Search

Help save Iconic Old-Growth Forest in Pacific Northwest

May 31, 2021
3 min read

Please help us save iconic Old-growth Forest in the Pacific Northwest of Canada!

Help us call for an immediate moratorium on logging in Fairy Creek and all Old-Growth Forest on Vancouver Island, British Columbia, Canada.

Key Points:

British Columbia’s temperate rainforests represent the largest remaining tracts of a globally rare ecosystem covering just 0.5% of the planet’s landmass.
Only 20% of the original forest on Vancouver Island (VI) is left. Annually, 30 to 50% of the trees harvested are from the Old-Growth (OG) areas of this forest. These OG forests, especially the ones found in valley bottoms, are irreplaceable.
Only 3 to 7% of the productive Old-Growth forests with the biggest, oldest trees and intact ecosystems are left on Vancouver Island. Old-Growth is defined provincially as 250 years and older.
Even under BC’s 2020 Old-growth Strategic Review and the Special Tree Regulation less than half of the VI Old-Growth forest is protected. It was recommended to defer logging in ALL of the most at-risk forest ecosystems, but this has NOT occurred.
The forest in the Fairy Creek Valley includes 2,000 incredible hectares of Old-Growth forest. With the adjacent Central Walbran valley it is the largest swath of unbroken, unprotected old-growth forest in southern Vancouver Island.
Therefore, a moratorium needs to be called on logging in the Fairy Creek Forest as part of a moratorium on all logging in Old-Growth forests in BC.
There should be no cutting while talks occur between the Environmental Nongovernment Organizations (ENGOs), government, unions, and industry.
In 2017, Premier Horgan was elected on a promise to protect Old-Growth, yet Old-Growth logging has increased by 43%.
Therefore, call on the BC government to implement all 14 recommendations of the 2020 Old-Growth Strategic Review.
This is not an anti-logging movement; it is an anti-Old-Growth logging movement. There is enough second and third growth forests to adequately support a sustainable forest industry, with jobs and economic security.

Other Background:

Mother Trees, the largest trees, are crucial for the younger trees as well as the survival of the “tree” of biodiversity; many species cannot survive in any other habitat.
In association with these forests, the Species-at-Risk legislation of 2017 also has not been fully enacted for 1,800 species at risk.
Given our climate change reality, these giant trees act as vital carbon sinks. Stopping old-growth logging preserves these important carbon sinks as well as important habitat for numerous species. These two issues are part of our global responsibility.
Large trees outside of protected areas are only protected under the Special Tree Regulation if they are 2.83 meters (9.2 feet) in diameter at chest height (for Sitka spruce), although this varies by tree species. Otherwise, they can be logged.
Fairy Creek watershed is being logged by Teal Jones, under a tree licence belonging to Pacheedaht First Nation, approved by Band Council. They want jobs for their people.
The Hereditary Leadership however, including Elders Bill Jones and Jim Jones, are opposed to logging the old-growth forest. They are hosting the protestors as well as leading the ceremonies and offering teachings, so that the protests are done in a good and respectful way. Bill Jones was a logger himself until his ecological grief overcame him. They are collaborating with protestors on decolonization and reconciliation work.
The timber industry is working to transition toward value-added processing instead.
Ideas have been to fund Indigenous Guardians and Land Defenders for these forests as part of conservation funding.
Transitioning toward ecotourism as a replacement for logging has been successful in other places of BC.