Conservationists optimistic over David Eby’s commitments to protect BC’s biodiversity

December 11, 2022
CBC News
By Chad Pawson

Land stewardship mandate letter calls for 30 per cent of BC’s land base to be protected by 2030

In mandate letters to his land stewardship and forestry ministers, BC Premier David Eby says he wants to double the amount of protected land in the province, support new Indigenous Protected and Conserved Areas, and move faster on recommendations around the logging of old growth trees.

They’re conservation goals advocates have been calling on for years to protect BC’s unique biodiversity, which has thousands of species at risk due to development and climate change.

“This is potentially a major leap toward protecting endangered ecosystems and the most at-risk, productive stands of old-growth forests left in BC,” said Ken Wu in a release from the Endangered Ecosystems Alliance.

Experts say protected areas help mitigate the worst effects of climate change, contribute to diversifying local economies and advance reconciliation with First Nations.

This week, Eby named his first cabinet as premier, with former energy and mines minister Bruce Ralston taking on forestry and Nathan Cullen replacing Josie Osborne as the minister for water, land and resource stewardship. The new ministry was put in place in February.

The tone of the letters appears to usher in the type of science-based, holistic approach to conservation and biodiversity in the province that people like Wu have been asking for from the BC government.

“We have seen the impacts of short-term thinking on the British Columbia land base — exhausted forests, poisoned water, and contaminated sites,” wrote Eby is his mandate letter to Cullen.

“These impacts don’t just cost the public money to clean up and rehabilitate, they threaten the ability of entire communities to thrive and succeed.”

The highlight is finding ways to partner with the federal government, First Nations, industry and communities to protect 30 per cent of BC’s landbase by 2030, including Indigenous Protected and Conserved Areas (IPCAs).

IPCAs are lands and waters where Indigenous governments have the primary role in protecting and conserving ecosystems through Indigenous laws, governance and knowledge.

“Research shows that biodiversity thrives on Indigenous-managed lands and waters,” said Tori Ball with the Canadian Parks and Wilderness Society, British Columbia.

Canada is committed to protecting 25 per cent of lands and 25 per cent of oceans by 2025,and 30 per cent of each by 2030.

Currently protected lands cover around 15 per cent of BC’s land base. Critics say ecological zones with the highest biodiversity are underrepresented.

Old growth

Both letters also ask for the ministers to implement 14 recommendations made more than two years ago in a review of how old growth trees are logged in BC, specifically transitioning to an industry that prioritizes the health of ecosystems.

Critics say the government has so far moved too slowly on action items as old growth trees in ecologically-rich areas continue to be logged.

Cullen’s mandate letter also calls for the development of a “new conservation financing mechanism to support protection of biodiverse areas,” but does not expand on what that might be or how it would work.

BC has yet to announce matching funding from the federal government, which ear-marked $55.1 million over three years to establish a BC “Old Growth Nature Fund” in its budget earlier this year.

The Sierra Club of BC said that reaching the commitments in the letters will depend on immediacy, proper funding, and transparency over timelines and milestones.

“Without immediate change on the ground the window of action to safeguard biodiversity as we know it is rapidly closing,” said Jens Wieting with Sierra Club BC.

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Thank you to all who attended our 2022 Year-End Celebration & Fundraiser!

Thank you to all who attended the Ancient Forest Alliance’s amazing 2022 Year-End Celebration & Fundraiser last week at the Victoria Event Centre! Below are a few snapshots of the evening. It was wonderful to connect in person again and we are grateful to have such a passionate, kind, and generous community standing with us!

We’d also like to share a special thank you to those who helped make the night a success: AFA’s hardworking volunteers, the Victoria Event Centre staff, photographer Hélène Cyr, videographer Jim Vanderhorst, and finally, Market on Yates and Wildfire Bakery for their donations towards the delicious selection of appetizers and treats!

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

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.

BC vows to reverse ‘short-term thinking’ with pledge to protect 30% of province by 2030

December 8th, 2022
The Narwhal
By Sarah Cox

Advocates say Premier David Eby’s conservation mandate is an ‘important step’ in the fight against biodiversity loss in BC, which is home to nearly 700 globally imperilled species

The BC government has committed to protecting 30 per cent of the province’s land by 2030, joining global efforts to protect nature and reverse potentially disastrous biodiversity loss.

The commitment to double BC’s current land protections was made in Premier David Eby’s mandate letter to Nathan Cullen, BC’s new Minister of Water, Land and Resource Stewardship. Eby instructed Cullen to ensure land operations in the province guarantee sustainability for future generations and to work closely with Indigenous communities to achieve that goal.

“We have seen the impacts of short-term thinking on the British Columbia land base — exhausted forests, poisoned water and contaminated sites,” Eby’s letter states. “These impacts don’t just cost the public money to clean up and rehabilitate, they threaten the ability of entire communities to thrive and succeed.”

The letter instructs Cullen to partner with the federal government, industry and communities, and to work with Indigenous communities to reach the 2030 protection goal, including through the creation of Indigenous Protected and Conserved Areas. Indigenous Protected and Conserved Areas (IPCAs) are gaining recognition worldwide for their role in preserving biodiversity and securing a space where communities can actively practice Indigenous ways of life.

“By planning carefully, we can ensure our province enjoys the best of economic development while conserving wild spaces,” Eby writes. “Indigenous partners in this critical work can bring their expertise, knowledge and priorities to the table to ensure this effort lasts for generations.”

BC is poised to announce a long-awaited nature agreement with the federal government that will include a commitment to new protected areas and, according to internal documents obtained by The Narwhal, new protections for “high profile” species such as boreal caribou and spotted owls. The agreement is referenced in Cullen’s mandate letter, but no details are provided other than that it includes the goal to protect 30 per cent of the province by 2030.

About 15 per cent of BC’s land is currently conserved in provincial and federal protected areas.

All members of BC’s new cabinet received mandate letters Dec. 7 following a cabinet shuffle that saw Cullen’s predecessor Josie Osborne moved to the Ministry of Energy, Mines and Low Carbon Innovation.

In Cullen’s letter, Eby also asks the MLA for Stikine to work with other ministries to develop a “new conservation financing mechanism to support protection of biodiverse areas.”

Conservation groups were quick to applaud the commitments — made as delegates from around the world gather in Montreal for COP15, the United Nations biodiversity conference — calling the news “very encouraging,” “fantastic” and “worthy of international and national attention.”

“It’s great to see provinces like BC and Quebec recognizing that the environment and protecting nature is critical, not just for nature, but for the well-being of people and the prosperity of our society,” Dan Kraus, director of national conservation for Wildlife Conservation Society Canada, told The Narwhal, referring to a recent commitment by the Quebec government to protect 30 per cent of its territory by 2030.

Ken Wu, executive director of the Endangered Ecosystems Alliance, said BC should be commended for committing to federal targets for protecting nature and biodiversity.

“It’s more than what most provinces have done,” Wu said in an interview. “With the exception of Quebec, most provinces have been conservation laggards both in terms of target and in terms of providing funding. So this is an important step.”

Gillian Staveley, director of land stewardship and culture with the Dena Kayeh Institute, said she is pleased the BC government is “finally” talking about Indigenous Protected and Conserved Areas. She praised the “cross-government approach” and called the minister’s letter a “strong mandate.”

“We look forward to rolling up our sleeves and meeting with Minister Cullen as soon as possible to get discussion underway in the work with BC to really make our proposed IPCA a reality for the benefit of all British Columbians,” Staveley texted as she boarded a flight to Montreal to attend COP15.

The Kaska Dena aim to protect a wildlife-rich area in their territory, known as the “Serengeti of the North,” through a proposed Indigenous protected area that would conserve a 40,000 square-kilometre region.

The Kaska protected area in northern BC would surround or connect to six existing protected areas, conserving watersheds and critical habitat for caribou and other species at risk of extinction while creating sustainable jobs. Staveley noted that Cullen has always been supportive of Dene K’eh Kusān, which in Kaska Dena means “always will be there.”

“Having 30 by 30 as a policy priority is also a big step towards the action we need,” Staveley said. “It leaves us hopeful that Premier Eby intends to be an activist premier and he understands the urgency to getting these protections in place to address climate change and loss of biodiversity.”

BC called the ‘biodiversity jewel’ of Canada

Wu and Kraus said they will be watching closely to see which areas of BC are protected, noting it’s of paramount importance to conserve areas at the highest risk of biodiversity loss.

Kraus called BC the “biodiversity jewel” of Canada. The province has almost 700 globally imperilled species, more than any other province or territory, and a high number of globally threatened ecosystems — 88 at last count, but Kraus noted that ecosystems are not tracked nearly as well as individual species. BC also ranks number one in Canada for endemic species, which top 100. Endemic species do not occur naturally in any other part of the world.

“What happens in BC is critical for meeting both national and global biodiversity targets,” Kraus said.

Places with high numbers of threatened species and globally imperilled ecosystems include the Lower Mainland and Okanagan area in BC’s interior, as well as the provincial capital area of Victoria where almost nothing remains of the now-rare Garry Oak ecosystem that once carpeted the region.

“We do know where those places are,” Kraus said. “And that focus on biodiversity areas allows us to protect habitat that will [conserve] a whole bunch of species at risk — globally imperiled species [and] nationally imperiled species that aren’t yet listed under the Species At Risk Act … we can be proactive in conserving them by protecting those habitat areas.”

Eby’s letter also instructs Cullen to “protect wildlife and species at risk.” It makes no mention of enacting a stand-alone law to protect BC’s growing number of species and ecosystems at risk of extinction, as promised in the 2017 mandate letter for BC Minister of Environment and Climate Change George Heyman — but then quietly dropped by the BC NDP government.

Instead, Cullen is asked to protect and enhance BC’s biodiversity by implementing the recommendations of an old-growth strategic review panel and a somewhat vague, previously announced strategy called Together for Wildlife.

Wu said Eby’s commitment to create a new conservation financing mechanism “may just be words” but the words signify the province is on the right path to establish economic development funding for First Nations tied to protecting places at the greatest risk of biodiversity loss.

“If they follow through with that, without spin, then that is a monumental leap forward,” he said, cautioning that the province has undertaken “creative accounting” in the past regarding how it counts protected areas. Designations such as old-growth management areas, ungulate winter range and wildlife habitat areas lack permanence or the standards of legally protected areas, Wu pointed out.

“Some of these conservation regulations are sort of like the cryptocurrency of protected areas,” he said.

New initiatives could end BC’s ‘war in the woods’

Other key elements of Cullen’s mandate include working with First Nations to “improve the protection and stewardship of forest resources, habitats, biodiversity and cultural heritage in the Great Bear Rainforest Agreement” and to “work toward modern land use plans and permitting processes rooted in science and Indigenous knowledge that consider new and cumulative impacts to the land base.”

Cullen was also instructed to work with the Ministry of Forests to begin implementation of recommendations made by an old-growth strategic review panel, which called for a paradigm shift in the way BC manages its forests and immediate deferrals from logging for old-growth forests at the highest risk of biodiversity loss.

In a 2019 United Nations report, scientists warned global biodiversity is declining at an unprecedented rate, with about one million species facing extinction. They also said there is still time to turn things around with transformative change.

At the biodiversity conference underway in Montreal, close to 200 countries are working to finalize an agreement to reverse biodiversity loss and avoid devastating outcomes from the sixth mass extinction event in the Earth’s history, caused by human activity.

The global agreement aims to halt and reverse biodiversity loss by 2030 and achieve its full recovery by 2050.

Wu said BC must develop protection targets for all ecosystems and prioritize protection for the most endangered and least represented ecosystems. Economic development funding for First Nations should be tied to the protection of the most at-risk most productive old-growth forests, he said. Old-growth forests with the highest productivity — the biggest trees and the most species at risk of extinction — are found in valley bottoms.

Wu said the province will “get the job done” with a land acquisition fund that can also be used to buy private lands with endangered ecosystems.

“If they protect the valley bottoms, southern parts of the province, lower elevations most at risk, [and] old-growth forests and ecosystems, then they could put an end to the 50-year-old war in the woods.”

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Reminder! Deadlines for holiday orders are fast approaching!

Friendly reminder, if you’re planning on ordering gifts that support ancient forests this holiday season, please place your order by the following deadlines to increase your likelihood of receiving your gifts before Christmas Day (for orders in Canada only):

Dec 8th: Photo prints
Dec 12th: All other AFA gear
Dec 13th: Printed & mailed certificates
Dec 20th: Custom digital certificates

*Please note: Due to the busy shipping season, we can’t guarantee your orders will arrive before December 25th but always do our very best. Orders outside Canada will take longer to arrive

To make your order:

Every purchase helps us continue our work to protect endangered old-growth forests and ensure a sustainable second-growth forest industry.

Thank you for your support!

Canada accused of putting its timber trade ahead of global environment

December 2nd, 2022
The Guardian

Weeks before Cop15 in Montreal, leaked letter to EU shows host tried to water down deforestation regulations

The Canadian government has been accused of putting its domestic timber industry ahead of the global environment, following a leaked attempt to water down the world’s most ambitious regulations on deforestation-free trade.

Weeks before the United Nations biodiversity conference, Cop15 in Montreal, the host nation sent a letter to the European Commission asking for a reconsideration of “burdensome traceability requirements” within a proposed EU scheme that aims to eradicate unsustainably sourced wood products from the world’s biggest market.

The letter from the Canadian ambassador to the EU, Ailish Campbell, also called for a “phased” approach that would slow down implementation, and a review of plans to include “degraded” forests among the areas considered at risk.

Green MPs and conservation groups said the lobbying effort showed the government of Justin Trudeau placed more of a priority on its paper, timber and wood products industry than the international commitment it made at last year’s Glasgow climate conference to “halt and reverse” forest loss and land degradation by 2030.

“In this letter, you can perfectly see Canada wanted to protect its economic interests rather than the forest,” said the French MEP Marie Toussaint, one of the initiators of the new regulations. “For a country that is supposed to be in favour of conserving natural resources to say ‘don’t go so fast’ is surprising, especially when they will be at the forefront of the biodiversity issue in Montreal in a couple of weeks.”

Toussaint, who is a deputy leader of the Green group in parliament, said the proposed new regulations, which are in the last stage of negotiation this week between the European Commission, council and parliament, are designed to tighten controls and checks on forest products coming into the EU. This would include geolocation requirements so that buyers can know the exact origin of wood for decking, furniture or paper. Unlike previous measures the draft does not focus solely on illegal deforestation but also legal, unsustainable practices.

It is an important step that shows the EU is serious about the 2030 target, Toussaint said. “The EU can be proud. We are doing it in an ambitious way,” she said. “This is long overdue. For decades, we’ve tried to rely on voluntary reporting and commitments, but we can see this hasn’t been working.”

The US-based environmental advocacy group Mighty Earth said the proposed regulation was a potential turning point for protecting forests because it would set a new global standard. “This legislation could be a gamechanger. It’s too bad that Canada is working to gut the single most-important piece of forest legislation that we have seen in the past decade,” said the group’s founder and chief executive, Glenn Hurowitz.

Negotiations are at a critical stage. After this week’s talks, a deal should be hammered out by the end of the year, but the level of ambition is under dispute. Sweden, another supposedly green nation with a large logging industry, is said to have raised concerns about some human rights clauses. Poland and Italy are reportedly reluctant to include rubber among the products covered. Others, such as Germany, Belgium and Slovenia, are strong supporters of tough regulations.

Canada’s lobbying efforts are under particular scrutiny before the Montreal conference, which will put a spotlight on the country’s green reputation as well as a darker environmental side. Canada is a base for some of the world’s biggest mining firms, including Belo Sun, which aims to open a huge gold pit in the Amazon rainforest. Canada’s exploitation of tar sands in Alberta has also been widely criticised as out-of-step with efforts to keep global warming to between 1.5C and 2C above pre-industrial levels. The sustainability of the country’s forest-products firms, such as Paper Excellence and Resolute, has also been questioned.

The letter from Campbell notes that the country’s annual deforestation rate is less than 0.2%, so Canada should be given special consideration as a “low-risk” nation.

But reports indicate that some of the nation’s exports come from old-growth forests, which are far more important than secondary woodland for biodiversity protection and carbon sequestration.

Environmental groups say the timber industry often cuts under the canopy, which is categorised as “degradation” rather than “deforestation”. It has identified fragmentation of the remaining natural forests as a major threat to biodiversity, including the nutritional intake of caribou, which now have to be given supplementary feeding from humans in one area because the lichen they usually rely on is scarcer, partly as a result of industrial logging. The situation is worst in British Columbia, where the population of caribou has declined from about 40,000 to 17,000 in the past century, with the steepest fall in the past few decades.

In the letter, Campbell insists there is no agreed definition of degradation so it should not be included in the EU’s new regulations. But scientists insist that degraded land must be included and industrial logging of old-growth forests must be halted to align with a climate-safe world.

Campbell, who has more of an industry than environmental background, put the priority on trade in her letter. “We are greatly concerned that some elements of the EU’s draft regulation on deforestation-free products will lead to significant trade barriers for Canadian exporters to the EU. In particular, the requirements in the Regulation will result in increased costs, add burdensome traceability requirements (eg geolocation requirements) and risks negatively affecting trade, including well over C$1bn in forest and agricultural products exported from Canada to the EU,” she wrote.

Hurowitz said Canada should accept tighter controls and higher standards if it wants to live up to its green reputation, otherwise its appeal for special “low-risk” treatment will smack of double standards for rich northern nations compared with poorer tropical ones.

“Developed countries know how to speak the language of sustainability. Even when they are bulldozing old-growth forests, they’re good at slapping a green veneer on it,” he said. “Trudeau presents himself as green but in lobbying to weaken the EU’s forest protection rules, he is aligning himself with the likes of [former president] Jair Bolsonaro in Brazil. Canada needs to decide which side it is on.”

More trade-focused MEPs involved in the negotiations expressed hope that Canada would live up to its green reputation. Christophe Hansen, secretary general of Luxembourg’s Christian Social People’s party, said the letter should not detract from the Montreal Cop. “Canada being a host of the UN biodiversity conference does not prevent it from having its own preoccupations, but I am confident they will carry out their role as an honest broker and neutral host as they have done many times before.”

The Canadian foreign ministry and embassy to the EU have been approached for comment.

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At COP15, Indigenous leaders to show how their conservation efforts can shape global biodiversity agreement

December 2nd, 2022
The Globe and Mail
By Wendy Stueck

Indigenous leaders are hoping COP15 will be an opportunity to showcase how Indigenous-led conservation can be at the heart of a new global biodiversity agreement.

Over the past few years, Indigenous-led conservation has picked up momentum in Canada and abroad, reflecting a growing body of research that highlights the connections between traditional Indigenous territories and biodiversity.

Ahead of COP15, the international conference kicking off in Montreal Wednesday, Canada has set ambitious targets to protect biodiversity, saying it will conserve 25 per cent of land and water by 2025 and 30 per cent of each by 2030.

Protected areas in Canada sit at about half of those levels. And if the country has any hope of reaching those goals, it lies in working with Indigenous peoples, says Tyson Atleo, Natural Climate Solutions Program director with Nature United, the Canadian affiliate of U.S.-based environmental group, the Nature Conservancy.

”We cannot hit those targets without Indigenous leadership in conservation,” said Mr. Atleo, who is based in BC and a member of the Ahousaht Nation.

One oft-cited statistic, dating back at least to a 2008 World Bank report, says Indigenous peoples’ traditional territories encompass up to 22 per cent of the world’s land surface, areas that hold 80 per cent of the planet’s biodiversity.

In 2018, a government-commissioned Indigenous Circle of Experts set out a vision for Indigenous Protected and Conserved Areas (IPCAs) in its final report, defining them as “lands and waters where Indigenous governments have the primary role in protecting and conserving ecosystems through Indigenous laws, governance and knowledge systems.”

Often, IPCAs feature guardian programs in which local Indigenous people are involved in monitoring, research and protection of the designated sites.

Three large-scale IPCAs have been finalized since 2018, says a November update from the Indigenous Leadership Initiative (ILI), a group that works with Indigenous communities on land use plans.

Those three sites, all located in the Northwest Territories, cover more than 50,000 square kilometres.

Scores of other proposed IPCAs could protect an additional 500,000 square kilometres, the group says.

The preamble to the draft text of the new framework acknowledges “the important roles and contributions of Indigenous people as custodians of biodiversity” and says the new framework must be implemented in accordance with the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples (UNDRIP).

Both British Columbia, in 2019, and the federal government, in 2021, have passed legislation to implement UNDRIP.

With the targets for 2025 and 2030 looming, IPCAs are seen as a key part of future plans.

“That [conservation] target is a really important tool for motivating countries to partner with Indigenous nations – but it’s also a very important lever for us as Indigenous communities to be able to advance our own vision, for our people and for our land and the future of our communities,” Gillian Staveley, Director of Land Stewardship and Culture with the Dena Kayeh Institute, said this week in a media briefing by Canadian Indigenous leaders ahead of COP15.

Dena Kayeh has proposed an IPCA called Dene K’eh Kusan, which would consist of 39,000 square kilometres of northern BC, and is seen as a way to protect a largely untouched territory – creating economic opportunities through tourism, hunting and guide-outfitting.

“So even though IPCAs are seen as a really important conservation strategy – protecting healthy lands, waters, plants, animals – it also supports our cultures and our way of life and our knowledge systems and community well-being,” Ms. Stavely said.

At COP15, the ILI is scheduled to host the Indigenous Village, a site meant to showcase Indigenous conservation initiatives and provide a welcoming space to Indigenous participants.

“The global community is catching up to Indigenous ambitions,” ILI director Valérie Courtois said during the media briefing, adding that Canadian examples show the benefits of Indigenous-led land planning.

“When Indigenous peoples are holding the pen, the protection rates in those land use plans tend to be more than 50 per cent and often two-thirds of the landscapes,” she added.

Guardian programs are also gaining momentum. In June, the Kitasoo Xai’xais and Nuxalk First Nations, located in BC, announced a pilot project with BC Parks to designate some Indigenous guardians with the same legal authorities as BC Parks rangers.

Indigenous communities are looking for ways to conserve traditional territories – along with their accompanying biodiversity – while providing for economic benefits to support local residents, Mr. Atleo said.

“It won’t look the same everywhere. But there are some critical elements that might be consistent. And one of those is the need to ensure that conservation action is resulting in access to economic opportunities, or economic outcomes, that benefit Indigenous and local communities – as well as the Canadian public more broadly,” he said.

He wants to see long-term financing for conservation projects and increased focus on natural climate solutions – in general, conservation, management and restoration activities that can increase carbon capture or reduce emissions.

As an example, he cites the Great Bear Forest Carbon Project, through which nine First Nations share revenue from carbon credits from the Great Bear Rainforest, a protected area on BC’s central coast.

Such projects could be part of a necessary shift in how humans engage with forests, oceans and other landscapes, he maintains.

“I personally think natural climate solutions are an approach that can re-orient people to recognizing and upholding the values that ecosystems provide to us – beyond their efficient, harvestable value.”

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

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.

Before-and-after images of old-growth logging in the lower Caycuse Valley, captured by AFA conservation photographer TJ Watt.

Giant trees still fall amid old-growth funding lag for BC First Nations

November 27, 2022
The Canadian Press
By Brenna Owen

British Columbia has asked First Nations if they want old-growth forests set aside from logging, allowing time for long-term planning of conservation and sustainable development, but it has yet to fund the process on a large scale, advocates say.

In the meantime, some of the biggest and oldest trees are being cut down.

Several years before the BC government launched the process last November to defer logging in old-growth forests at risk of permanent biodiversity loss, Ahousaht First Nation was developing the land-use vision for its territory on Vancouver Island.

It was with careful analysis that Ahousaht decided how to balance environmental and economic outcomes, said Tyson Atleo, a hereditary leader of the nation whose territory spans Clayoquot Sound, a globally recognized biosphere reserve.

Ahousaht has largely done the work without major public funding, he said. Instead, the nation has secured grants and support from organizations including Nature United, the charity where Atleo works as natural climate solutions program director.

“This is long and hard work that is a part of nation building,” Atleo said.

“You need to have a vision, and in order to have a vision, you need to have the resources, and in order to implement the vision you need to have partnerships with Crown governments, likely corporations, as well as supporting (non-governmental) partners, and you need to have a vision for your economic future,” he said.

The neighbouring Hesquiaht and Tla-o-qui-aht nations were working on similar plans in the fall of 2020, when the BC government issued an order to defer logging across more than 170,000 hectares of old-growth forests around Clayoquot Sound, while it works with the nations to establish permanently protected areas.

Ahousaht was in favour of deferral because the nation believes “very strongly (in) preservation of old-growth systems … not just for the potential economic benefits of protection, but for the ecological and cultural benefits,” Atleo added.

A year ago, BC announced that an expert panel had mapped 2.6 million hectares of old-growth forests identified as “rare, at-risk, and irreplaceable.”

At the same time, the province asked 204 First Nations to decide whether they supported the deferral of logging in those areas for an initial two-year period, allowing time for the province to develop “a new approach to sustainable forest management that prioritizes ecosystem health and community resiliency.”

However, it has yet to announce significant funding to support the complex process for nations to consider how to preserve old growth while developing alternative sources of revenue and economic opportunities aligned with stewardship goals.

Conservation comes with economic costs, said Atleo, especially in communities that depend on forestry revenues. It must be paired with some kind of compensation or support for sustainable economic diversification, he said.

“The philanthropic community is stepping up and offering a stewardship endowment in the case of (Clayoquot Sound) because of the high biological diversity in the region, but it’s a model that we should be looking at publicly,” he said.

“The government might not have a long-term vision, which for me means there’s space for nations to step up and define what that vision might be,” he added.

In its most recent public update on deferral areas provided nearly eight months ago, the Forests Ministry said the province had received responses from 75 First Nations in support of deferrals across 1.05 million hectares of at-risk forests, while 60 had requested more time and seven had indicated they didn’t support the plan.

In response to a request for the total area set aside in the first year of the deferral process, the ministry said it’s working toward an update in the near future.

Unless a First Nation expresses support for deferrals in its territory, the areas remain open to potential logging and applications for new logging permits.

About 9,300 hectares of the proposed deferrals — an area 23 times the size of Vancouver’s Stanley Park — have been logged over the last year, the ministry said.

The deferral areas contain some of the largest and most ecologically important old-growth forests left in BC, said TJ Watt, a photographer whose images of ancient trees before and after logging first captured global attention in 2020.

Watt’s photos from the Caycuse watershed on southwestern Vancouver Island show massive trees, then their stumps after they were cut. Some were logged a few months before they were identified as part of the deferral process, he said.

About 15,000 hectares of the proposed deferral areas had already been logged in the year leading up to the announcement last November, the Forests Ministry said.

Another area in the Caycuse was logged a couple of months after the start of the deferral process, said Watt,who uses GPS, geo-tagging on his photos, publicly available data and satellite images to confirm the location and status of cut blocks.

The province’s publicly available mapping shows cut blocks overlapping with proposed old-growth deferral areas in the Caycuse and other areas across BC.

The Caycuse watershed is located in Ditidaht First Nation territory.

Reached by phone, Ditidaht Chief Councillor Brian Tate said he had a full schedule and couldn’t comment on old-growth logging in the nation’s territory.

Teal-Jones, the forestry company that holds the rights for cut blocks in the Caycuse watershed, said in a statement it is not harvesting in areas that have been deferred.

Watt said he feels BC is putting First Nations in an unfair position by asking them to choose between generating forestry revenue and pausing logging without compensation or support for sustainable economic and ecological development.

Conservation financing is the key element that enabled the large-scale protection of old-growth forests in the Great Bear Rainforest, said Watt, a National Geographic explorer whose work was funded by the Royal Canadian Geographic Society.

It could mean developing eco-tourism or sustainable fisheries, or expanding Indigenous Guardian programs, which support a variety of land-based jobs.

“None of this can happen for free,” Watt said.

“It takes some leadership from the province to say, ‘We’ve taken from you for more than a century, now we’re asking you to protect these forests because it’s an ecological emergency, here is how we’re going to help make thatpossible’,” said Watt, who works with the Ancient Forest Alliance, a BC-based advocacy group.

In an email, the Forests Ministry said BC is currently working to establish a new conservation financing mechanism to support permanent old-growth protection.

The BC government began sharing forestry revenues with First Nations in the early 2000s. Last spring, it more than doubled the amount it shares with eligible nations, leading to an estimated increase of $63 million this year, the ministry said.

In response to a series of questions, the ministry said the increase would “more than offset” any short-term revenue impacts arising from old-growth deferrals.

The province has not received any direct requests from First Nations for compensation as a condition for supporting the temporary deferrals, it said.

BC provided just shy of $12.7 million over three years to support First Nations through the deferral process, amounting to about $20,000 per year for each nation.

At the time, Grand Chief Steward Phillip with the BC Union of Indian Chiefs called that funding “totally insufficient to undertake the work.”

The province’s 2022 budget earmarked $185 million over three years to support the forest industry, its workers, and First Nations through the deferrals.

Watt noted the federal government committed up to $55.1 million over three years to establish a BC “Old Growth Nature Fund” in its budget earlier this year.

The money would be available in 2022-2023, but it’s conditional — the BC government must match the federal investment in order to establish the fund.

BC’s Ministry of Land, Water and Resource Stewardship did not answer a question about whether the province plans to match Ottawa’s pledge.

Dallas Smith, a member of Tlowitsis Nation on the east coast of Vancouver Island who helped negotiate the Great Bear Rainforest protection agreement, said the lack of funding is a gap in the deferral process, and BC has yet to communicate a clear plan to help First Nations with long-term planning.

“Even if nations wanted to protect more, (the province) didn’t have capacity to sit down and deal with all those nations and actually have a planning process,” said Smith.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Nov. 27, 2022.

Read the original article. [Original article no longer available]

Before and after photos show devastating effects of intensive logging on BC’s old-growth forests

November 22, 2022
Canadian Geographic 
By Madigan Cotterill 

Conservation photographer TJ Watt advocates for the protection of old-growth ecosystems by documenting the loss of giant trees

For hundreds of years, British Columbia’s old-growth forests have stood as markers of time; storing carbon, supporting biodiversity, providing habitat and performing other ecosystem services. But intensive logging is quickly decimating these ancient forests, leaving stumps, clearings and young forests where giants once grew.

In an effort to highlight the incredible grandeur of old-growth ecosystems and draw attention to their unfortunate destruction, Victoria-based conservation photographer TJ Watt has spent years seeking out and documenting the province’s biggest trees — then returning later to photograph their stumps.

“I’m trying to remind people that unless we speak up and advocate for the permanent protection of old-growth ecosystems, we will continue losing ecosystems which are second only to the redwoods of California,” says Watt, who is the co-founder of and a campaigner with the Ancient Forest Alliance (AFA). In addition to advocating for the protection of existing old-growth forests, AFA wants to see replanted forests given more time to grow before being logged again.

Old-growth forest ecosystems contain many features that second-growth or replanted forests lack, such as multi-layered canopies and habitats for certain species. Currently, second-growth forests are logged after 55 to 80 years — not enough time for them to regain the beneficial characteristics of old-growth forests.

“These trees take many centuries to grow, and nobody’s waiting around for them to come back again,” says Watt.

In 2021, Watt received a grant from the Trebek Initiative, which supports emerging storytellers, researchers, conservationists and educators. He is using the grant to create additional before and after images. After identifying at-risk forests, Watt locates the largest trees and photographs them, often positioning himself beside the trees for scale. After logging takes place, Watt returns to the area to document the stumps that remain where these ancient trees once stood. Displayed side by side, the images are a powerful statement on the finality of old-growth logging.

“It’s up to us to ensure [ancient forests] are protected and I encourage people to safely get out there and explore the landscape themselves and reconnect with nature and see what they might find,” says Watt.

Read the original article