December 7, 2021
Over 100 BC Businesses Call on BC Government to Expand and Fund the Creation of New Protected Areas
To date, 113 businesses - 104 based in BC - have signed a resolution calling on the BC government to help avert the extinction and climate crises and to benefit our health and the BC economy, by committing to at least meet Canada’s national and international protected areas targets (protecting 25% by 2025 and 30% by 2030 of Canada’s land and marine areas). This includes protecting BC’s old-growth forests, and providing the necessary funding to do so.
See the resolution and signatories here
The resolution, developed by the Endangered Ecosystems Alliance and Nature Canada, calls on the British Columbian government to:
At a minimum, adopt targets that match or exceed the national (25% by 2025 and 30% by 2030) and international (30% by 2030) protected areas targets.
Support Indigenous Protected and Conserved Areas (IPCAs), with appropriate policies and sufficient funding for land-use planning, management and stewardship programs such as Guardians initiatives, and associated Indigenous-led sustainable economic development in First Nations communities.
Embrace the federal funding for expanding protected areas in BC for IPCA’s and land acquisition.
Dedicate significant annual funding to purchase and protect private lands of high conservation value.
Develop science-based protection targets and policies for all ecosystems, from dry forests to rainforests (including old-growth forests), from grasslands to tundra, from freshwater to marine ecosystems.
British Columbia has yet to commit to Canada’s national protected areas targets, but BC Environment Minister George Heyman has stated that the province is developing new targets. Currently 15% of British Columbia’s land area is in legislated protected areas, while the province has claimed 19% protection, in large part due to “creative accounting” by including tenuous conservation regulations such as Old-Growth Management Areas that are readily and quietly removable by the Forest Minister and Cabinet.
The British Columbian government is currently under pressure to help finance First Nations logging deferrals and protection of old-growth forests. The province appointed an independent science team, the Technical Advisory Panel, last summer who recommended a month ago that logging be immediately 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 that will decide which areas are permanently protected in legislation.
These recommended deferral areas have been put forward by the BC government to local First Nations to decide which deferral areas they consent to. 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 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 (in such industries as tourism, clean energy, sustainable seafood, or non-timber forest products like wild mushrooms).
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, funding to support First Nations sustainable economic alternatives linked to Indigenous Protected and Conserved Areas and old-growth logging deferrals is a critically-important driver or engine to enable the expansion of protected areas in BC.
Quotes
“The BC government won’t be able to ignore for long the growing call from businesses to expand the protected areas system. Increasing studies show that nature and protected areas tend to foster and attract a more diverse, resilient and prosperous economy than the traditional industrial resource extraction industries. Right now we are at the most critical time in BC’s history regarding the fate of the last old-growth forests, and it’s vital that the provincial government take responsibility and provide the key funding to support First Nations old-growth logging deferrals, protected areas and sustainable economic alternatives. Without this vital funding it is essentially a set-up to fall back upon the status quo to reinforce the continued liquidation of many or most of the biggest and best old-growth stands. And this is at a time when protecting nature is increasingly understood as the key remedy to the greatest challenges to our civilization - the climate and extinction crises, while providing vital benefits to our health and economy.”
Ken Wu, Executive Director, Endangered Ecosystems Alliance
“There is a growing enthusiasm from the business community for supporting the protection of native ecosystems in BC - not only from tourism companies as one might expect, but many other sectors have signed, including in the real estate, communications, engineering, architecture, food, fashion, art, agriculture, health and wellness industries. It is not just environmental activists anymore that are coming forward to express their support for protecting the wild places that make our province so special. The province now also has to respond to calls for protection from the business community.”
Celina Starnes, Operations and Outreach Director, Endangered Ecosystems Alliance
"It goes without saying that parks and protected areas are foundational for the outdoor recreation industry in BC as they provide both recreational access and they safeguard the natural environment and scenery that people come for. Old-growth forests are clearly a major part of the environments that people want to explore, and that so many of our customers value. As a store that promotes responsible recreation in natural areas, helping to protect those areas is a core part of our mandate as a business. We see, firsthand, how protecting old growth and spending time in nature is key for our community’s physical and mental health."
Erin Boggs, Co-Owner of Robinson's Outdoor Store in Victoria
“BC has some of the richest, most biodiverse ecosystems in the country, and it is a tragedy that our governments are not providing adequate funding to protect these precious resources. Our natural beauty and intact ecosystems attract talented people from all over the world to live and work near these special places. SES has been able to hire amazing staff with specialized training in efficiency who share our conservation values, partially because of their desire to live close to the giant trees, spawning salmon, soaring eagles, bears and so much more. We strongly believe that protecting our endangered ecosystems is a huge priority that benefits our company, our staff, and our economy, and are proud to support the work of EEA in saving our ecosystems.”
Scott Sinclair, CEO of SES Consulting Inc.
“BC’s travel industry relies on a rich and thriving natural environment, so economic success depends on how well regenerative practices are integrated into business and governance. It is urgent to protect biodiversity, including BC’s old-growth forests. The travel industry needs to be part of the solution, and we support this resolution as a step toward a better future here and in the many tourism destinations we work with.”
Rodney Payne, CEO at Destination Think, a destination marketing and management company
“The need to protect at least 30 percent of land and ocean by 2030 is critical for Canada to play its part in halting and reversing the climate and biodiversity crises that are upon us. The federal government cannot meet these goals alone; ambition is required from all levels of government. Leadership from B.C. to help protect vital ecosystems such as old-growth forests will be essential, in particular through Indigenous Protected and Conserved Areas and Guardian programs. Today's show of support from the business community of B.C. is an important demonstration that public expectations for action on protected areas and support for Indigenous-led conservation are at an all-time high.”
Gauri Sreenivasan, Director of Policy and Campaigns at Nature Canada
More Background Info
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.
*News media are free to print the photos in this press release. Both sites are old-growth forests west of Lake Cowichan in Ditidaht Territory on Vancouver Island. Photo credit Ken Wu.
For more info, contact:
Ken Wu, Executive Director, Endangered Ecosystems Alliance.
