Here's a new video by the EEA's Executive Director Ken Wu on a BC Old-Growth Policy Update **Note: it was filmed before the new forest policy progress announcements by Premier Eby a couple days ago, which we have included in the write-up below. Please watch and SEND a MESSAGE to the BC and federal governments asking them to keep moving forward at: https://www.endangeredecosystemsalliance.org/news/bc-needs-an-effective-federal-provincial-nature-agreement
The short summary: The new BC Premier David Eby is undertaking major and much needed policy overhauls to develop the framework and funding that will enable a massive expansion of protected areas in BC shortly, via First Nations initiatives (***NOTE: in BC, the province legally cannot unilaterally establish protected areas and "just protect the old-growth" - the support of local First Nations governments is a legal necessity in their unceded territories. Old-growth logging deferrals and protected areas move at the speed of local First Nations - the government's policies and framework can facilitate or hinder, help speed up or slow down, the abilities of First Nations to protect ecosystems, if they choose. This is a vital fact to understand for conservation and old-growth advocates).
On the ground, this will result in a major torrent of new and expansive Indigenous Protected and Conserved Areas (IPCAs) (generally legislated via Provincial Conservancy designations) over the ensuing few months and years on an unprecedented scale - that will outmatch all previous eras by a long shot (ie. we'll go from about 15% protected in BC now to 30% - over 7 years...).
In the near term, generally, these will be the IPCAs that have been in the works for a while, and generally those of lower timber value in more mountainous, rugged and northern landscapes - with some notable and major exceptions of spectacular, high-productivity old-growth. If conservation financing dollars for First Nations are sufficient - and if there are ecosystem-based targets that prioritize the most endangered ecosystems - over the next 1 to 5 years depending on the First Nations community there will be a major expansion of protected areas and forest reserves that encompasses much of the productive old-growth forests and most endangered ecosystems (generally in the lower elevations and valley bottoms - the biologically richest but most contested landscapes to protect) across BC.
What's needed most now are:
Missing still is the immediate major funding needed to offset the lost forestry revenues of First Nations in order to enable many more Indigenous communities to choose to implement logging deferrals on the most at-risk old-growth forests with high-value timber value in their territories. The province must provide these funds immediately - this is urgent. When it comes to a longer-term conservation financing mechanism for legislated protected areas, provincial and federal contributions are key (not just philanthropic funds and carbon offsets) - it is unclear at this point if there will be.
Ecosystem-based targets set by science and informed by Traditional Ecological Knowledge are vital to ensure the prioritization of the most at-risk ecosystems for protection - otherwise protected areas will continue to be designated largely in alpine, subalpine, bog/muskeg and far northern landscapes with small trees or no trees, and minimized in the most endangered, productive old-growth forests with big trees and in valley-bottom ecosystems where most biodiversity and species at risk are found - and that are most coveted by industry.
More Info!
What has Eby done? Since he has come to power, Eby has committed the province to:
Expand protected areas to 30% of BC by 2030 (currently 15% is protected). ** Previously, there was no commitment to expand protected areas.
Devise a conservation financing mechanism (ie. funding for sustainable economic development linked to new protected areas) to support First Nations Indigenous Protected and Conserved Areas (IPCAs) through philanthropic funds and carbon offsets. This is the fundamental game-changer to it all. It is unclear if government funds will be included (we insist there must be...see our action alert). ** Previously, there was no commitment to conservation financing nor to even recognize IPCAs.
Prioritize biodiverse areas for protection (which needs greater definition and policy development). ** Previously, lots of hectares of alpine, subalpine and low productivity forests were the focus of protected areas instead of the lower elevations of biological richness.
Remove the constraints on conservation designations in BC’s forest practices regulations (the "not unduly restrict" clause that for decades limited the expansion of forest reserves) (announced Feb.15th...after this video was filmed. There are a few more caps that must still be lifted, and likely will be). ** Previously, for decades since the NDP brought in the forest practices regulations in the 1990s, these constraints have limited the forest reserve network such as Ungulate Winter Ranges, riparian reserves, Visual Quality Objectives, etc. (not parks and legislated protected areas, mind you).
Develop a Biodiversity Declaration that will put biodiversity and ecosystems first in forestry and land-use decisions. This is huge. ** Previously, there was nothing like this, nor does anything like this exist in North America - and it could be the biggest game-changer of all if done right (more on that later...)
Support a transition with funding to a lower volume, more value-added forest industry retooled to handle smaller diameter trees (instead of the forest giants). ** Previously, some policies were underway to help the engineered wood products industry, but this is the first explicit policy to target value-added for smaller diameter (largely second-growth) trees, which is where the transition must go.
In addition, the province is negotiating a BC Nature Agreement with the federal government of major financial scale that will be used to expand protected areas. ** Previously, the BC government has played hardball with the federal protected areas cash that has been on the table for years. Indications are now that negotiations are closer to fruition and First Nations consultations are the key.
These are all vital steps forward that are needed to help pave the path for a major protected areas expansion over the coming months and years!
However, there are still many gaps in the BC government's policies that must get filled or developed. We need the BC government to:
Immediately provide funding for First Nations to implement old-growth logging deferrals with a focus on the full 2.6 million hectares of Technical Advisory Panel identified most at-risk old-growth stands, as well as providing major provincial and federal funding into a longer-term conservation financing mechanism, (in addition to the philanthropic funds and carbon offsets that the province has committed to).
Ensure that protected areas and ecosystem-based targets are the central foundation to a Biodiversity Declaration. This should include the development of science-based protection targets via a provincial science panel for all ecosystems across their range of environmental variation, from dry forests to rainforests (including old-growth forests), from grasslands to tundra, from freshwater to marine ecosystems, that includes distinctions in forest productivity and seral stages, that ensures protected areas are extensive enough to ensure their long-term viability, and that prioritizes protection for the most endangered, least represented ecosystems.
Dedicate significant annual funding to purchase and protect private lands of high conservation value.
Dedicate significant annual funding to purchase and protect private lands of high conservation value
Refrain from increasing the economic dependency of communities on old-growth logging by increasing logging rights and tenure in those forests for communities unless there is also legal protection to safeguard the endangered ecosystems and old-growth forests there.
Ensure that the standards (no commercial logging, mining, and oil and gas development) and permanency (legislated protection without moving boundaries) of protected areas are upheld, and to refrain from "creative accounting" of how much land is protected in BC. The BC government must stop including tenuous conservation regulations, such as Old-Growth Management Areas that can be moved around, that don't have the permanency and/or standards of real protected areas, in its accounting of how much land is in protected areas in BC. The reality is that about 15% of BC is currently in protected areas - not 19.5%, as the province has been stating.
Please continue to SPEAK UP! Your voice and that of hundreds of thousands of others have taken us this far - we are getting closer to a sea change to vastly expand the protection of endangered ecosystems for all in BC. Let's keep pushing! Go to: https://www.endangeredecosystemsalliance.org/news/bc-needs-an-effective-federal-provincial-nature-agreement