Media Release
October 15, 2020
Earmarking a subset of the federal $1.3 billion Canada Nature Fund today could ensure the protection of old-growth forests across Canada, or new funding can be provided in the upcoming federal budget.
Provincial funding for Indigenous Protected Areas and First Nations land use plans to protect old-growth must accompany government-to-government negotiations.
First Nations leaders, conservationists, scientists and politicians, are calling on the federal and British Columbian governments to help finance the protection of old-growth forests in their budgets and recovery plans.
The call by Grand Chief Stewart Phillip (Union of BC Indian Chiefs), Jude Sayers (President, Nuu-Chah-Nulth Tribal Council), and Joe Martin (Tla-o-qui-aht Councillor and canoe carver), Ken Wu (Executive Director, Endangered Ecosystems Alliance), Andy MacKinnon (Science Advisor to the Endangered Ecosystems Alliance, forest ecologist and Metchosin councillor), TJ Watt (Campaigner, Ancient Forest Alliance), Paul Manly (Nanaimo – Ladysmith Member of Parliament), and Ben Geselbrecht (Nanaimo Councillor and former UBCM director), comes a month after the BC government released its policy direction in regards to the fate of BC’s old-growth forests and a few weeks after the federal government announced its commitment to double Canada’s protected areas in 4 years in their Throne speech.
To protect old-growth forests, funding is needed to support First Nations efforts to establish new Indigenous Protected Areas and land use plans. Financing land use planning, community engagement, management and stewardship programs such as Indigenous Guardians programs, and sustainable economic development like cultural and eco-tourism, clean energy, value-added second-growth forestry, and non-timber forest products linked to ancient forest protection) is needed to accompany consultations about old-growth policy and land use, so that there is an equivalent economic alternative for First Nations in lieu of old-growth logging revenues and jobs.
In addition, land acquisition funding is needed to purchase and protect private lands with old-growth forests for new Indigenous Protected Areas and ecological reserves, and to buy-out pre-existing licensee resource rights.
The Union of BC Indian Chiefs (UBCIC) recently released a resolution passed at their Sept.29-30 Annual General Assembly that includes a call for provincial and federal financing of First Nations Indigenous Protected Areas, land use plans, and old-growth protection:
There are a number of federal and provincial mechanisms right now that can protect old-growth forests.
Federally, financing can perhaps come most readily by identifying a subset of the existing $1.3 billion Canada Nature Fund (which must be replenished and expanded at this time) specifically for the protection of old-growth forests. The Canada Nature Fund exists to expand the protected areas system to reach Canada’s national/ international commitment to protect 17% of the country’s land area by the end of 2020, 25% by 2025, and 30% by 2030. (Currently 12% of Canada’s land area is protected.) This is to be accomplished primarily by funding Indigenous Protected and Conserved Areas (IPCAs) on public lands, private land acquisition, and species at risk habitat protection. See info about the Canada Nature Fund here.
In addition, federal financing for old-growth forest protection could come as a separate item in the federal budget. The federal Throne Speech recently re-committed the federal government to support expanded protected areas system, which is primarily being driven by the establishment of new Indigenous Protected and Conserved Areas (IPCA’s) across Canada – financed by the Canada Nature Fund.
Provincially in BC, the BC government recently announced their new policy direction regarding the fate of BC’s old-growth forests with the release of the Old-Growth Strategic Review public and stakeholder consultation panel’s powerful recommendations. The BC government has failed to adopt most of the Panel’s recommendations thus far, including placing key moratoria on logging the extremely endangered high-productivity (ie. biggest trees) old-growth stands and the most endangered forest types, as recommended by the Panel, and states they are now proceeding with consultations with First Nations about their old-growth policies (which should have occurred much earlier – before public and stakeholder consultations).
However, the BC government has not committed any funding yet for First Nations Indigenous Protected and Conserved Areas or new land use plans that protect old-growth. Funding for First Nations conservation and sustainable economic development initiatives is vital to accompany any consultations regarding old-growth policy, and is the key game-changer for actual protection of old-growth forests on the ground in BC, which are the unceded lands of First Nations.
The Old-Growth Strategic Review Panel recommended that the BC government “Establish mechanisms for local Indigenous groups to meet provincial targets and standards for biodiversity protection, and ecosystem representation” and “Establish support programs for Indigenous groups to build their land/forest management expertise and capacity.” ie. Financing for First Nations to accompany government-to-government consultations on old-growth. See page 49.
BC’s Select Standing Committee on Finance and Government Services also recommended in September after the round of public consultations earlier in the year that the provincial government “fund a transition to second-growth harvesting and away from primary forests.” See here (page 36, Report on the Budge 2021 Consultation, Volume 1).
Federal and provincial funding to protect old-growth forests can be augmented by funding from conservation organizations to support Indigenous Protected Areas and land use plans that protect old-growth forests (such as the $120 million in funding - $60 million from environmental groups, $30 million from the federal government, and $30 million from the province) used to help protect the Great Bear Rainforest on BC’s Central and North Coast. Federal and provincial funding are vital, however, as the financial capacity of government is far greater than those of non-profit organizations.
The federal government has funded dozens of Indigenous Protected and Conserved Areas (IPCA’s) through the Nature Fund, but have largely been concentrated on protecting Arctic, subarctic, alpine, and subalpine landscapes (tundra, muskeg, and landscapes with small trees of low to no timber value) – important ecosystems in their own right - instead of the more contested, endangered, and biologically richer landscapes like old-growth temperate rainforests, deciduous forests, and grasslands in southern Canada. Earmarking a subset of the fund, for the protection of old-growth forests, will help to prioritize the overstretched funding (which must be replenished and expanded upon – already there are far too many IPCA proposals than the fund can accommodate) into Canada’s most endangered old-growth forests.
Currently, the Clayoquot Sound Indigenous Protected Areas (Tla-o-quiaht Tribal Parks and Ahousaht Land Use Vision) and the Nootka Sound “Salmon Park” of the Mocwachaht/ Muchalaht, Ehattesaht/Chinehkint and Nuchatlaht bands, may be the only major old-growth protected areas whose protection is being financed by the federal government. These are funded from a variety of other federal and non-profit funds - not from the Canada Nature Fund, and more funding is required.
Old-growth forests are naturally most abundant and widespread in British Columbia. However, forests that have not been logged or replaced by major natural disturbances (most notably wildfire) for centuries are found scattered throughout Canada in the boreal, Great Lakes-St. Lawrence and Acadian forest regions.
Old-growth forests support various unique and endangered species (spotted owls, marbled murrelets, mountain caribou, white-headed woodpeckers, various lichens and fungi, etc.), Indigenous cultures (many of whom depend on old-growth forests for key aspects of their cultures, such as the use of ancient redcedars in coastal BC for making dug-out canoes, long houses, and totem poles, or giant paper birch for making birch-bark canoes in eastern Canada), major tourism and recreation industries, clean water, wild salmon and major carbon storage.
QUOTES:
Grand Chief Stewart Phillip, Union of BC Indian Chiefs (UBCIC) – "For years the government has enabled a debilitating and dangerous system that expunges the irreplaceable cultural value of old-growth forests, viewing not the immense roots these ancient and giant trees have set in our First Nation communities to sustain our cultures and livelihoods, but rather the pecuniary value of these trees that must be exploited in the short-term. As President of the Union of BC Indian Chiefs (UBCIC), I am proud to support First Nations across BC in asserting their stewardship and jurisdiction over their unceded territories and resources, including over old-growth forests. The UBCIC Chiefs-in-Assembly recently endorsed Resolution 2020-23, which called upon the provincial government to recognize that decisions regarding old-growth are a Title and Rights subject, and that it is unacceptable to deprive First Nations of their consent and leave them the most contentious and at-risk areas for logging. By Resolution 2020-23, UBCIC will continue to work with likeminded organizations like the Endangered Ecosystems Alliance to ensure that every step is taken by the government to implement a renewed old-growth strategy that entrenches Indigenous consent into its processes, provides funding for Indigenous Protected and Conserved Areas and conservation-based businesses, and supports sustainable old-growth cultural harvesting as an important First Nations livelihood and source of culture.”
Jude Sayers, Nuu-chah-nulth Tribal Council President (NTC) – “Old-growth forests are invaluable ecosystems that can never be reproduced. The forests play an important role in protecting wildlife throughout the winter, and for providing Nuu-chah-nulth peoples the medicines contained within them. Nuu-chah-nulth Nations rely on old-growth forests to continue our way of life which includes accessing monumental cedar for many purposes. The forests are of great cultural significance to us and are used as spiritual places. The forests are vanishing with the permission of the province. The province and federal governments have an obligation under Reconciliation and UNDRIP to support Indigenous Protected Areas, Tribal Parks, cedar access strategies and land use plans and respect Indigenous peoples doing their own old-growth management within their territories. The free, prior and informed consent of Indigenous peoples must be obtained before the taking of old growth., so that we may exercise our right to pursue the protection and management of our old-growth forests."
Joe Martin, Tla-o-qui-aht Councillor and canoe carver - “Meares Island Tribal Park was declared in 1984 and now we have declared almost all of our ancestral lands as a Tribal Park. As a ‘tree farm licence’ the companies or the B.C. government did not plant any of the old growth. Many of the trees started as seedlings more than one thousand years ago! The provincial and federal governments need to get behind our Tribal Parks, including financially, after overseeing the clearcutting throughout large parts of our territory over decades.”
Ken Wu, Endangered Ecosystems Alliance (EEA) Executive Director - “Old-growth forests are distinctive ecological features found across Canada and support a great variety of living organisms, some of them found only in old-growth forests. They also provide a host of other social, economic and ecological benefits for tourism, recreation, Indigenous cultures, ecosystem services, and climate mitigation. They are valued by many Canadians, and their disappearance is of great concern.
Today, arguing that logging Canada’s last old-growth forests is vital for jobs and the economy is like arguing that harpooning great whales is vital for jobs and the economy. There are alternatives. The vast majority of the productive forests in BC and in Canada are now second-growth, where logging can be done sustainably. Protecting old-growth forests actually boosts the economy by attracting and fostering diverse industries, it benefits our health in numerous ways, and it increases humanity’s chances of survival by counteracting the extinction and climate crises. The federal and provincial governments must finance their protection as part of any Green recovery plan, while supporting incentives and regulations to ensure a value-added, second-growth forest industry.”
Andy MacKinnon, Forest Ecologist, Science Advisor to Endangered Ecosystems Alliance, and Metchosin councillor - “Canada’s old-growth forests have developed over centuries or, in some cases, millennia. In many areas, logging has converted these forests to second-growth forests, which differ fundamentally from old-growth forests in structure, function and biodiversity. Once gone, these old-growth forests are effectively gone forever. There are still opportunities to protect some of these magnificent forests, but at current rates of logging these opportunities will not be available to the next generation.”
Paul Manly, Member of Parliament, Nanaimo-Ladysmith – “The federal government's plan to plant 2 billion trees is important, but it is far more important to protect the last remaining big tree old-growth ecosystems in Canada. These ancient trees sequester far more carbon standing than any young forest could. Financing from the existing $1.3 billion Canada Nature Fund can be set aside specifically for the protection of old-growth forests. This fund must be replenished and expanded to ensure that endangered ecosystems are properly protected. So far it has primarily been used to protect lands with low industrial value, such as high-alpine areas. The federal government has an obligation to step in and protect that last of these endangered old-growth ecosystems before they are gone.”
TJ Watt, Campaigner, Ancient Forest Alliance – “The green economy dependent on standing old-growth forests is only expanding. Forests like the Avatar Grove near Port Renfrew are drawing in tens of thousands of visitors every year, creating a surge in local jobs, revenues, and real estate, and there’s untapped potential for this to take place elsewhere. First Nations across BC, who’ve long been denied participation in the industrial economy, now need a supportive option to join the fast-growing eco-tourism economy as an alternative to old-growth logging. Living old-growth forests are a renewable resource, in that visitors will come to experience them time and time again, creating sustainable jobs and revenues while leaving the forest standing - a win-win for both the environment and the economy.”
Ben Geselbracht, Nanaimo City Councillor, former Union of British Columbia Director at Large - “Most people know how important and special intact old-growth forest ecosystems are for our planet. Because these forests take hundreds, even thousands of years to mature, it is impossible to commercially log them without them disappearing forever. With little of these ancient forests left, it is heartbreaking that some communities are still stuck being economically dependent on logging them, many for reasons outside of their own control. No-one who is able can standby idly and let this permanent environmental destruction versus short term jobs play out any longer. There are other options and we urgently need the province and federal government to immediately step in to permanently protect these forests with economic solutions that leaves no-one left behind. Funding already exists and it must be properly directed to end the destruction and create more sustainable livelihoods for people.”
More Background Information
B.C.’s old-growth, temperate rainforests are among the grandest forests on earth next to the U.S. redwoods.
Almost all old-growth forests in BC stand on unceded First Nations territories.
Old-growth forests are vital for endangered species, First Nations cultures, clean water, wild salmon, carbon storage, and tourism and recreation.
In BC, the unique features of old-growth temperate rainforests take centuries to develop — in a province where the forests are re-logged every 60 to 80 years on BC’s coast. As a result, old-growth forests are not a renewable resource under B.C.’s system of forestry and are not replicated by tree-planting. 55,000 hectares of old-growth forests are logged on average each year in BC, including about 9,000 hectares on Vancouver Island in a typical year.
The first major, province-wide analysis on the status of old-growth forests in BC has just been released by an independent science team - and the results are dire.
Read the full, independent research from Dr. Rachel Holt, Dr. Karen Price, and Dave Daust at Veridian Ecological.
Key points of the report include:
1. There is now a miniscule fraction (2.7%) of the original high productivity old-growth forests in BC where the biggest trees grow (and with the greatest biodiversity levels and most endangered species).
2. The province's old-growth protection levels are grossly inadequate, jeopardizing forest ecosystems across most of BC (ie. placing them at "high risk" of species loss and losing ecological integrity) due to their insufficient scale of protection.
3. BC's accounting system for how much old-growth remains lacks critical distinctions in forest productivity (thus opting to protect sites with small trees instead of big trees) and ecosystem types, resulting in flawed policies with loopholes in forest reserve selection.
4. Most of the small amounts of remaining high productivity old-growth forests are slated for logging - over 75%.
5. We need an immediate logging moratorium of all high productivity old-growth forests, endangered forest ecosystem types (based on BEC zones), major more intact areas (known as “hot spots”), exceptionally old forests, and landscape units (clusters of watersheds) where scant old-growth levels place them at "high risk" of losing species and ecological integrity, while developing science-based regulations to protect old-growth forests systematically.
Conservationists are frustrated at how long the BC government has been dragging-out any action on protecting old-growth forests (while at the same time providing all manner of excuses, rationales, and PR-spin to defend continued large scale, industrial old-growth logging), despite having campaigned prior to the 2017 provincial election that they would manage BC’s old-growth forests based on the Ecosystem-Based Management model of the Great Bear Rainforest agreement (where 85% of all forests are now protected).
Conservationists are calling on the province to:
1. A commitment to end the logging of endangered old-growth forest types through developing science-based legislation and policies.
2. Financing of First Nations land use plans and Indigenous Protected Areas to protect old-growth forests on Crown and unceded Indigenous lands, as well as a land acquisition funding to buy old-growth on private lands.
3. An immediate moratorium on old-growth logging in exceptional areas, such as remaining high productivity stands, endangered ecosystems, and in old-growth “hotspot” areas where larger, more intact tracts of old-growth forests remain.
4. Incentives and regulations to support value-added, second-growth forestry jobs, such as rebates or relief on the PST for investment in value-added, second-growth manufacturing facilities, and restrictions to ultimately end the export of raw, unprocessed logs from BC to foreign mills.
Numerous studies show that protected areas, including protecting old-growth forests, typically results in greater net positive impacts on the economy than the traditional resource extraction industries, when factoring in recreation and tourism, enhanced real estate values near protected areas, clean water and fisheries values (commercial and recreational), non-timber forest products, carbon offsets, and attracting skilled labour (including high tech workers) who relocated to areas with a higher environmental quality of life. See: National Geographic: Economic Benefits and CTV: Old Growth Forests Worth More.
Financial and legal support for First Nations land use plans and Indigenous Protected Areas including Tribal Parks is the key game-changer for actual protection of old-growth forests on the ground in BC. Across much of the province, First Nations whose unceded lands these are have a significant stake in old-growth logging, in the form of revenue-sharing, employment and joint venture agreements with major companies, as well as through their own logging tenures. Timber companies and both the current and previous BC governments have worked to increase the economic dependence of First Nations communities on logging old-growth forests through these policies and agreements. Given the lack of economic alternatives in most of these communities, the protection of old-growth forests is fundamentally dependent on funding from governments and environmental-groups to help build conservation-based economic alternatives in First Nations communities, such as the $120 million in conservation financing ($60 million from environmental groups, $30 million from the federal government, $30 million from the province) to finance Indigenous tourism ventures, non-timber forest products industries, and clean energy projects that formed part of the basis of the Great Bear Rainforest agreement.
For more information contact:
Ken Wu, Endangered Ecosystems Alliance (EEA) Executive Director 250-514-9910