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A man in a blue jacket stands beside a massive old-growth cedar in a forest.

The Narwhal: Did BC keep its old-growth forest promises?

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May 28, 2024
By Shannon Waters
The Narwhal

Read the original article here.

With an election approaching this fall, the BC NDP government has released a surprise update touting ‘significant progress’ on protecting old-growth forests. We take a look at the reality on the ground.

 

It’s been four years since a pair of professional foresters hired by the BC NDP government urged the province to take a radically new approach to old-growth forests.

In their strategic review, Garry Merkel and Al Gorley said the government should manage BC’s old forests as ecosystems rather than a source of timber. They also called for an immediate deferral of logging in old-growth forests in BC at risk of irreversible biodiversity loss.

The report was released as protesters began to flock to Fairy Creek, a largely intact old-growth valley on southwest Vancouver Island, setting the stage for the largest civil disobedience action in Canadian history. Following the arrest of more than 1,100 people, and at the request of Pacheedaht First Nation, the BC government deferred just over 1,180 hectares of Fairy Creek old-growth forest from logging.

The Fairy Creek deferrals are included in more than 2.4 million hectares of old-growth forest “temporarily deferred from development” in collaboration with First Nations and industry, according to a May 21 old-growth “update” from the government.

Aimee in makeshift tree ready to be arrested by RCMP

The Fairy Creek blockade became the largest civil disobedience action in Canadian history. Logging was subsequently deferred in the old-growth valley on southwest Vancouver Island, in the territory of the Pacheedaht First Nation. Photo: Taylor Roades / The Narwhal

The unexpected update comes as the BC NDP and other parties gear up for a fall election campaign. The latest poll shows the NDP only slightly ahead of the BC Conservatives, whose popularity has soared over the past year. If elected, the BC Conservatives are promising to “support BC forestry,” which the party describes as “sustainable and renewable.” They’re also pledging to hold groups and activists “who impede the activity of resource development through illegal blockades, harassment and violence” accountable, both legally and financially.

Against this backdrop, the old-growth update says the government has made “significant progress” on implementing 14 recommendations made in the foresters’ review of old-growth strategy. Yet it also cautions it “will take years to achieve the full intent of some of the recommendations.”

Environmental groups and the Union of British Columbia Indian Chiefs were quick to criticize the update, saying it lacks concrete commitments to urgently protect BC’s remaining old-growth forests.

“The BC NDP government has objectively taken us farther along than any previous government in bringing the key policy pieces together needed to protect old-growth and endangered ecosystems,” Ken Wu, executive director of the Endangered Ecosystems Alliance, a national non-profit conservation group, told The Narwhal. But Wu said big policies like ecosystem-based protection targets are still missing, along with sufficient funding “to cover the lost forestry revenues of First Nations should they agree to implement old-growth logging deferrals.”

The Wilderness Committee, an environmental non-profit group, called the update a stall tactic that “delays meaningful changes and fails to include any new interim measures to protect the most endangered old-growth forests.”

“The endless delays from the BC NDP are resulting in the destruction of irreplaceable forests they vowed to protect,” Tobyn Neame, the Wilderness Committee’s forest campaigner, said in a press release. “Premier David Eby promised accelerated action on old growth, not another vague plan, and it looks like he is trying to tick a box without doing the actual work.”

But Merkel, who is working for the government on contract, urged patience, telling The Narwhal much of the work is taking place behind the scenes.

What progress has been made on implementing the old-growth recommendations? And what more needs to be done?

Read on.

Wait, why did the BC government commission an old-growth review in the first place?

The BC NDP’s promises to safeguard old-growth forests stretch back to before the party formed government. The party’s 2017 election platform promised to modernize land-use planning “to effectively and sustainably manage” BC’s old-growth forests. The campaign pledge followed several decades of a simmering war in the woods and an international spotlight on contested old-growth areas like Clayoquot Sound.

In July 2019, Merkel and Gorley were appointed by the province to “get input and hear perspectives on managing the province’s old-growth forests for ecological, economic and cultural values.”

How much old-growth forest is left in BC?

BC once boasted 25 million hectares of old forest but by 2021 only an estimated 11.1 million hectares of old growth remained, according to the province.

Ecologists disagreed with the government’s figures, saying less than three per cent of high productivity old-growth forests — the forests with the biggest trees and the richest biodiversity — were still standing. They found only 35,000 hectares of forest with the largest, most productive old-growth trees — areas where trees are expected to grow over 25 metres tall in 50 years — remained in BC.

The definition of old-growth forest varies depending on location. Coastal forests with trees at least 250-years-old are considered old growth, while interior forests with trees at least 140-years-old meet the definition.

What did the BC. old-growth forest review say?

Merkel and Gorley’s report called for a “paradigm shift” in the way BC manages old-growth forests, including abandoning the misconception they are a renewable resource.

“These ‘ancient forests’ are globally unique, rare and contain species as yet undiscovered, and many of these ecosystems and old forests are simply non-renewable within any reasonable time frame,” the foresters wrote. They said it can take 500 to 750 years before a coastal ancient forest returns after logging.

A logging truck speeds down a logging road carrying a number of ancient western redcedars as autumnal colours decorate the background.

Logging trucks loaded with giant old-growth cedar trees are a common sight on Vancouver Island, including along the shores of Lake Cowichan. Photo: TJ Watt / Ancient Forest Alliance

Old forests have intrinsic value for all living things, the report concluded, and should be managed for ecosystem health, not for timber. Merkel and Gorley recommended immediately deferring development in old forests “where ecosystems are at very high and near-term risk of irreversible biodiversity loss.” Prioritizing ecosystem health and resilience are among other recommendations.

The foresters also said the province needed to engage “the full involvement” of Indigenous leaders and organizations in an old-growth strategy.

Did the government follow the old-growth review’s recommendations?

Just ahead of former premier John Horgan’s snap election call in September 2020, the government announced 353,000 hectares of forest in nine areas would be protected under the strategy. Critics warned the move would not actually protect much old-growth forest.

During the 2020 election campaign, the BC NDP promised to protect “more of BC’s old-growth forests” by implementing all 14 recommendations in Merkel and Gorley’s old-growth report. But logging of old-growth forests continued, including in areas home to endangered caribou and spotted owls.

In November 2023, the environmental group Stand.earth estimated at least 31,800 hectares of forest recommended for deferral in 2021 had been destroyed.

According to the government’s May update, only two of the old-growth review’s 14 recommendations — “engage the full involvement of Indigenous leaders and organizations” and “defer development in old forests at high risk, until a new strategy is implemented” — have reached an advanced stage of implementation. Nearly half the recommendations are still in an “initial action” stage.

Garry Merkel wears a blue collared shirt and reads through a booklet.

Garry Merkel, a member of the Tahltan First Nation, was one of two foresters commissioned by the BC government to examine the province’s approach to old-growth forests. The report the foresters submitted calls for a paradigm shift in the way BC manages old-growth forests, saying they should be managed for ecosystems and not for timber supply. Photo: Morgan Turner / The Narwhal

Following the old-growth update, the Union of British Columbia Indian Chiefs said the province needs to immediately implement all proposed logging deferrals, as well as additional areas proposed by First Nations and others that meet the definition of at-risk old-growth forests.

“We must take immediate steps to stop the logging of at-risk old growth on the ground,” union president Grand Chief Stewart Phillip said in a statement.

Why is BC taking so long to protect old-growth forests?

Wu compared the government’s efforts to protect BC’s old-growth — and its broader conservation policies — to a puzzle.

Over the past several years, several major policy pieces have been assembled that have the potential to effectively protect endangered ecosystems such as old-growth forests, he said in an interview. “Where my patience runs out, is where they’ve so far failed to put all those pieces in place.”

However, Merkel, now an independent contractor for the Ministry of Forests and the Ministry of Water, Land and Resource Stewardship, said the NDP government is about halfway toward implementing the old-growth panel’s recommendations, with much of the work happening out of the public eye.

He knows the seemingly slow pace has frustrated some observers.

“I tell people that we have to certainly be patient, but I don’t tell people to stop advocating and pushing,” Merkel told The Narwhal. “This is the kind of thing that if you don’t keep pushing, it’s so big that it just kind of gets lost in the background. … It’s very rare that government does something at this scale.”

How does reconciliation fit into BC’s old-growth forest strategy?

Merkel said implementing the strategy’s recommendations is complicated, in part because of the BC NDP government’s commitment to reconciliation with First Nations. The old-growth strategy is one of the first policies to put the government’s commitment to implementing its Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples Act to the test because, Merkel pointed out, it is “tied directly to Aboriginal Rights and Title.”

Garry, overlooking his front yard, the shoreline of the beautiful St Mary Lake

Forester Garry Merkel, a member of the Tahltan Nation, says the BC government is about halfway to fully implementing the recommendations from the old-growth forest strategic review he co-authored in 2020. Photo: Morgan Turner / The Narwhal

“In BC, protected areas require the consent and shared decision-making of the local First Nations whose territories they will be established in,” Wu said. “Therefore, protected areas establishment ultimately moves at the speed of the local First Nations whose territory it is.”

After BC’s old-growth forest strategy was released, the Ministry of Forests presented First Nations with potential areas within their territory where old-growth logging could be deferred while long-term stewardship plans are developed. Merkel said the ongoing process involves First Nations, industry representatives and multiple ministries, with their work marking the start of a seismic shift in how the province manages land.

“The old-growth strategy wasn’t so much about old growth as it was about fundamentally changing the way you look at land and changing our land stewardship approach,” Merkel said. “Learning how to think about land as an ecosystem, as opposed to forest has been hard; learning how to enter into effective co-governance relationships, especially when multiple First Nations are involved, in trying to set up frameworks to collaborate in real time and make sure that they’re accountable to the public — it’s been really hard.”

What does reconciliation look like on the ground?

Na̲nwak̲olas Council president Dallas Smith, whose organization represents six First Nations on northern Vancouver Island and the central South Coast, credits the BC NDP government for working more directly with individual First Nations than its predecessors. Previous governments typically “tried to do things from a provincial perspective” by seeking support primarily from high-level organizations like the First Nations Leadership Council, Smith said.

The government has also supported policies that enable First Nations to take the lead in deciding how conservation and resource development takes place on their territories, Smith told The Narwhal. While progress may seem “glacial,” initiatives are moving forward, especially in areas where First Nations take up government policies that mesh well with their own priorities, such as Indigenous protected areas, he said.

“We’ve all found our little wiggle room in there to pull some of these initiatives that government wants to achieve, connect them to initiatives we’re trying to achieve in our communities and make some of that progress,” he said. “You’re seeing more and more nations figure out how to do it for their territory.”

As with the potential old-growth deferrals, First Nations will play a pivotal role in helping the province achieve its conservation commitments.

“First Nations are in the driver’s seat,” Wu said. “When it comes to establishing protected areas directly in any given territory, the BC government should be expected to provide the vehicle that is the policy framework and the funding to ensure that First Nations can drive that vehicle to where we all need to go, which is the protection of endangered ecosystems.”

Kwiakah First Nation is one such success story. On May 24, the nation announced it had reached agreement with the province and forestry company Interfor to reduce logging in 7,866 hectares of the Great Bear Rainforest and focus on restoring the land to “its pre-industrial state” through regenerative forestry practices.

“By creating the M̓ac̓inuxʷ Special Forest Management Area, we are asserting our inherent responsibilities and creating an Indigenous-led conservation economy that will steward and heal our territory while allowing our people to thrive,” Kwiakah First Nation Chief Steven Dick said in a press release.

The Kwiakah Nation said the new conservation area is a first step toward “rebuilding knowledge systems that protect and restore forests to old-growth characteristics,” while creating new jobs in land stewardship.

Conservation finance programs launched in the Great Bear Rainforest to date are credited with creating more than 100 businesses and 1,000 permanent jobs in ventures ranging from ecotourism to a sustainable scallop fishery.

Under the new agreement, any timber harvesting revenue the Kwiakah Nation loses out on as a result of the new management area will be counteracted through the generation of carbon credits and regenerative forestry jobs, according to the Ministry of Forests.

Displacing revenues related to logging ancient forests is key to achieving effective ecosystem protections, according to Wu — and something he says the BC NDP government has, until recently, failed to implement.

“That’s a biggie because you’re not going to get all the best places under deferral unless First Nations have economic support to implement those,” Wu said.

Last October, the province announced a $300-million Indigenous conservation fund to protect old-growth forests. The fund will support conservation initiatives, including Indigenous stewardship and guardian programs.

Wu called the financing a “vital enabling condition” to create more protected areas in BC.

What about ecosystem and biodiversity protection?

The update on old-growth protection also reveals another BC NDP platform promise is delayed. The government promised to finalize a new biodiversity and ecosystem health framework this year. But the update says the framework won’t be complete until 2025.

Meanwhile, a new report from federal think-tank Policy Horizons Canada ranks biodiversity loss and ecosystem collapse second on a list of 30 potential disruptions Canada faces, in terms of likelihood and impact.

The collapse of ecosystems “could have cascading impacts on all living things, putting basic human needs such as clean air, water and food in jeopardy,” the report states. “Key industries like farming, fishing and logging could be hard hit, leading to major economic losses and instability.”

An old-growth western redcedar as seen looking up at the canopy from the ground.

BC’s old growth forests are unique, rare and non-renewable, according to two foresters who were commissioned to write an old-growth strategic review for the provincial government. Photo: Taylor Roades / The Narwhal

Last November, the government published a draft biodiversity and ecosystem health framework that aims “to prioritize the conservation and management of ecosystem health and biodiversity, including the conservation and recovery of species at risk.” Public consultation on the framework closed at the end of January.

The framework will be backed by legislation, according to the update, and include guidance and standards for managing ecosystem health and biodiversity developed in collaboration with First Nations.

Wu called the framework “the last big piece” in BC’s conservation policy puzzle.

“The biodiversity and ecosystem health framework is the vital game changer that essentially can finish the puzzle,” he said.

In its press release on the old-growth update, the non-profit environmental group Sierra Club BC noted the framework is expected to include interim conservation targets to protect at-risk ecosystems without delay.

“What’s needed now is leadership at every level of government and in every ministry to protect irreplaceable old-growth forests before we lose any more,” Sierra Club BC campaigns director Shelly Luce said in a press release. “Meaningful action plans would move us beyond talking, to deliver on existing commitments and create change on the ground.”

Wu hopes the framework will lay out specific conservation targets for all of BC’s ecosystems, based on scientific and First Nations knowledge.

“Ecosystem-based targets are so foundational that, without them, it’s like … a surgeon who just has a target in kilograms of what they’re going to remove,” he said.

The old-growth update, however, makes no mention of ecosystem-based targets, worrying Wu.

Even if the framework delivers specific targets, he notes provincial cash will be required to help implement them.

Are there any other old-growth conservation efforts?

One thing the NDP government has definitely done right, according to Wu and others, is to commit considerable cash to conservation efforts.

Last November, Minister of Water, Land and Resource Stewardship Nathan Cullen announced $1 billion in federal-provincial funding as part of an agreement with the federal government and the First Nations Leadership Council. The agreement includes commitments to support Indigenous-led conservation initiatives and restore 140,000 hectares of degraded habitat within the next two years. Part of the federal investment — $50 million — will go towards identifying and conserving up to 1.3 million hectares of old-growth forests.

Nathan Cullen stands at a podium with the text, "Taking action for you," while he makes an announcement. Premier Eby and two other government officials stand behind him.

Minister of Water, Land and Resource Stewardship Nathan Cullen says there is “much done, more to do” when it comes to protecting BC’s at-risk ecosystems like old-growth forests. Photo: Taylor Roades / The Narwhal

In December, the province also committed to protecting 30 per cent of the province’s land base by 2030, partly by creating new Indigenous protected areas, according to Cullen’s current mandate letter.

“The NDP have taken us further, so far, than any other previous government in history in moving forward with the enabling conditions and the policies that will lead to the greatest expansion of protected areas, including old growth, in BC history,” Wu said.

The province is currently hosting discussions about land management that include First Nations, local communities and governments, and industry representatives. There are nine land-use planning tables across BC that Cullen said are “well on their way and making new land-use plans in their region” — with 10 more tables still to be created. Their goal is to decide how to prioritize local and regional ecosystem health and biodiversity and determine how economic activities — from logging and mining to farming and fishing — fit within those priorities.

“Indigenous-led conservation through land-use planning processes is the way that we’ll achieve durable and diverse conservation,” Cullen told The Narwhal in an interview.

“That is where we’re able to find common ground. When you get down to the maps and valley by valley, interest by interest, you’re able to build a vision and a future together, rather than the continuation of having to go to court, ending up in significant conflict and creating massive uncertainty.”

The minister summed up the NDP’s environmental record to date as “much done, more to do.”

“The conservation efforts that we’re making, we are seeing the early results of those and they’re positives, but they take time, and there’s so much more we can do,” he said.

BC Old-Growth Policy Update Adds Little To Current Commitments

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Conservationists note the latest BC government plan doesn’t include much action beyond its previous commitments, with the updated plan lacking specificity and objectives around old-growth protection. Key deferral funding and ecosystem-based targets are still missing. However, the mention of a science advisory group is much welcomed. Existing commitments to protect 30% of BC by 2030 with over $1 billion in provincial-federal funding are moving protected areas progress forward, as the province has been in discussions with dozens of First Nations across BC on their Indigenous Protected and Conserved Areas (IPCA) proposals.

The BC government released an old-growth policy update yesterday outlining its roadmap for forest management and old-growth conservation in BC. The document titled “From Review to Action,” is the province’s official implementation plan thus far for the recommendations laid out by the Old Growth Strategic Review Panel (OGSR), which was tasked in 2020 to evaluate how old-growth forests are managed in BC.

The OGSR found that the status quo was ecologically and economically unsustainable and that a “paradigm shift” was urgently needed in forest management in BC, echoing what environmental groups had been arguing for decades. The BC government accepted all of the OGSR recommendations and pledged to implement them, representing a major shift from the government’s previous stances on the old-growth issue.

This plan builds on the steps already taken by the BC government including:

  • A commitment to incrementally protect 30% of BC by 2030 (currently, 15% of BC is in legislated protected areas).
  • Securing over $1 billion to enable this expansion, which includes a dedicated $300-million conservation financing fund and a joint $100 million+ in a federal/provincial old-growth conservation fund.
  • Floating a promising draft Biodiversity and Ecosystem Health Framework (BEHF) that has the potential to direct protected areas establishment correctly via “ecosystem-based targets”, which would ensure that science-based targets span all ecosystems, including the most endangered and least represented ones.
  • Establishing the Ministry of Water, Land, and Resource Stewardship (MWLRS) as a necessary coordinating agency in land and resource management.
  • Supporting several Indigenous Protected and Conserved Areas (IPCA) plans, including the Ahousaht and Tla-o-qui-aht conservancies recently announced in Clayoquot Sound and protecting the Incomappleux Valley last year.

These historic milestones in old-growth conservation are significant and deserve to be celebrated. But conservationists are pointing out that critical gaps remain in government policy, that if not addressed will mean that the protection of the most at-risk old-growth ecosystems will fall short. Except for a promising mention that they will bring together a science advisory committee to help guide their forthcoming biodiversity-related policies, the newly released plan does not directly address the remaining policy gaps. The most important of these gaps include a lack of funding for First Nations’ lost revenues when they consent to old-growth logging deferrals (without such “solutions space” funding, the BC government won’t be able to secure logging deferrals on the full 2.6 million hectares of the most at-risk old-growth stands in BC – and they know this…) and the lack of ecosystem-based protection targets (protected areas targets for every ecosystem based on science and Traditional Ecological Knowledge that “aim” protection correctly to also include the most endangered ecosystems, like big-tree old-growth ecosystems, rather than skirting around them as is typically the case with government policies) which may yet come in via the Biodiversity and Ecosystem Health Framework due in 2025.

Despite these critical shortcomings in the BC government’s old-growth policies thus far, conservationists are drawing a sharp contrast between the positions of the NDP government and those of the ascendant BC Conservative Party, currently among the opposition parties. BC Conservative Party leader John Rustad recently stated that he would scrap BC’s 30% by 2030 protected areas commitment, making false claims that the commitment would result in 30% less agriculture and 30% less forestry in BC. The reality is that the protected areas expansion would happen almost exclusively on Crown/unceded First Nations lands where farming is already illegal (farming happens on private lands, and private lands are only purchased for conservation purposes from willing sellers and focused on native ecosystems, not farmlands). Forestry would not be reduced by anywhere close to 30% as the added protections would amount to 15% more protected areas at most (given that 15% of BC is already protected) and would include vast areas of alpine, subalpine, wetlands, grassland, bogs, lake and rivers without trees or timber value.

The BC Conservative’s platform states that forestry in BC is already “100% Sustainable” despite the independent findings of the OGSR that the massive clearcutting and old-growth liquidation that define current forest policy represent a model that is diametrically opposed to sustainability. The Conservative platform also pledges to mobilize the government to persecute activists (typically First Nations and environmentalists) who disrupt resource industries. In general, the Conservative platform promotes the classic destructive status quo economics of massive industrial resource depletion that has resulted throughout history in the collapse of both rural employment and ecosystems — think of the Atlantic cod fisheries or the 30-year decline of forestry in BC due to the massive overcutting of the valley bottoms and lower elevations where the biggest, best trees once stood, leaving behind smaller trees on steep slopes that are expensive to reach, resulting in mill closures — instead of the modernization of the BC economy towards smart, diversified, and sustainable industries and policies.

EEA's Ken Wu, wearing a blue jacket and grey pants, stands beside a massive Douglas-fir tree surrounded by the lush green foliage of the unprotected Eden Grove.

Endangered Ecosystem Alliance’s Ken Wu with a giant Douglas-fir tree in the unprotected Eden Grove near Port Renfrew in Pacheedaht territory.

Quotes:

Ken Wu – Executive Director, Endangered Ecosystems Alliance:

“The BC NDP government has objectively taken us farther along than any previous government in bringing the key policy pieces together needed to protect old-growth and endangered ecosystems. Under their leadership and First Nations, we are on the brink of the largest expansion of protected areas in BC’s history as dozens of Indigenous Protected and Conserved Area plans are now underway. However, they are still missing several critical policies, the most important of which is the lack of ecosystem-based protection targets — because just one province-wide target is insufficient to capture all ecosystems and will potentially allow new protected areas to skirt around the many productive forests with the biggest trees — based on science and Traditional Ecological Knowledge. They also have thus far failed to allocate the needed funding to cover the lost forestry revenues of First Nations if they agree to implement old-growth logging deferrals – hence resulting in only half of the priority, most at-risk old-growth being deferred from logging — a frustrating and consistent failing on the BC NDP government’s shoulders for which they deserve full blame and that they must remedy ASAP.

Right now, the rise in the polls of the BC Conservative Party with their extremist anti-environmental stance to kill BC’s protected areas commitment and who state against all evidence that ‘forestry in BC is already 100% sustainable’, is undoubtedly creating great caution within the BC NDP government against moving forward quickly with ambitious environmental action. It is essential for BC environmentalists to expose and tackle the giant Conservative cave troll in the room – Rustad’s radical anti-environmental agenda- as in 5 months they may be ruling the province and undertaking a backwards reversal to 1980’s resource policies that kill most of the forthcoming protected areas expansion, as is their plan.

The old-growth update released by the Ministry of Forests yesterday is a fairly lacklustre plan with few objectives and little action. It’s mostly about processes regarding shared decision-making with First Nations and more planning tables. The one bright light is the mention of an expert advisory panel to implement biodiversity-related measures — a much-needed and welcome precursor to potential ecosystem-based targets. The actual action from the BC government has been largely outside the Ministry of Forests, via the new Ministry of Water, Lands and Resource Stewardship which has been mandated to protect 30% of the province’s land area by 2030, is in charge of over $1 billion in provincial-federal funding to make it happen, and is now moving forward with discussions on dozens of Indigenous Protected and Conserved Areas (IPCA) projects of First Nations across BC, totalling millions of hectares that will help protect ecosystems and indigenous cultures.

My overall assessment of Eby and old growth is that he has taken unprecedented leaps forward in developing the enabling policies to expand protected areas in BC via First Nations, which is how protected areas are now done in BC, and he should be thanked for this — but there are still critical gaps in conservation policies that have to be fixed. Eby needs to show leadership and get this done.”

TJ Watt – Photographer & Campaigner, Ancient Forest Alliance:

“The BC government’s latest old-growth update notes some significant strides that have been made toward enacting a paradigm shift in the conservation and management of forests in BC, however, it lacks specificity and objectives on the action front – namely, how the government will address the fact that thousand-year-old trees with trunks the size of living rooms are still being cut down today. British Columbians are rightfully angry and dismayed by the fact that they still must advocate for this destructive practice to stop. Ecological emergencies such as the biodiversity and climate crisis that old-growth logging massively contribute to call for a modern version of wartime efforts. The BC government must show leadership and pull out all stops to remove well-known barriers to old-growth protection such as providing at least $100 million in deferral or ‘solutions space’ funding and ensuring that new protected areas are aimed at preserving the most at-risk areas through ecosystem-based targets. This calls on them to become true advocates for protecting the best old-growth forests instead of being content with landing only part-way there.”

Ian Thomas – Research & Engagement Officer, Ancient Forest Alliance:

“We are heartened by the progress made by the provincial government on conservation financing and their commitments to vastly expand protected areas. But without directing that funding towards the most threatened old-growth ecosystems we will continue to lose large tracts of our most magnificent ancient forests. This plan was a missed opportunity to identify the gaps and own up to the stalled progress on TAP deferrals. The actual results of this ongoing refusal to tackle this issue will be the loss of irreplaceable forests and the further degradation of threatened biodiversity in BC. The NDP can and must do better to ensure the TAP deferrals are implemented in their entirety, and ecosystem-based protection targets guide land-use decisions across the province, but let’s not kid ourselves and assume the NDP’s failures are remotely comparable to the stated goals of the BC Conservatives. The Conservative platform is quite simply terrifying. We are in an ecological catastrophe with compounding biodiversity and climate crises that threaten human well-being on an unprecedented scale. The NDP government, despite moving far too slowly in many ways, has at least accepted that we are at a moment when the ship needs to be swerved away from the iceberg. The Conservative platform is about aiming right at the iceberg and leaning on the throttle. The wildfire crisis bearing down on the province this summer is a result (globally and locally) of the same destructive policies of unsustainable resource extraction that John Rustad is promising to intensify. Furthermore, Rustad has pledged to use the legal system to target, intimidate and persecute anyone who threatens the profits of resource corporations, pledging to side with large corporate development over the voices of local community members. The environmental movement needs to hold the NDP to account for their failings, but also not make a false equivalency between current policy and the extreme anti-environmental agenda that the conservatives are promising to implement.”

AFA's Ian Thomas, wearing a blue jacket and grey pants, stands beside an old-growth cedar in a forest under imminent threat, as seen by the bright orange felling tape wrapped around the massive tree.

Ancient Forest Alliance’s Ian Thomas beside an old-growth cedar in a forest under imminent threat on northern Vancouver Island in Quatsino territory.

More information:

Our main concerns with regards to the BC government’s latest old-growth update include:

  1. There is little mention of old-growth protection and no mention of ecosystem-based targets. It mainly hides behind better consultations and forest planning tables but lacks many actual objectives. The beginning of the document does mention the importance of the BC Nature Agreement and the BC Conservation Financing mechanism, both funds that are designed to expand the protected areas system – but then doesn’t incorporate them in the body of their old-growth policies.
  2. The Ministry of Forests has failed to secure old-growth logging deferrals for half of the priority most at-risk Technical Advisory Panel old-growth categories (i.e. 1.3 million of the 2.6 million hectares are secured). There is no great mystery why this is so – the BC government has still yet to provide deferral or “solutions space” funding for the lost revenues of First Nations who have an economic dependency on old-growth logging and who are contemplating deferrals but who have not committed yet to IPCAs. This has been an ever-present failing of this government and we emphasize the importance of deferral or “solutions space” funding.
  3. There is no BC Protected Areas Strategy (unlike with the NDP government in the 1990s) to develop plans, centralize resources, undertake needed assessments like gap analyses, and systematically prioritize areas via science-based targets. The current approach is ad hoc based on a first-come, first-serve scenario from First Nations who have previously developed IPCA proposals largely driven by previous federal funding.
  4. The local Forest Landscape Planning tables can include the establishment of new protected areas, but it certainly isn’t being emphasized by the Ministry of Forests. There is no substitute for a coordinated provincial strategy to get to 30% by 2030 entailing ecosystem-based targets.
  5. The Biodiversity and Ecosystem Health Framework (BEHF) when implemented could create the targets needed to guide new protected areas expansion (e.g. Provincial Conservancies and Parks) — as it must — but the response of the civil servants, when questioned, seems to indicate it will more likely just update targets for the weaker Biodiversity Guidebook conservation reserve system. i.e. It will only guide the weaker and smaller old-growth reserves in the “working landscape” like Old-Growth Management Areas and Wildlife Habitat Areas — both of which are tenuous designations full of logging loopholes — but not necessarily the major protected areas system like Conservancies and Parks. Instead, the protected areas with strong protections need to aim for the “good stuff” too and not largely emphasize alpine and subalpine landscapes. Strong ecosystem-based targets from the BEHF that form the foundation of a BC Protected Areas Strategy and that guide the expenditure of the BC Nature Agreement and Conservation Financing funds, in terms of priority areas and expenditures, are vital. Otherwise, BC will end up with a protected areas system that still largely skirts around the valley bottoms and emphasizes protecting a lot of alpine and subalpine areas of low timber values.
  6. We have concerns that the timber industry may be involved in creating the conservation targets of the Biodiversity and Ecosystem Health Framework – this is an absolute no-go for conservation. Independent science and Traditional Ecological Knowledge committees, similar to the Coast Information Team struck up during the Great Bear Rainforest process, are needed, and the proposed BC Biodiversity Office would be the natural one to convene such a panel of experts in consultation with First Nations. We are concerned that no funding is provided to First Nations in the Forest Landscape Planning tables to establish conservation areas like Old-Growth Management Areas, Ungulate Winter Ranges, Wildlife Habitat Areas, etc. The funding thus far is only where First Nations want to create IPCAs. Without funding directed to First Nations right now for old-growth conservation at the FLP tables, these FLP tables may end up “baking in” forestry plans that are pre-paradigm shift — and this is what the MoF seems to be aiming for.
  7. The MoF has stated that they will be reviewing OGMA rules — and we hope it means that boundaries cannot be changed to allow logging of choice stands.
  8. The BC government currently only allows for incorrectly identified at-risk old-growth forests to be subtracted from rather than added to the priority TAP logging deferral areas. This constitutes a significant timber bias and conservation loophole that must be closed.
  9. Most importantly, the Biodiversity and Ecosystem Health Framework (BEHF) due in early 2025 will need to devise ecosystem-based targets that are:
    • Legally binding and not merely aspirational guidelines.
    • Guide the expansion of both the protected areas system like Provincial Conservancies and Parks and the biodiversity/conservation reserve system like OGMAs.
    • Are fine filter enough to represent all BEC zones, subzones, variants, ecological communities, and, most critically, *Forest Productivity Distinctions* (i.e. areas that grow large vs medium vs small trees).
    • Scale-up protection by incorporating the latest conservation biology science, based on independent scientists and Traditional Ecological Knowledge holders, not industry reps.
AFA's Ian Thomas, wearing a blue jacket and dark grey pants, stands beside a freshly cut old-growth cedar. The tree's stump dwarfs Thomas, who is 6"5', amongst a sea of more clearcut stumps and debris.

Ancient Forest Alliance’s Ian Thomas beside an ancient redcedar tree felled in 2022 on northern Vancouver Island in Quatsino territory.

See our information explaining the central importance of ecosystem-based targets and forest productivity distinctions.

In short, we believe what is needed is:

  1. An action plan that brings a goal of old-growth protection as the first cornerstone of old-growth management, both in terms of the real protected areas and biodiversity conservation reserves. It should emphasize the centrality of the BC Nature Agreement, BC Old-Growth Fund, and Conservation Financing mechanism to achieve these goals in its policies.
  2. A commitment to ecosystem-based targets to guide protected areas, conservation areas, and resource decisions – all based on independent science teams and Traditional Ecological Knowledge without industry.
  3. Recognizing the importance of forest productivity distinctions in protection and conservation targets.
  4. Developing a BC Protected Areas Strategy like the NDP of the 1990s to develop targets, analyses, and plans and to deploy resources and action to systematically expand the protected areas system based on science and Traditional Ecological Knowledge.
  5. A clear statement that the province still has a goal of achieving deferrals on the 2.6 million hectares of the TAP priority most-at-risk recommended deferral old-growth areas.
  6. Allocating deferral or “solutions space” funding for First Nations to implement deferrals even where they haven’t decided on IPCAs.
  7. Allocating funding for First Nations at the Forest Landscape Planning tables for potential lost revenues should they move forward with conservation reserves like OGMAs, WHAs, and UWRs.
  8. Moving to close the loopholes in OGMAs that allow moveable boundaries to enable logging and in WHAs and other such conservation designations that allow logging to take place.
  9. Ensure the addition of misidentified at-risk old-growth forests to the priority list of deferrals where identified by scientists, citizens, and industry.

From ground level, we are looking up at an ancient western redcedar, of which is marked with falling tape and is in danger of being logged.

 

Ancient Forest Alliance photographer & campaigner, TJ Watt, beside an enormous old-growth Sitka spruce growing unprotected west of Lake Cowichan in Ditidaht territory.

Billion-dollar BC Nature Agreement will Supercharge Protected Areas Expansion across the Province

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For Immediate Release
November 3rd, 2023

Conservationists thank the BC and federal governments for the $1.1 billion launch of the BC Nature Agreement. The federal government has provided $500 million and BC is providing $563 million from diverse funding sources — now purposed toward achieving BC’s 30% by 2030 nature protection, conservation, and restoration goals via First Nations conservation agreements.

The Ancient Forest Alliance (AFA) and Endangered Ecosystems Alliance (EEA) are greatly applauding the BC and federal governments and the First Nations Leadership Council for launching the BC Nature Agreement, with $1.1 billion in funding to start, to help achieve BC’s minimum protected areas target of protecting 30% by 2030 of its land area. The tripartite agreement, negotiated between the BC government, the federal government, and the First Nations Leadership Council (FNLC), comes with a $563 million contribution from the province and a $500 million federal contribution. The fund will continue to grow with major contributions from the philanthropic community and potentially from future government budgets over time.

Funds will be used for supporting First Nations to establish Indigenous Protected and Conserved Areas (IPCAs) and conservation initiatives, endangered species recovery, compensation of resource licensees, and habitat restoration, with a central mandate to achieve the 30% by 2030 protection target of BC in line with Canada’s national protection target.

“This is the largest provincial funding package in Canada’s history for nature conservation, and we understand it will continue to grow beyond the initial sum of $1.1 billion,” stated Ken Wu, Executive Director for EEA. “Our central campaign focus for years has been on the necessity of government funding for First Nations to establish new protected areas to save old-growth forests and endangered ecosystems in BC. Today, Premier Eby, federal Environment Minister Steven Guilbeault, and the First Nations Leadership Council delivered, and we thank them greatly. The funds will be critically important as the ‘fuel’ to enable Indigenous conservation initiatives to help BC reach its minimum protection target of 30% by 2030. Now we need ecosystem-based protection targets connected to these conservation funds to prioritize the most endangered and least protected ecosystems in BC. Without ecosystem-based targets to aim protection priorities wisely, it’ll be like a fire brigade hosing down all the non-burning houses while the houses on fire are largely ignored. Or a surgeon who doesn’t make distinctions between organs, instead just aiming to reach an overall target of removing a couple of kilograms.”

“Because First Nations are legally in the driver’s seat in BC when it comes to on-the-ground protection of their unceded territories, a major fund such as the one announced today is vital to support them and to deal with all the various costs of establishing new protected areas, particularly in contested landscapes,” stated TJ Watt, Campaigner for AFA. “It would be impossible to essentially double the protected areas in BC from 15% now to 30% over the next seven years without it. The major funding that Eby and Guilbeault have just put forward is a big deal. Step by step, the province is moving forward with support from the federal government to create the policy vehicle and funding streams that will enable First Nations to drive where we all need to go: the protection of native ecosystems and old-growth forests in BC. Funding for First Nations-led deferrals in the most at-risk old-growth stands is still outstanding, and we will keep working to see that these vital ‘solutions space’ funds are provided.”

In BC, the province cannot unilaterally establish protected areas and “just save the old growth” on Crown/ unceded First Nations lands — the support and shared decision-making of local First Nations governments is a legal necessity in their territories. Protected areas establishment and logging deferrals move at the speed of the local First Nations whose territories it is — the BC government’s policies and funding can facilitate or hinder, help speed up or slow down, the abilities of First Nations to protect ecosystems. Conservation financing, included in this funding package, is a vital enabling condition that can greatly facilitate and speed up the protection of old-growth forests.

Endangered Ecosystems Alliance executive director, Ken Wu, stands beside a monumental old-growth redcedar tree in the unprotected Eden Grove near Port Renfrew, BC in Pacheedaht territory.

Endangered Ecosystems Alliance executive director, Ken Wu, stands beside a monumental old-growth redcedar tree in the unprotected Eden Grove near Port Renfrew, BC in Pacheedaht territory.

Today’s BC Nature Agreement funds come from four federal funding pots (Enhanced Nature Legacy, Nature Smart Solutions Fund, BC Old-Growth Fund, and 2 Billion Trees program) and most of the funding was, until now, largely inaccessible for BC protected areas. The provincial funds also come from diverse sources — disparate funds that are now newly tasked to fulfill the mandate of the BC Nature Agreement’s 30% by 2030 goal to protect, conserve and restore ecosystems via First Nations’ shared decision-making initiatives. These include the $150 million in provincial contributions to BC’s Conservation Financing Mechanism announced last week, another $100 million from the Watershed Security Fund and $200 million from the Northeast Restoration Fund, and a host of other smaller funding pots.

In addition, the BC Old-Growth Fund, worth $50 million from federal funds and which must be matched by a $50 million provincial contribution (ie. $100 million), comes into force (and will grow by an additional $32 million in federal funds committed earlier, or $64 million in matching total funds), and is mandated to protect the most at-risk old-growth forests (ie. grandest, rarest and oldest stands) in the Coastal and Inland Rainforests, and the Coastal Douglas-Fir biogeoclimatic zone. These are among the most endangered ecosystems in BC, which evolved to naturally exist with high proportions of their landscapes in an old-growth condition, with greater levels of biodiversity adapted to old-growth forests than most other ecosystems (hence, the prioritization of funds for these ecosystems is sensible from a conservation perspective — the other $1 billion is available to protect forests including old-growth in other ecosystems).

While a minor subset of the overall BC Nature Agreement, the BC Old-Growth Fund is indispensable to help protect the “biggest and best” remaining old-growth stands in BC, with a mandate akin to ecosystem-based targets to protect 400,000 hectares to 1.3 million hectares of old-growth and mature forests in the most at-risk old-growth forest types by supporting First Nations conservation initiatives. Some of these hectares might come from the finalization of the ecosystem-based management reserves negotiated years earlier in the Great Bear Rainforest final agreement. Hopefully, with support from the greater BC Nature Agreement funds, most of the remaining tracts of the at-risk old-growth forests in the Coastal and Inland Rainforests and Coastal Douglas-Fir ecosystems are picked up for protection with this fund.

TJ Watt said, “We want to flag that provincial leadership is now vital to fulfilling the mandate of the BC Old-Growth Fund, to identify the key sites, which have already been largely mapped by the province’s appointed Technical Advisory Panel, and to pro-actively approach and work with First Nations and to bring them the resources and support needed to work on protecting these most important at-risk stands. BC bureaucrats sitting on their haunches and waiting to be approached won’t get the job done.”

The BC Nature Agreement fund comes on the heels of the $300 million Conservation Financing Mechanism and in fact, includes the $150 million provincial contribution to that fund. The BC Nature Agreement fund can also be used to augment the Conservation Financing Mechanism, which, unlike the BC Nature Agreement itself, can be used to support First Nations economic development initiatives linked to new protected areas.

Endangered Ecosystems Alliance executive director, Ken Wu, stands beside a monumental old-growth redcedar tree in the unprotected Jurassic Grove near Port Renfrew, BC in Pacheedaht territory.

Endangered Ecosystems Alliance executive director, Ken Wu, stands beside a monumental old-growth redcedar tree in the unprotected Jurassic Grove near Port Renfrew, BC in Pacheedaht territory.

EEA and AFA are now focused on closing several additional gaps in BC’s old-growth and protected-areas policies, which include:

  • Ecosystem-based protection targets, ie. legally-binding targets set for all ecosystems that factor in “forest productivity distinctions” (sites that grow large trees in warm, rich soils typically at lower elevations and more southerly latitudes, vs. sites that typically grow small trees in cold, rocky, or boggy sites) set by science and Traditional Ecological Knowledge committees. These targets are vital to ensure that the most at-risk and least protected ecosystems are prioritized — otherwise, protection will still be largely focused on alpine and subalpine areas with low to no timber values, with the exception of the old-growth that the BC Old-Growth Fund protects.
  • Deferral or “solutions-space” funding for First Nations to forgo logging in the most at-risk old-growth priority areas as defined by the province’s appointed Technical Advisory Panel (TAP). This is a critical stepping stone to at least get the full remaining 1.4 million hectares of TAP’s priority areas deferred. First Nations with logging interests in these areas need compensation for their lost revenues for two years while deferrals are enacted, during which time they can potentially undertake protected areas and land-use planning.
  • Upholding protected areas standards. A provincial Protected Areas Strategy with goals, objectives, strategies, and resources must be developed, and must emphasize Provincial Conservancies, Ecological Reserves, and Protected Areas (PAs), and other real protected areas. Old-Growth Management Areas (OGMAs) have moveable boundaries upon request by logging companies, and many types of Wildlife Habitat Areas allow logging — these loopholes must be closed, and until then, they must not be included in BC’s 30% by 2030 accounting. In addition, the province is developing a new IPCA designation that is considering “flexitarian” standards that might allow for commercial logging (cultural cedar harvesting for First Nations community use, of course, should be safeguarded and is different in scale and purpose than commercial logging). Weak and/or moveable conservation designations are akin to the “cryptocurrency of protected areas,” and BC must focus on real protected areas and close the moveable boundary loophole with OGMAs in particular, as OGMAs are a needed designation to save the labyrinth of remaining old-growth fragments.
Ancient Forest Alliance photographer & campaigner, TJ Watt, stands between two enormous old-growth Sitka spruce growing unprotected near Port Renfrew, BC in Pacheedaht territory.

Ancient Forest Alliance photographer & campaigner, TJ Watt, stands between two enormous old-growth Sitka spruce growing unprotected near Port Renfrew, BC in Pacheedaht territory.

EEA and AFA are also noting that much of the funding agreement, with the exception of the conservation financing component ($150 million from BC, and $150 million from the BC Parks Foundation), is narrowly defined so as not to fund First Nations’ owned businesses as alternatives to the nations’ old-growth logging dependencies. The lack of funding to support economic alternatives in First Nations communities, which keeps these communities dependent on old-growth logging revenues and jobs, is the single greatest barrier to the protection of old-growth forests across BC. This barrier is not lost upon many of the key timber-centric senior provincial bureaucrats who continue to marginalize the availability of such funds for First Nations’ economic development, along with the lack of deferral funding. This will also be an issue that our organizations will also be watching and working on.

More Background Info

  • Conservation financing is key to meeting First Nations’ needs for sustainable economic development alternatives to their old-growth logging dependencies. Many or most BC First Nations have an economic dependency fostered by successive BC governments on forestry, including old-growth logging, and require support to develop sustainable alternatives in ecotourism, clean energy, sustainable seafood, non-timber forest products like wild mushrooms, and other businesses if they are to forgo their old-growth logging interests to establish new protected areas and to not lose major jobs and revenues. Nations also need funding to develop the capacity to undertake land-use planning, mapping, engagement of community members, stakeholders, and resource licensees, and for stewardship and management jobs in new protected areas.
  • On BC’s Central and North Coasts (ie. the Great Bear Rainforest), $120 million in conservation financing from the province, federal government, and conservation groups in 2007 resulted in the protection of almost 1.8 million hectares of land (about 2/3rds the size of Vancouver Island), the creation of over 100 businesses and 1000 permanent jobs in First Nations communities, and significantly raised the average household income in numerous communities.
  • BC’s old-growth forests have spawned one of the most passionate and pervasive ecosystem-protection movements in world history, and for good reason. They contain some of the largest and oldest living organisms that have ever existed in Earth’s history — forest giants that can live to 2000 years old and grow wider than a living room. Old-growth forests are vital to support unique and endangered species, climate stability, clean water, wild salmon, First Nations cultures, and BC’s multi-billion dollar tourism industry. These forests have unique characteristics that are not replicated by the ensuing second-growth tree plantations they’re being replaced with. In fact, second-growth forests in BC are logged every 50-to-80 years on BC’s coast, never to become old growth again.
  • Well over 80% of the original, productive old-growth forests (sites where most big trees and timber values reside) have already been logged, and over 5 million hectares of big treed, rare (by ecosystem type), and very oldest old-growth forests remain unprotected in BC, with 2.6 million hectares identified as the top priorities for logging deferrals by the province’s appointed science panel or Technical Advisory Panel.
Endangered Ecosystems Alliance Executive Director, Ken Wu, stands beside a giant Sitka spruce tree in an old-growth forest west of Lake Cowichan in Ditidaht territory.

BC Launches Vital Conservation Financing Mechanism to Protect Old-Growth Forests and Ecosystems

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For Immediate Release
October 26, 2023

Starting with an initial $300 million of provincial and philanthropic funding, the indispensable fund that will “fuel” or power the creation of new protected areas by supporting First Nations protected areas initiatives will continue to grow with additional federal, provincial, and private funds. Conservationists give thanks to Premier Eby for fulfilling a key commitment.

Today, the BC government made good on a vital conservation commitment made last December by Premier David Eby to develop a conservation financing mechanism to fund Indigenous Protected and Conserved Areas (IPCAs) by funding First Nations’ economic, capacity, stewardship, and management needs linked to protecting ecosystems. The new fund consists of a $150 million provincial contribution and $150 million to be raised by the BC Parks Foundation, the official charitable fund of the province’s BC Parks agency, for a total of $300 million to start. The fund is likely to grow quickly with major federal protected areas funding soon, additional provincial protected areas funds (conjoined with the federal funds via the BC Nature Fund and BC Old-Growth Funds, two additional funds currently under negotiation), funds from the international philanthropic community, and contributions from private citizens over time.

“This is a vital step forward to protect nature in British Columbia on a major scale — Premier Eby should be thanked for this. Conservation financing is the indispensable ‘fuel’ to power along the establishment of new protected areas in BC — without it, the large-scale protection of the most endangered and contested ecosystems, such as those with the largest trees and greatest timber values, would be largely impossible,” stated Ken Wu, executive director of the Endangered Ecosystems Alliance. “Since 2017 my colleagues and I have been calling on the province to undertake conservation financing, and three years ago we launched the main campaign with diverse allies calling for federal and provincial conservation funding to protect old-growth forests and endangered ecosystems – and today Premier Eby has delivered. This is a huge conservation victory for the many thousands of people who’ve spoken up for years for this.”

“This conservation financing mechanism puts major wind in the sails for the protection of old-growth forests in BC. After we’ve spent years relentlessly focusing on the centrality of conservation financing to support First Nations’ protected areas initiatives, Premier Eby has delivered on one of his three big commitments now. His other major commitments include doubling the protected areas in BC from 15% now to 30% by 2030 — this funding will make it possible as the fund grows — and targeting protection for biodiverse areas, which we interpret to mean the potential development of ecosystem-based protection targets which haven’t happened yet. We will continue working to ensure these commitments come to fruition,” stated TJ Watt, campaigner and photographer with the Ancient Forest Alliance.

Ancient Forest Alliance Campaigner & Photographer, TJ Watt, stands beside an unprotected old-growth redcedar tree in the Jurassic Grove near Port Renfrew in Pacheedaht territory.

Ancient Forest Alliance Campaigner & Photographer, TJ Watt, stands beside an unprotected old-growth redcedar tree in the Jurassic Grove near Port Renfrew in Pacheedaht territory.

In BC, it’s important to note that the province cannot unilaterally establish protected areas and “just save the old-growth” on Crown lands — the support of local First Nations governments is a legal necessity in their unceded territories. Protected areas establishment and logging deferrals move at the speed of the local First Nations whose territories it is. The BC government’s policies and funding can facilitate or hinder, help speed up or slow down, the abilities of First Nations to protect ecosystems. Conservation financing is a vital enabling condition that can speed up the protection of old-growth forests.

Across BC, First Nations have an economic dependency on forestry jobs and revenues, including in old-growth logging — a dependency fostered and facilitated by successive BC governments. Many First Nations also have an economic dependency on other resource industries, including mining and oil and gas. Hence, conservation financing to fund First Nations’ sustainable economic alternatives in ecotourism, clean energy, sustainable seafood, non-timber forest products (eg. wild mushrooms), and other industries, linked to the establishment of new protected areas, is vital for First Nations to be able to transition from their dependency on old-growth logging revenues and jobs and other resource industries in endangered ecosystems. Without conservation financing, the establishment of new protected areas in areas with high timber values would be like asking First Nations to simply jettison their main source of revenues and jobs — something that no major human population would do without economic alternatives and support.

On BC’s Central and North Coasts (ie. the Great Bear Rainforest), a conservation financing investment of $120 million in 2006 ($30 million from the province, $30 million from the federal government, $60 million from conservation groups) for First Nations sustainable economic development and stewardship needs, resulted in the protection of about one third of the region, about 1.8 million hectares. The initial investment, as a result of interest and carbon offsets, has ended up providing over $300 million in investments to First Nations’ owned businesses and stewardship initiatives, supporting over 100 First Nations-owned businesses, funding over 1000 jobs, and raising the average per household income substantially in First Nations communities.

Several loopholes or gaps remain in the BC government’s protected areas and conservation financing initiatives that the Endangered Ecosystems Alliance and Ancient Forest Alliance will continue to work to close.

  1. Just as conservation financing was linked to protection targets (specific valleys and ecosystem retention targets) in the Great Bear Rainforest, the new conservation financing mechanism needs to be tied to “ecosystem-based targets”, that is, protection targets developed for each ecosystem that ensure that all ecosystems, including the most endangered and contested landscapes such as “high productivity” old-growth forests with the greatest timber values, are protected based on science and Traditional Ecological Knowledge. These targets should be developed by a Chief Ecologist (similar to BC’s Chief Forester, but with an ecological lens) and various science and Traditional Ecological Knowledge committees – new positions that are currently under consideration as the province develops a Biodiversity and Ecosystem Health Framework. The province already has mapped the most at-risk old-growth forest types via their Technical Advisory Panel (TAP) and it’s vital that these conservation financing funds are linked to those deferral targets as priority, potential protected areas. Linking the conservation financing mechanism to the development of the Biodiversity and Ecosystem Health Framework (BEHF), (in particular should it develop ecosystem-based protection targets) is vital once the initiative is finalized.
  2. The province’s conservation funds (and/or other provincial funds currently under development) should also be used to immediately provide funding for First Nations to help offset lost logging revenues when being asked to accept logging deferrals in their unceded territories as identified by the government’s old-growth science panel, the Technical Advisory Panel (TAP). This “solutions-space” funding, as was used successfully in Clayoquot Sound, will be critical in helping ensure the deferral of the roughly 1.4 million hectares (more than half) of priority old-growth deferrals that remain outstanding from the original 2.6 million hectares.
  3. Ensuring that conservation financing supports only protected areas that meet the standards and permanency of true protected areas – meaning supporting designations that exclude commercial logging (while protecting First Nations cultural harvesting of individual trees, such as monumental cedars for dugout canoes and totem poles), mining, and oil and gas developments, and whose boundaries cannot be readily shifted. Provincial Conservancies and a few other provincial designations termed “Protected Areas” are designations that exclude commercial logging, mining, and oil and gas development, but that protect First Nations subsistence and cultural rights (hunting, fishing, gathering, cultural cedar harvest), co-management authority, and rights and title, and would have the standards and permanency of real protected areas. Conservation regulations such as Old-Growth Management Areas (which allow moveable boundaries to let companies log the biggest trees, to be replaced by “protecting” areas with smaller trees) and Wildlife Habitat Areas (which can still allow commercial logging, for example in Spotted Owl and Northern Goshawk ‘buffer’ areas) would not meet the threshold of real protected areas unless their loopholes are closed.

“We’re watching with great concern as the province might be looking to establish new ‘flexitarian’ designations – tenuous or fake ‘protected areas’ that still allow logging or boundary shifts to occur. These types of loopholes can easily result in the high-grade logging within such ‘protected areas’ of the very geographically limited monumental old-growth stands and the most endangered ecosystems, which can often constitute one or two percent or less of any major landscape area,” stated Ken Wu, Endangered Ecosystems Alliance executive director.

Endangered Ecosystems Alliance Executive Director, Ken Wu, beside an old-growth redcedar tree in the unprotected Eden Grove near Port Renfrew in Pacheedaht territory.

Endangered Ecosystems Alliance Executive Director, Ken Wu, beside an old-growth redcedar tree in the unprotected Eden Grove near Port Renfrew in Pacheedaht territory.

“The big campaign now will be for ecosystem-based protection targets — without them, we’ll see a massive number of hectares of new protected areas in alpine and subalpine areas with little to no timber value, and that skirt around saving the big timber that will still get logged. Without ecosystem-based targets, it’s like calling in fire trucks to hose down all the houses that are not burning, while the houses on fire get ignored. Ecosystem-based targets means you aim protected areas establishment right, to save the most endangered and least represented ecosystems”, stated Ken Wu, EEA executive director.

“Premier Eby has done something great today and we thank him. We still have to close several gaps and loopholes, related to linking conservation financing to ecosystem-based targets and the most at-risk old-growth, to ensure protected areas integrity moving forward, and to ensure deferral funding comes from various government sources. But make no mistake, this is a very good day,” stated TJ Watt, AFA campaigner.

Old-growth forests are vital to support unique and endangered species, climate stability, clean water, wild salmon, First Nations cultures, and BC’s multi-billion dollar tourism industry. They have unique characteristics that are not replicated by the ensuing second-growth tree plantations that they are being replaced with and that are logged every 50 to 70 years on BC’s coast, never to become old-growth again. Well over 80% of the original, productive old-growth forests (medium to high productivity sites where most big trees and timber values reside) have already been logged, and over 5 million hectares of big tree, rare (by ecosystem type), and very ancient old-growth forests remain unprotected in BC.

Watch this small video series by the Endangered Ecosystems Alliance’s Ken Wu explaining conservation financing, BC’s old-growth policy progress and remaining loopholes, and ecosystem-based targets.

See the news article and the media release that launched the campaign in 2020 for conservation financing from the provincial and federal governments.

A sea of green old-growth in the Central Walbran Valley

Recent Updates on Old-Growth Deferrals in BC

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Great news — thanks to the leadership of the Pacheedaht, Ditidaht, and Huu-ay-aht First Nations, the logging deferral in the Central Walbran valley was extended last year until March 2024 and the deferral at Fairy Creek (excluding the surrounding watersheds) has now been extended as well until February 2025.

Logging deferrals are interim protection measures that safeguard old-growth forests in the short-term, while long-term land-use plans (which may include new protected areas) are developed by First Nations.

When seeking to understand how old-growth forests can ultimately be protected, it’s vital to note that the BC government cannot just “save the old growth” by unilaterally creating new legislated protected areas, as First Nations support is a legal necessity, and First Nations consent for logging deferrals is an important precursor to building the trust for potential future protected areas.

However, the BC government can and should be advocates for old-growth protection after its failed policies have led to today’s ecological emergency. The province must also use its vast resources (much of which came from the exploitation of old-growth forests) to ensure that First Nations have an equitable choice when being asked whether they want to defer or protect old-growth on their unceded territories.

The government must do this by supporting First Nations with funding for sustainable economic alternatives to their logging jobs and revenues, due to many (even most) nations in BC relying heavily on the old-growth logging industry — an economic dependency fostered by successive BC governments.

Across BC, over a million hectares of at-risk old-growth forests are now under temporary deferral, but millions more have no protection at all. What’s needed now from the province — beyond major conservation financing funds — are ecosystem-based targets set by science and informed by Traditional Ecological Knowledge that prioritize the most at-risk ecosystems (such as those with big trees vs. stunted subalpine and bog forests) for protection.

Send a message to the BC government calling for funding.

Read about the newest Fairy Creek deferrals here.

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

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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.”

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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

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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

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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.

BC hasn’t taken $50 million federal offer for old-growth forest protections

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November 9, 2022
The Narwhal
By Sarah Cox

In August, as Minister of Environment and Climate Change Steven Guilbeault prepared to visit an old-growth forest park in West Vancouver, his office drafted a news release for the occasion. It was never sent out.

The federal government had committed up to $50 million to permanently protect BC’s old-growth forests and was “awaiting the matching commitment from the province,” said the draft release, a copy of which was obtained by The Narwhal.

In the lead up to the United Nations biodiversity conference Canada will host in December, the federal government is eager to see permanent protections announced for BC’s old-growth forests as part of Ottawa’s commitment to protect 30 per cent of the country’s land and waters by 2030.

But with less than a month before the COP15 conference gets underway in Montreal, the BC government has yet to accept Ottawa’s offer of funding to protect old-growth forests that store carbon and provide habitat for many species at risk of extinction, including spotted owls, marbled murrelets and woodland caribou.

That leaves environmental groups and the BC Green Party questioning the sincerity of the BC government’s promise to protect old-growth forests and embark on a forestry transition many believe is long overdue.

“It’s really critical that there’s money on the table,” Stand.earth forest campaigner Tegan Hansen said. “And BC hasn’t seized on that to actually support communities in transitioning away from old-growth logging and protecting forests.”

The draft release noted Guilbeault’s visit intended to show “solidarity and support for the protection of old-growth forest in British Columbia, and highlight ongoing discussions with the province to establish an Old Growth Nature Fund in BC.”

“Old-growth forests in British Columbia are some of the most biologically diverse and productive ecosystems in Canada,” Guilbeault stated in the draft release. “They are also some of the most important and largest natural carbon sinks in the world. With deep-rooted significance to Indigenous communities and of importance to all British Columbians, old-growth forests require greater protections.”

Guilbeault’s office declined to comment directly on the draft release, which offered the province $50 million. In an emailed response to questions, Guilbeault’s press secretary, Kaitlyn Power, said the 2022 federal budget allows for $55.1 million over three years to protect old-growth forests in BC The budget said the funding was conditional on a matching investment from the provincial government.

“Our government will continue collaborating with the province to get a good deal to protect BC’s beloved nature,” Power wrote.

Asked if the provincial government will accept and match the federal old-growth funding, the BC Ministry of Forests referred the Narwhal to the BC Ministry of Land, Water and Resource Stewardship. In an emailed response to questions, the Land Ministry said the province is working with the federal government to develop a Nature Agreement that will, among other aims, “advance reconciliation by supporting Indigenous leadership on conservation efforts.”

“The proposed agreement presents an opportunity both for a more collaborative, long-term relationship between the federal and provincial governments and to build an integrated, landscape-based approach to nature conservation and stewardship,” the Land Ministry wrote.

(Following publication, when pushed on whether or not BC would be taking the federal money, the Ministry of Forests said: “The $50 million pledge is a welcome first step and we continue the important with our federal partners to do more to protect biodiversity and old-growth forests.”)

Old-growth funding a chance to end the ‘war in the woods’

BC is known throughout the world for the giant, old-growth trees that grow in moss-carpeted rainforests in coastal regions and in the rare inland temperate rainforest in the province’s interior. Following decades of industrial logging, most of the province’s unprotected old-growth forests have been logged.

Low-elevation old-growth valley bottoms — home to the biggest trees and the greatest biodiversity — are the most at risk of being clear-cut. They have been identified as priorities for protection to avoid irreversible biodiversity loss.

During the 2020 provincial election campaign, the BC NDP promised to fully implement the recommendations of an old-growth review panel that called for a paradigm shift in the way BC’s forests are managed.

The panel, led by two foresters, said the province’s forests should be managed for ecosystem values, not for timber. Among other recommendations, the foresters said the government should support forest sector workers and communities as they adapt to changes resulting from a new forest management system.

Ken Wu, executive director of the Endangered Ecosystems Alliance, said the federal money, matched by BC, would be a “game-changer” for old-growth protections.

Old-growth logging has long been an issue of contention in BC More than 800 people were arrested in 1993 during months of logging protests, which became known as the “war in the woods,” in Clayoquot Sound on Vancouver Island. Since 2021, more than 1,000 people have been arrested trying to stop old-growth logging in and around Fairy Creek on Pacheedaht territory on southwest Vancouver Island.

“The BC government has a chance to finally put an end to the war in the woods by embracing the federal money, kicking in their own funding and directing it to the right places — the grandest, most at-risk old-growth forests — and to the right parties,” Wu said in an interview. The right parties are First Nations, who require funding for sustainable economic development initiatives linked to protected areas, he said, and not corporations.

“If they do that on a big enough scale, then they will have solved the war in the woods on the conservation side. And on the labor side, simultaneously they can be building a value-added, second-growth, smart forest economy with the right incentives and regulations.”

Yet even $100 million – $50 million from each of the federal and provincial governments – is not nearly enough to permanently protect BC’s old-growth forests, Wu said. Adding considerably to the pot would be BC’s share of $2.3 billion in federal funding to support nature conservation measures across the country, including Indigenous-led conservation. Wu estimated BC could receive between $200 million and $400 million from that fund.

“If BC were to match that, and then direct it in the right places, to the right parties, it could actually end old-growth logging in British Columbia and protect most endangered ecosystems.”

Wu also cautioned the use of federal money could still “go sideways” if the end result is to protect alpine and subalpine areas, “leaving out the valley bottoms and the big trees.”

The Union of BC Indian Chiefs has also called on the federal and provincial governments to finance old-growth forest protection, Indigenous protected areas and land use plans.

Read the original article

Funding for Old-Growth Arrives in BC Budget, Falls Short of What’s Needed

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For immediate release
February 22, 2022

Conservationists argue more support is necessary for First Nations communities to ensure most at-risk ancient forests can remain standing.

VICTORIA (Unceded Lekwungen Territories) – The BC government appears to have improved upon funding commitments for old-growth forests in Budget 2022, but still has fallen short of providing the amount necessary to fully protect endangered ancient forests in BC. $185 million has been budgeted for old-growth, which includes funding for workers, industry, communities, and First Nations. Depending on how funding is allocated, this announcement potentially contains up to one-third of the contribution needed from the province to support First Nations communities, whose consent is needed to implement old-growth logging deferrals.

Conservationists have repeatedly called for the province to commit 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 support for the sustainable economic diversification of First Nations communities in lieu of old-growth logging and linked to the establishment of Indigenous Protected Areas. Support for forestry workers and contractors, and legally defined compensation for major licensees, would be above and beyond this total.

Ancient Forest Alliance campaigner & photographer TJ Watt stands beside a giant old-growth cedar stump in the Caycuse Valley in Ditidaht territory.

“Today the BC government took a first step in the right direction in funding for old-growth,” stated Ancient Forest Alliance campaigner and photographer TJ Watt. “However, they still fell short on the funding needed to relieve the economic pressure faced by First Nations so that logging deferrals can become an economically viable option for them. This funding shortfall makes enacting the full suite of old-growth logging deferrals virtually impossible to achieve.”
 
The BC government has committed to implementing all 14 recommendations of the Old Growth Strategic Review Panel. In its list of recommendations, the review panel directed the province to act quickly to defer (temporarily halt) the logging of old-growth forests at high risk of biodiversity loss. The BC government later accepted, in principle, the recommendation to defer 2.6 million hectares of the most at-risk ancient forests by an independent science panel, focusing on the largest and oldest trees remaining in BC. Months later, 570,000 hectares have been deferred on lands managed by BC Timber Sales, and an additional smaller fraction has been set aside by First Nations, while some forests identified for deferral continue to be logged.
 
Federal funding is available to support environmental protection in BC. $2.3 billion was committed last year to help Canada achieve its international commitments to protect 25% of lands and waters by 2025 and 30% by 2030. Of this, several hundred million dollars are available for the expansion of protected areas in BC, with $50 million specifically allocated to BC old-growth so far. An additional $631 million is earmarked for “Nature Smart Climate Solutions” with $200 million already allocated for the protection of carbon-rich ecosystems such as BC’s old-growth forests.

Ancient Forest Alliance campaigner & photographer TJ Watt stands beside a giant old-growth cedar tree in a forest recommended for deferral near Port Renfrew in Pacheedaht territory. 

“It’s time that the BC government embraced the significant funding available from the federal government to help support land conservation initiatives in BC, including for old-growth forests,” stated Ancient Forest Alliance campaigner Ian Illuminato. “This is a golden opportunity to obtain hundreds of millions in funding from the federal government to support the creation of new Indigenous Protected and Conserved Areas and support the permanent protection of old-growth forests. Why are they waiting?”
 
Last week, 25 municipal leaders from 14 BC communities urged the province to follow through on its promises to protect at-risk old-growth forests. Their letter requested that the BC government swiftly establish a provincial fund to relieve the economic pressure that makes it challenging for many First Nations communities to support logging deferrals. Citizens across BC have recently made hundreds of phone calls and sent thousands of letters calling for increased funding for old-growth protection as well.