ancient Forest Alliance have been working with the Nature-Based Solutions Initiative to help fund First Nations old-growth protection initiatives and to buy old-growth forests on private lands, a project known as the Old-Growth Solutions Initiative.

New before & after images reveal shocking impacts of old-growth logging on Vancouver Island

/in

For immediate release, Tuesday, Oct. 18, 2022:

New before & after images reveal shocking impacts of old-growth logging on Vancouver Island

Images highlight the critical need for conservation financing to help secure old-growth logging deferrals and eventual permanent protection.

VICTORIA (Unceded Lekwungen Territories) – The Ancient Forest Alliance has just released a new series of shocking before and after images and videos that expose the ongoing impacts of old-growth logging in British Columbia, highlighting the critical need for conservation financing from the province to help secure old-growth deferrals and permanent protection. Captured between 2020-2022 by Ancient Forest Alliance Photographer & Campaigner, TJ Watt, the images feature centuries-old redcedar trees standing and then cut down in the upper and lower Caycuse Valley in Ditidaht territory on southern Vancouver Island.

The series is part of work Watt has created with support from the Trebek Initiative, a grantmaking partnership between the National Geographic Society and the Royal Canadian Geographical Society that supports emerging Canadian explorers, scientists, photographers, geographers, and educators with a goal of using storytelling to ignite “a passion to preserve” in all Canadians. Watt was among the first round of grant recipients in 2021 and was named a National Geographic Explorer and Royal Canadian Geographical Society Explorer.

The new before and after images can also be viewed on an interactive page on the Ancient Forest Alliance website that allows viewers to reveal either the tree or the stump.

“Capturing these before and after images is a difficult process – both technically and emotionally – but I’m committed to exposing the ongoing threats ancient forests face until legislated protection can be achieved for them,” stated Watt. “Only when seeing a side-by-side comparison can one truly grasp the scale of loss and devastation from old-growth logging. Once cut down, not even our great, great-grandchildren will have the chance to see a forest like that there again.”

In 2021, the provincial government accepted, in principle, a recommendation from their appointed independent science panel, the Technical Advisory Panel, to defer logging on 2.6 million hectares of the most at-risk old-growth forests in BC, pending approval from local First Nations. However, more than a year on, less than half of these areas have been secured for deferral and some recommended areas, such as these, continue to be logged, as the province has failed to provide the requisite financing for First Nations needed to enable the full suite of deferrals.

Many of the groves and trees pictured in this latest series were identified as priority ‘big-tree’ old-growth forests that met the criteria for temporary deferral by the Technical Advisory Panel. In some locations, the forests were logged just months before the recommendations came into effect, while in others, deferrals were not secured in time before logging took place.

“In 2019-2020, I captured my original series of before and after images in the Caycuse watershed which went viral around the world and still draws attention to the issue of old-growth logging today. People were shocked to see that trees of this age and size were still being clearcut while the BC government made bold promises to protect old-growth forests. Now in 2022, much of the forests surrounding that original location have met with the same fate”, stated Watt.

Watt also notes, “The fundamental issue holding up the full implementation of old-growth logging deferrals – and the ultimate protection of old-growth forests across the province – is the BC government’s failure to provide significant conservation financing for First Nations communities, which would allow them to reasonably forgo their old-growth logging revenues and facilitate a transition into a more diversified economy associated with the establishment of new, Indigenous-led protected areas. Without this funding, enacting the full suite of old-growth logging deferrals and permanent old-growth protection will be virtually impossible to achieve.”

The federal government has committed $2.3 billion to expand protected areas across Canada, and $1.4 billion for nature-oriented solutions to climate change. Of this, several hundred million dollars are available for the expansion of protected areas in BC, including in old-growth forests. $55 million has also been specifically allocated to protect old-growth forests in BC, with the promise of more should the BC government get on board.

Under pressure, the BC government put forward $185 million in Budget 2022 to support forestry workers and communities affected by old-growth deferrals (with a smaller subset going towards First Nations forestry workers) and $12.69 million to assist First Nations in reviewing deferral options and next steps. However, these funds still fall far short of the total amount needed and are not intended to support First Nations-owned sustainable businesses (in such industries as tourism, clean energy, sustainable seafood, and non-timber forest products) in lieu of old-growth logging – the most critical missing funding piece.

“The Ancient Forest Alliance has been calling on the BC government to establish a dedicated fund of at least $300 million to support Indigenous-led old-growth logging deferrals, land-use plans, and protected areas alone. This would include funding for Indigenous Guardians programs, offsetting the lost revenues for logging deferrals, and supporting the sustainable economic diversification of First Nations communities in lieu of old-growth logging linked to the establishment of Indigenous Protected Areas.” stated Watt.

In the meantime, Watt has full intentions to continue exploring and documenting endangered old-growth forests, which are vital to sustaining unique endangered species, climate stability, eco-tourism, clean water, wild salmon, and the cultures of many First Nations.

“It’s my mission to hold the government to account on their promises to protect old-growth forests and inspire a much more diverse movement of people to speak up for their protection. These ancient ecosystems with their 500-1000 year old trees are irreplaceable. I will continue to expose their destruction until it stops.”

Media Release: Two Years into Old-Growth Strategic Review mandate, BC is failing to deliver change on the ground

/in

For Immediate Release, September 8, 2022:

Two years into Old-Growth Strategic Review mandate, BC is failing to deliver change on the ground

Environmental organizations call for immediate action to make the promised paradigm shift a reality as at-risk forests continue to be destroyed

VICTORIA / UNCEDED LEKWUNGEN TERRITORIES – Two years after the provincial government released the report of its Old-Growth Strategic Review (OGSR) panel, Ancient Forest Alliance, Sierra Club BC, Stand.earth and the Wilderness Committee have given B.C. failing grades for its progress to protect threatened old-growth forests. Grades for four of five key issues fell since the last report card, with time running out to address delays before it’s too late to safeguard remaining endangered old-growth forests.

View Full Report Card Image Here

The OGSR report, released Sept. 11, 2020, makes clear recommendations to keep at-risk old-growth forests standing and overhaul forest stewardship within three years. However, the B.C. NDP government has fallen far behind, so far completing none of the panel’s 14 recommendations two-thirds of the way through the three-year timeline laid out in the report.

“Two of the three years to implement the B.C. government promises on old-growth have passed. Yet, clearcutting of irreplaceable, endangered old-growth continues, even in the most-at-risk stands,” says Jens Wieting, Senior Forest and Climate Campaigner at Sierra Club BC. “Instead of changing course, we are still marching towards ecosystem and climate breakdown. The window for action is closing. The next premier of B.C. must act swiftly before it’s too late.”

Following the assessment of a second expert group, the Technical Advisory Panel (TAP) in 2021, last November, the province released mapping of five million hectares of unprotected, at-risk old-growth and stated its intention to temporarily defer logging for about half of that (2.6 million hectares) considered most at-risk in the short-term. The TAP scientists emphasized deferrals were needed, especially for areas where logging was already planned, which they expected to encompass about 50,000 hectares. In April 2022, Forest Minister Katrine Conroy announced that a little over one million hectares of these deferrals had been finalized — leaving more than half of the most at-risk old-growth forests open for logging — but was unclear about which deferrals would actually stop permitted logging. Ongoing monitoring via field assessments and satellite analysis show clearcutting continues in stands recommended for deferral. It’s resulting in the loss of tens of thousands of hectares of the most ecologically valuable forests.

“With one hand, the province is signing off on logging and road building in proposed old growth deferrals, and with the other it’s congratulating itself for saving the forests,” says Tegan Hansen, Senior Forest Campaigner at Stand.earth. “Deferrals are meaningful when they stop logging, not as a political talking point. We need to see this government live up to its promises and prevent the destruction of the most at-risk old-growth forests.”

The B.C. NDP government has stated it will not halt logging without agreement from First Nations, but has not offered adequate funding to address the economic impacts of foregoing logging for short-term deferrals, or for long-term protection. The organizations are urging the province to immediately provide full financial support to First Nations to ensure logging is deferred in all at-risk old-growth forests, as called for by the Union of BC Indian Chiefs in June.

“If the province is serious about protecting old-growth, they must come forward with at least $300 million in conservation financing for First Nations to address the economic impacts of accepting short-term logging deferrals and enacting long-term protection measures for old-growth, and leverage the federal funding available to expand protected areas in Canada,” states TJ Watt of the Ancient Forest Alliance. “Without that funding, which the province must be fully aware is critical for these efforts to succeed, progress will remain stalled and irreplaceable ancient forests will continue to fall.”

In their bi-annual report card, the four organizations gave the B.C. government a D for funding provided to date, and the same grade for the deferrals enacted so far. For transparency and communication on old-growth, the province received a D-. And for changing course to prioritize ecological health and providing a three-year timeline to implement the OGSR’s recommendations, the province earned failing grades.

Over the summer, the provincial government has remained tight-lipped about old-growth forests. In the meantime, images of logging in proposed deferral areas have garnered attention and public frustration with the ongoing destruction of irreplaceable forests in B.C.

“The recommendations of the OGSR are clear and measurable, and this government told the public it would act on them with urgency. What we’ve seen in the two years since is the opposite, a slow, plodding approach that’s not at all indicative of a paradigm shift,” says Torrance Coste, National Campaign Director for the Wilderness Committee. “Ultimately, the score that matters is the one kept in the forests themselves. And the fields of fresh clearcuts in endangered old-growth underscore the NDP government’s failure to protect the most threatened forests.”

Ancient Forest Alliance, Sierra Club BC, Stand.earth, and the Wilderness Committee will continue to mobilize the public, document ongoing old-growth logging and partner with First Nations, community groups, municipalities, unions and businesses to advance meaningful protection for threatened old-growth forests and a paradigm shift that puts ecological integrity and the wellbeing of communities over short-term timber values.

Canada’s fourth-widest tree found in North Vancouver

/in

 

Canada’s fourth-widest tree found in North Vancouver

Canada’s fourth-widest tree was found in the Lynn Headwaters Regional Park in North Vancouver, a giant western redcedar that is likely the widest tree found in Canada in over 34 years. 

VICTORIA (Unceded Lekwungen Territories) – Two big tree hunters from Vancouver have just identified the fourth-widest known tree in Canada: an ancient western redcedar tentatively measured at over 5.8 metres (19.1 feet) in diameter and well over a thousand years old. Nicknamed “The North Shore Giant”, this ancient colossus was found by Colin Spratt, a Vancouver big-tree hunter, and Ian Thomas of the Ancient Forest Alliance, on an expedition deep into the remote reaches of Vancouver’s Lynn Headwaters Regional Park in the territory of the xʷməθkwəy̓əm (Musqueam), skwxwú7mesh (Squamish), and səl̓ílwətaɬ (Tsleil-Waututh) Nations. 

Ian Thomas of the Ancient Forest Alliance measures the North Shore Giant, the 4th widest tree in Canada, newly identified in a remote corner of Lynn Valley in North Vancouver. Photo Credit Colin Spratt.

Lynn Valley has long been renowned for its giant trees. In fact, the tallest trees on Earth might once have grown there, but aggressive logging in the 19th and early 20th centuries eliminated most of those superlative forests. Throughout much of Lynn Valley, gargantuan, castle-like stumps are all that remain of the ancient trees that once dominated the region. However, in the depths of the watershed, far from the established trails, are remnants of that original old-growth forest – enormous trees many centuries old, still surviving a stone’s throw from the thriving metropolis of Vancouver. 

“Finding this colossal ancient tree just demonstrates the sublime grandeur of these old-growth temperate rainforests,” stated Ancient Forest Alliance researcher Ian Thomas.  “Luckily this incredible being and the impressive grove in which it stands is safe in a park. Most of our richest ancient forests are still unprotected and in danger of being logged. Even now in Canada, in the year 2022, trees as old as this giant, and entire groves like this one, are still being cut down on an industrial scale.”

The terrain is extremely rugged, with sheer cliffs, treacherous boulder fields, steep ravines, and dense underbrush, which has allowed these monumental trees to remain hidden for so long. The North Shore Giant grows on the slopes west of Lynn Creek on a boulder field among other magnificent ancient redcedars. Further groves of giant trees are found nearby, including one containing Canada’s fifth widest known western hemlock, identified mere hours before the North Shore Giant. The area represents one of the most magnificent tracts of productive ancient forest left in BC.

 

 

Ian Thomas of the Ancient Forest Alliance beside the North Shore Giant, the 4th widest tree in Canada, newly identified in a remote corner of Lynn Valley in North Vancouver. Photo Credit Colin Spratt.

Colin Spratt and Ian Thomas set out to fully document and explore this incredible ancient forest. On their second expedition and after bushwacking for 10 hours, they finally arrived at the North Shore Giant and realized that this could be the widest tree that has been found in Canada in over 34 years. The current diameter measurement is a preliminary one, following the methodology of the American Forest Association’s Champion Trees Program, which has been the standard used by BC’s own official big-tree registry. Soon, members of the British Columbia Big Tree Committee will visit the tree to confirm the diameter and take official height and crown measurements for entry into BC’s Big Tree Registry.

“When I first saw the tree, I froze in my tracks and the blood drained from my face. I started getting dizzy as I realized it was one of the largest cedars ever found, and one of the most amazing life forms left on earth. Finding this tree is an incredible reminder of what is still out there in the less explored old-growth forests. It’s sobering to realize that in so many areas of BC, unprotected trees and groves just as rare and precious are still being cut down,” said big-tree hunter Colin Spratt.

Big-tree hunter Colin Spratt beside the North Shore Giant, the 4th widest tree in Canada, newly identified in a remote corner of Lynn Valley in North Vancouver. Photo Credit Ian Thomas.

 

 

“This is one of the most remarkable big-tree finds of this century and it just shows how special the old-growth forests in BC are. Unfortunately, unless the BC government hurries up and provides the critical funding – several hundred million dollars more, which is peanuts if you look at their other massive spending projects – they will ensure that the status quo of industrial clearcutting of the last unprotected old-growth stands occurs. In particular, support for Indigenous old-growth protection initiatives and the associated sustainable economic development in the communities is needed, along with a major, dedicated land acquisition fund to purchase and protect old-growth forests on private lands. They can fix all of this if they wanted to in their upcoming budget,” said TJ Watt, Ancient Forest Alliance campaigner and photographer.

 

 

 

-30-

Background Info on Endangered Old-Growth Forests in BC

Old-growth forests have unique characteristics not found in the ensuing second-growth tree plantations that they are being replaced with and which are re-logged every 50 to 60 years on BC’s coast – never to become old-growth again. 

Old-growth forests are vital to support endangered species, the multi-billion dollar tourism industry, carbon storage, clean water, wild salmon, and First Nations cultures. Well over 90% of the high productivity old-growth forests with the biggest trees and over 80% of the medium productivity old-growth forests have been logged in BC. 

In September of 2020 after the release of the report of their public input panel, the Old-Growth Strategic Review Panel, the BC government opened the door to a major policy overhaul in old-growth forest management for the first time in decades. In the summer of 2021, they commissioned a top science team that identified 2.6 million hectares of the most at-risk old-growth forests (the grandest, oldest and rarest stands) for deferrals on logging, pending First Nations consent.

About 1.05 million hectares or 40% of these priority stands, an area about the size of Jasper National Park, have now been placed under deferral from logging by First Nations and by BC Timber Sales (the BC government’s logging agency).

Permanent, legislated protection for most of these stands and others will take at least a couple of years while First Nations develop land use plans (a complex process) to determine which areas get protected via new Indigenous Protected Areas (via Provincial Conservancy legislation) and forest reserves.

The fundamental issue holding up the implementation of old-growth logging deferrals for much of the remaining 60% of undeferred, most at-risk old-growth forests and the ultimate protection of old-growth forests across BC, is the BC government’s lack of commitment to the critical funding needed for First Nations to defer logging and to protect old-growth forests.

Across BC, old-growth forests are on the unceded lands of diverse First Nations, whose support is legally necessary for the establishment of new legislated protected areas.  

Successive BC governments have facilitated and fostered an economic dependency in First Nations communities on old-growth logging revenues and jobs, in the form of revenue-sharing, employment, joint venture, and tenure agreements. 

Therefore, in order to reasonably forgo their old-growth logging revenues and to protect old-growth forests on a major scale, First Nations communities require critical funding from the provincial and federal governments to help build an alternative sustainable economy in tourism, clean energy, non-timber forest products (eg. wild mushrooms), sustainable seafood, and value-added, second-growth forestry linked to protecting old-growth forests.

Such an approach, called “conservation financing,” was implemented in the Great Bear Rainforest in 2006 (where $120 million from environmental groups, the BC government, and the federal government-funded old-growth protection and First Nations jobs and business development) and is now underway in Clayoquot Sound, resulting in the greatest old-growth protection levels in BC and significant economic development and jobs for First Nations.

Government funding is also needed to support forestry workers and communities in general affected by major land-use changes, along with compensation under the law for major timber licensees.

To protect old-growth forests on private lands, a provincial land acquisition fund is also needed to purchase and protect such lands. The BC government has not provided any major dedicated funds for private land acquisition. 

All told, well over a billion dollars in governmental funding will be needed to protect the remaining old-growth forests, which must be provided by the provincial government, which has the direct responsibility for provincial forest policy, and the federal government, which is already providing significant funding to expand protected areas in BC.

The federal government has allocated a $2.3 billion fund to expand protected areas in Canada and $1.4 billion for nature-oriented solutions to climate change, including old-growth protection, much of which can and is being made available for First Nations Indigenous Protected and Conserved Areas (IPCA) initiatives. In total, between the two federal funds, roughly $300 to $400 million are available from the federal government to expand protected areas in BC – if the BC government were to embrace this federal funding and allow the flow of these funds into the province on a major scale. Currently, the province is slowly and carefully undertaking negotiations with the federal government on how and where these federal funds can potentially be spent in the province.

Under massive pressure, the province has put forward $185 million over the next 3 years, primarily for forestry workers as well as for communities and businesses, to help finance the transition from old-growth logging due to the deferrals. Perhaps half of these funds (maybe $90 million) will go to First Nations workers and communities – an insufficient sum. So far, the province is providing only about one-third of the $300 million that the province must provide to First Nations to match the roughly $300 million or more that the federal government is making available to expand protected areas in BC (including in old-growth forests). 

In addition, the BC government has not yet embraced Canada’s national protected areas targets of 25% by 2025 and 30% by 2030 of the land and marine areas in the country, as the country heads towards hosting the UN Biodiversity Conference in December of this year.