Protecting Vancouver Island’s old-growth
The “Grandma Betty” Douglas-fir in the Upper Walbran Valley is 3 meters wide. 99% of old-growth Douglas-firs have been cut down.
Ten steps towards success
The BC government must…
1. Enact immediate closures on old-growth logging in the most endangered forest types. These include old-growth forests on the eastern side of Vancouver Island (ie. Coastal Douglas-fir and Very Dry Coastal Western Hemlock forests); on low, flat terrain, including valley bottoms; on the South Island (south of Barkley Sound/Horne Lake); and in the Mountain Hemlock snow forests where growth rates are very slow.
2.Enact old-growth logging closures over the rest of Vancouver Island by 2015 with a transition to second-growth logging at a reduced pace.
3.Ban raw log exports from Crown and private lands.
4.Establish regional log markets to create a guaranteed log supply for local mills and value-added manufacturers where logs will be made available through an open-bidding process.
5.Establish a new land-use plan for Vancouver Island to expand protected areas in all ecosystems, including in old-growth and second-growth forests. A new Vancouver Island land-use plan should be based on conservation biology science, open public input, and First Nations-devised land-use plans.
6.Ensure that all land-use and resource allocation changes by the BC government undergo meaningful consultation and accommodation of First Nations title interests.
7.Expand Community Forestry Tenures, First Nations’ tenures, and Woodlot Licenses in second-growth Crown forests.
8.Shift taxes and use Forest Investment funds to assist in the development of a value-added wood industry and aid in the development of second-growth mills.
9.Establish strong forest practices regulations based on Ecosystem-Based Management principles that entail a slower, more sustainable rate of cut in second-growth forests.
10.Establish small old-growth logging reserves in certain forest types (ie. Very Wet Montane
Maritime and Hypermaritime forests) on western Vancouver Island where the old-growth is more
extensive. These old-growth logging reserves will supply a small quantity of logs for the
high-end, value-added wood manufacturing sector (eg. furniture manufacturers) and only allow
single-tree selection logging, with a rate of cut less than the annual growth rate of their
productive forests. In total, these old-growth logging reserves should cover less than 5% of
the remaining productive old-growth in those forest types.
