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Celina Starnes, Endangered Ecosystems Alliance’s Operations and Outreach Director, looks up at the big-leaf maple grove of the Burman River valley, which lies within the Mowachaht/Muchalaht salmon-park system. Photo Credit: TJ Watt
New plan from the Mowachaht/Muchalaht First Nation, aided by the B.C. and federal governments, signals a shift in Indigenous-led conservation across the province
Backed by a $15.2-million commitment from the federal government, a First Nations community on the west coast of Vancouver Island intends to buy out forestry tenures to stop old-growth logging in selected watersheds around Nootka Sound.
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This draft policy is being described as a "game changer" in efforts to protect B.C.'s old growth forests. As Paul Johnson reports, conservationists are welcoming a draft plan from the provincial government that would not only consider the economic but also the ecological value of our forests.
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Today's CBC Interview with the Endangered Ecosystems Alliance’s (Note: Not the Ancient Forest Alliance) executive director Ken Wu on the newly announced Biodiversity and Ecosystem Health Framework, the potential ecosystem-based protection targets that it may usher in, and how it relates to the new conservation financing funds in BC worth over $1 billion…and what it all means for old-growth forests.
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BC’s government is trying to implement further steps to protect and preserve the province’s at-risk environment through a new biodiversity and ecosystem health framework (BEHF).
Right now the BEHF is just a draft proposal, but Nathan Cullen, the Minister of Water, Land and Resource Stewardship, is hopeful that it will become legislation and allow for the preservation of BC’s well-known natural landscapes.
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Endangered Ecosystems Alliance executive director, Ken Wu, stands amongst the spectacular yet unprotected ancient forests of the Mossome Grove near Port Renfrew in Pacheedaht territory.
If done right, conservationists say the Biodiversity and Ecosystem Health Framework (BEHF) could ensure the protection of the most endangered and least protected ecosystems, such as big-treed old-growth forests (“high productivity” old-growth forests with the classic forest giants) and diverse valley bottom and low elevation ecosystems - rather than the status quo of primarily protecting areas of low timber values (alpine, subalpine, bog). Conservationists commend the vision in the draft framework for being a potentially revolutionary game-changer in conservation - the devil will be in the details when the framework is completed in the spring.
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See 3 small update videos on where BC old-growth and protected area policies are at as of early November 2023
$1billion for BC Conservation! Next steps…. BC Old Growth Policy Overview
$1 Billion BC Nature Agreement must be guided by Ecosystem-Based Targets!
Top: Old-growth temperate rainforest on Vancouver Island; Middle: Aspen Parkland ecosystem in Saskatchewan; Bottom: Hardwood swamp forest along the St. Lawrence River in Quebec.
Hello friends, please help us reach our Year End fundraising goal of raising $100,000 (tax receipts provided, and donations of securities also accepted).
We have just landed a $1.1 billion BC-federal protected areas funding agreement, the BC Nature Agreement, after years of intense campaign work emphasizing the centrality of conservation financing to support First Nations protected areas initiatives! We continue to work to close the loopholes in BC old-growth and protected areas policies, including by ensuring ecosystem-based protection targets, protected areas standards and integrity, funding for Indigenous old-growth deferrals, and other key policies to save the most endangered and least protected ecosystems.
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The tripartite nature agreement comes with new and old funding to protect old-growth forests, species at risk
Federal, provincial and First Nations leaders gathered against the backdrop of Burrard Inlet Friday to announce a long-awaited nature agreement that promises further protections for old-growth forests and at-risk species.
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Conservationists thanked 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 towards achieving BC’s 30% by 2030 nature protection, conservation, and restoration goals via First Nations conservation agreements.
The Endangered Ecosystems Alliance (EEA) and Ancient Forest Alliance (AFA) 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, federal government, and the First Nations Leadership Council (FNLC), comes with a $563 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.
The EEA’s executive director Ken Wu by an old-growth Sitka spruce west of Lake Cowichan in Ditidaht territory on Vancouver Island. Photo by TJ Watt.
by Ken Wu
Read a new Opinion Piece by the Endangered Ecosystem Alliance’s executive director Ken Wu in the Georgia Straight HERE
Premier says fund represents modern stewardship between government, First Nations, conservationists, industry
B.C. has announced a new $300-million fund to protect threatened ecosystems in the province.
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The new funding is welcomed by conservation groups that say the province has voiced support for old forest protections while continuing to allow clearcut logging in rare ecosystems and in the habitat of endangered species
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$300-million investment aims to save B.C.'s old-growth forests by offering First Nations sustainable economic alternatives to industrial logging.
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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
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.
Read moreHello friends, please help us reach our October fundraising goal of raising $50,000 (tax receipts provided, and donations of securities also accepted - see below).
We are a small but powerful organization that punches far above our weight! However, we have not fundraised nearly enough this year - having been over-the-top busy campaigning, which is what our supporters want. But we need significantly more funds ASAP to fund our staff and projects, so we can continue to undertake major engagement with First Nations, non-traditional allies (businesses, faith, outdoor recreation groups, etc), government and the general public, to document endangered ecosystems in the field, to do vital policy analyses and writing, and to undertake major social and news media engagement to reach millions of Canadians.
Please DONATE here as generously as you can - we guarantee you that your funds will do great things for this planet!
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See our video series summarizing BC old-growth policy progress and the loopholes that still must get closed:
And see our most recent media release on the BC old-growth situation
And our earlier submission to the Biodiversity and Ecosystem Health Framework (if you are a real policy wonk who wants to understand how things work).
An aerial view over the intact McKelvie Valley near Tahsis in Mowachaht/Muchalaht territory where 2231 hectares (1852 hectares of old-growth) are now deferred from logging. Credit: TJ Watt - Ancient Forest Alliance
Today on the three-year anniversary of the BC government’s September 2020 acceptance of the Old-Growth Strategic Review Panel’s 14 recommendations to ensure a “paradigm shift” in the conservation and management of old-growth forests in the province, the Endangered Ecosystems Alliance (EEA) and Ancient Forest Alliance (AFA) are urging the BC government to hurry up and close the gaps in old-growth protection in BC.
“The BC government under Premier Eby has taken some great steps forward in policy commitments: pledging to double protected areas from 15% to 30% of BC’s land area over the next seven years (it took over a century to protect the first 15%), bring major conservation financing support for Indigenous Protected and Conserved Areas, and to target protection for biodiverse areas, which would naturally include the productive old-growth forests with big trees. Premier Eby started off strong nine months ago with these commitments, and now he needs to pick it up and close the remaining gaps to secure old-growth logging deferrals in all of the most at-risk old-growth forests and to ensure that funding and protection go to the right areas,” stated Ken Wu, Endangered Ecosystems Alliance executive director.
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National Biodiversity Strategy feedback
What are the key features of a successful National Biodiversity Strategy?
Protected areas must constitute the foundation to reach the 25% by 2025 and 30% by 2030 minimum targets – not less stringent “conserved areas” that lack the protection standards (eg. may allow commercial logging and other industrial activities) and permanency (many are readily removable) of protected areas.
Ecosystem-based targets must be set by ecological science and Traditional Ecological Knowledge committees to protect the full diversity of ecosystems on a sufficient scale to ensure the long-term ecological viability of each ecosystem.
Photo by TJ Watt/The Ancient Forest Alliance.
The motion, submitted by Liberal MP Patrick Weiler this week, aims to end old-growth logging on federal lands and halt the export of ancient logs and related products.
A B.C. MP representing the longest named riding in Canada has introduced a motion to ban the export of old-growth logs and any products made from them.
Patrick Weiler, Liberal MP for West Vancouver—Sunshine Coast—Sea to Sky Country, introduced the private members’ motion Thursday. The motion calls for an end to the export of old growth as soon as possible but no later than 2030.
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These comments highlight the Endangered Ecosystems Alliance’s (EEA) key input for BC’s forthcoming Biodiversity and Ecosystem Health Framework (BEHF).
We greatly commend the BC government for moving forward with this initiative, which potentially could be the framework for a paradigm shift - which the Old-Growth Strategic Review recommendations called for - that puts ecosystem health first in all land-use and forestry decisions. If done well, the Biodiversity and Ecosystem Health Framework could be a globally recognized leading policy framework for protecting biodiversity, old-growth forests and endangered ecosystems - or it can fall flat if the myopic and pervasive forces of the status quo continue to undermine progress and squander the opportunity for all.
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