Environmentalists, MLA call for B.C. to fund protection of old-growth forests

Members of the Ancient Forest Alliance on the steps of the B.C. legislature are seen on Dec. 21, 2021: (CTV News)

On Tuesday, the Ancient Forest Alliance and BC Green Party MLA Adam Olsen held a briefing on the steps of the B.C. legislature demanding the province increase its funding for the protection of old-growth forests.

Staff with the Ancient Forest Alliance say there is an urgent need for substantial provincial funding to defer old-growth logging, particular for First Nations that are stuck deciding between supporting deferrals or maintaining logging revenue.

"We need to protect the last ancient stands of old-growth forests in B.C., but it's not as simple as the stroke of a pen or just passing a piece of legislation," said Ancient Forest Alliance campaigner Andra Inness.

"We need to support First Nations communities who are economically dependent on revenues from those old-growth forests," she said. "We need to supplant those revenues with economically sustainable alternatives, and that requires a significant funding commitment for the B.C. government."

Tuesday’s briefing comes after the province said in early November that it will work with First Nations to defer 2.6 million hectares of old-growth forest after a recommendation from an independent scientific panel.

'IMPOSSIBLE POSITION'

The Ancient Forest Alliance says that last week the B.C. government announced that most First Nations that responded to requests for deferrals have expressed an interest in discussing old-growth forest management with the province.

The conservation group says despite the positive response, the NDP government is failing to support the discussions with funding to offset the revenues from old-growth logging.

"We’re here to demand that the B.C. government commit significant funding in the upcoming budget in February to help First Nations to protect old-growth forests in their territories and develop their economies sustainably," said Inness. "Forests are the most carbon rich ecosystems on the planet, so in a climate change emergency we simply cannot afford not to do this."

Olsen says he is pleased to see the province move to protect B.C.’s most at-risk ancient forests but he says the commitment to First Nations communities that rely on the money generated from logging falls short.

"As long as they continue to come to the negotiation table with First Nations virtually empty handed, they won’t fully achieve it," said the Saanich North and the Islands MLA.

"Many Nations are dependent upon the revenues from logging in their territories, and the government is putting them in the impossible position of having to choose between old-growth protection and economic security," he said. "This does not advance conservation or reconciliation."

The Ancient Forest Alliance says the province has yet to announce new deferrals to halt old-growth logging in at-risk forests recommended by it’s Old Growth Strategic Review Panel. It says the B.C. government has allocated $12.6 million to support government-to-government negotiations on deferrals, but without financial support for compensation, First Nations may not support the proposed deferrals.

Inness says the financial commitment by the provincial and federal governments for the protection of BC’s ancient forests should be as much as $500 to $600 million.

"To be clear, we don’t expect all of that to come from the province," said Inness. "The federal government is coming to the table now with a significant funding contribution to expand protected areas across Canada, several hundred million of that will come to B.C. to expand protected areas here."

"There’s multiple sources where this funding can come from and we know Premier Horgan has acknowledged that significant funding is required, but he has yet to come to the table with it and that needs to happen now," she said.