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

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For Immediate Release
October 26, 2023

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.

Today, the BC government made good on a vital conservation commitment made last December by Premier David Eby to develop a conservation financing mechanism to fund Indigenous Protected and Conserved Areas (IPCAs) by funding First Nations’ economic, capacity, stewardship, and management needs linked to protecting ecosystems. The new fund consists of a $150 million provincial contribution and $150 million to be raised by the BC Parks Foundation, the official charitable fund of the province’s BC Parks agency, for a total of $300 million to start. The fund is likely to grow quickly with major federal protected areas funding soon, additional provincial protected areas funds (conjoined with the federal funds via the BC Nature Fund and BC Old-Growth Funds, two additional funds currently under negotiation), funds from the international philanthropic community, and contributions from private citizens over time.

“This is a vital step forward to protect nature in British Columbia on a major scale — Premier Eby should be thanked for this. Conservation financing is the indispensable ‘fuel’ to power along the establishment of new protected areas in BC — without it, the large-scale protection of the most endangered and contested ecosystems, such as those with the largest trees and greatest timber values, would be largely impossible,” stated Ken Wu, executive director of the Endangered Ecosystems Alliance. “Since 2017 my colleagues and I have been calling on the province to undertake conservation financing, and three years ago we launched the main campaign with diverse allies calling for federal and provincial conservation funding to protect old-growth forests and endangered ecosystems – and today Premier Eby has delivered. This is a huge conservation victory for the many thousands of people who’ve spoken up for years for this.”

“This conservation financing mechanism puts major wind in the sails for the protection of old-growth forests in BC. After we’ve spent years relentlessly focusing on the centrality of conservation financing to support First Nations’ protected areas initiatives, Premier Eby has delivered on one of his three big commitments now. His other major commitments include doubling the protected areas in BC from 15% now to 30% by 2030 — this funding will make it possible as the fund grows — and targeting protection for biodiverse areas, which we interpret to mean the potential development of ecosystem-based protection targets which haven’t happened yet. We will continue working to ensure these commitments come to fruition,” stated TJ Watt, campaigner and photographer with the Ancient Forest Alliance.

Ancient Forest Alliance Campaigner & Photographer, TJ Watt, stands beside an unprotected old-growth redcedar tree in the Jurassic Grove near Port Renfrew in Pacheedaht territory.

Ancient Forest Alliance Campaigner & Photographer, TJ Watt, stands beside an unprotected old-growth redcedar tree in the Jurassic Grove near Port Renfrew in Pacheedaht territory.

In BC, it’s important to note that the province cannot unilaterally establish protected areas and “just save the old-growth” on Crown lands — the support of local First Nations governments is a legal necessity in their unceded territories. Protected areas establishment and logging deferrals move at the speed of the local First Nations whose territories it is. The BC government’s policies and funding can facilitate or hinder, help speed up or slow down, the abilities of First Nations to protect ecosystems. Conservation financing is a vital enabling condition that can speed up the protection of old-growth forests.

Across BC, First Nations have an economic dependency on forestry jobs and revenues, including in old-growth logging — a dependency fostered and facilitated by successive BC governments. Many First Nations also have an economic dependency on other resource industries, including mining and oil and gas. Hence, conservation financing to fund First Nations’ sustainable economic alternatives in ecotourism, clean energy, sustainable seafood, non-timber forest products (eg. wild mushrooms), and other industries, linked to the establishment of new protected areas, is vital for First Nations to be able to transition from their dependency on old-growth logging revenues and jobs and other resource industries in endangered ecosystems. Without conservation financing, the establishment of new protected areas in areas with high timber values would be like asking First Nations to simply jettison their main source of revenues and jobs — something that no major human population would do without economic alternatives and support.

On BC’s Central and North Coasts (ie. the Great Bear Rainforest), a conservation financing investment of $120 million in 2006 ($30 million from the province, $30 million from the federal government, $60 million from conservation groups) for First Nations sustainable economic development and stewardship needs, resulted in the protection of about one third of the region, about 1.8 million hectares. The initial investment, as a result of interest and carbon offsets, has ended up providing over $300 million in investments to First Nations’ owned businesses and stewardship initiatives, supporting over 100 First Nations-owned businesses, funding over 1000 jobs, and raising the average per household income substantially in First Nations communities.

Several loopholes or gaps remain in the BC government’s protected areas and conservation financing initiatives that the Endangered Ecosystems Alliance and Ancient Forest Alliance will continue to work to close.

  1. Just as conservation financing was linked to protection targets (specific valleys and ecosystem retention targets) in the Great Bear Rainforest, the new conservation financing mechanism needs to be tied to “ecosystem-based targets”, that is, protection targets developed for each ecosystem that ensure that all ecosystems, including the most endangered and contested landscapes such as “high productivity” old-growth forests with the greatest timber values, are protected based on science and Traditional Ecological Knowledge. These targets should be developed by a Chief Ecologist (similar to BC’s Chief Forester, but with an ecological lens) and various science and Traditional Ecological Knowledge committees – new positions that are currently under consideration as the province develops a Biodiversity and Ecosystem Health Framework. The province already has mapped the most at-risk old-growth forest types via their Technical Advisory Panel (TAP) and it’s vital that these conservation financing funds are linked to those deferral targets as priority, potential protected areas. Linking the conservation financing mechanism to the development of the Biodiversity and Ecosystem Health Framework (BEHF), (in particular should it develop ecosystem-based protection targets) is vital once the initiative is finalized.
  2. The province’s conservation funds (and/or other provincial funds currently under development) should also be used to immediately provide funding for First Nations to help offset lost logging revenues when being asked to accept logging deferrals in their unceded territories as identified by the government’s old-growth science panel, the Technical Advisory Panel (TAP). This “solutions-space” funding, as was used successfully in Clayoquot Sound, will be critical in helping ensure the deferral of the roughly 1.4 million hectares (more than half) of priority old-growth deferrals that remain outstanding from the original 2.6 million hectares.
  3. Ensuring that conservation financing supports only protected areas that meet the standards and permanency of true protected areas – meaning supporting designations that exclude commercial logging (while protecting First Nations cultural harvesting of individual trees, such as monumental cedars for dugout canoes and totem poles), mining, and oil and gas developments, and whose boundaries cannot be readily shifted. Provincial Conservancies and a few other provincial designations termed “Protected Areas” are designations that exclude commercial logging, mining, and oil and gas development, but that protect First Nations subsistence and cultural rights (hunting, fishing, gathering, cultural cedar harvest), co-management authority, and rights and title, and would have the standards and permanency of real protected areas. Conservation regulations such as Old-Growth Management Areas (which allow moveable boundaries to let companies log the biggest trees, to be replaced by “protecting” areas with smaller trees) and Wildlife Habitat Areas (which can still allow commercial logging, for example in Spotted Owl and Northern Goshawk ‘buffer’ areas) would not meet the threshold of real protected areas unless their loopholes are closed.

“We’re watching with great concern as the province might be looking to establish new ‘flexitarian’ designations – tenuous or fake ‘protected areas’ that still allow logging or boundary shifts to occur. These types of loopholes can easily result in the high-grade logging within such ‘protected areas’ of the very geographically limited monumental old-growth stands and the most endangered ecosystems, which can often constitute one or two percent or less of any major landscape area,” stated Ken Wu, Endangered Ecosystems Alliance executive director.

Endangered Ecosystems Alliance Executive Director, Ken Wu, beside an old-growth redcedar tree in the unprotected Eden Grove near Port Renfrew in Pacheedaht territory.

Endangered Ecosystems Alliance Executive Director, Ken Wu, beside an old-growth redcedar tree in the unprotected Eden Grove near Port Renfrew in Pacheedaht territory.

“The big campaign now will be for ecosystem-based protection targets — without them, we’ll see a massive number of hectares of new protected areas in alpine and subalpine areas with little to no timber value, and that skirt around saving the big timber that will still get logged. Without ecosystem-based targets, it’s like calling in fire trucks to hose down all the houses that are not burning, while the houses on fire get ignored. Ecosystem-based targets means you aim protected areas establishment right, to save the most endangered and least represented ecosystems”, stated Ken Wu, EEA executive director.

“Premier Eby has done something great today and we thank him. We still have to close several gaps and loopholes, related to linking conservation financing to ecosystem-based targets and the most at-risk old-growth, to ensure protected areas integrity moving forward, and to ensure deferral funding comes from various government sources. But make no mistake, this is a very good day,” stated TJ Watt, AFA campaigner.

Old-growth forests are vital to support unique and endangered species, climate stability, clean water, wild salmon, First Nations cultures, and BC’s multi-billion dollar tourism industry. They have unique characteristics that are not replicated by the ensuing second-growth tree plantations that they are being replaced with and that are logged every 50 to 70 years on BC’s coast, never to become old-growth again. Well over 80% of the original, productive old-growth forests (medium to high productivity sites where most big trees and timber values reside) have already been logged, and over 5 million hectares of big tree, rare (by ecosystem type), and very ancient old-growth forests remain unprotected in BC.

Watch this small video series by the Endangered Ecosystems Alliance’s Ken Wu explaining conservation financing, BC’s old-growth policy progress and remaining loopholes, and ecosystem-based targets.

See the news article and the media release that launched the campaign in 2020 for conservation financing from the provincial and federal governments.

Ancient Forests Under Threat After Being Missed for Logging Deferral Due to Government Data Errors

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For Immediate Release
October 23, 2023

“You can only subtract; you can’t add”: BC government currently only allows for incorrectly identified at-risk old-growth forests to be subtracted from rather than added to logging deferral areas. This constitutes a significant conservation loophole that must be closed while the BC government progresses with major policy progress.

Conservationists with the Ancient Forest Alliance (AFA) are highlighting the urgent need for the BC government to proactively identify what are likely thousands of hectares of at-risk old-growth forests that were missed during the deferral process due to forest inventory errors. These areas were thus left open for logging, and the AFA is calling on the BC government to ensure the addition of these forests for deferral where identified by scientists, citizens, and industry. New photos and drone footage taken by the AFA photographer and campaigner TJ Watt have once again revealed the ongoing destruction of rare, “big-tree” old-growth forests on northern Vancouver Island in Quatsino territory.

In the Summer of 2023, Ancient Forest Alliance members TJ Watt and Ian Thomas documented road construction, giant stumps from recently felled trees, and ancient forests flagged for imminent logging in a remote area of Quatsino Sound where Western Forest Products (WFP) has approval to cut 36.5 hectares (roughly 68 football fields) worth of endangered old-growth forest. This threatened area, located on Crown/public lands within Tree Farm Licence 6, is just a few kilometers away from where the pair captured shocking images and videos of old-growth logging in 2022, sparking outrage and garnering international media coverage.

A fresh cedar stump measuring over 10 feet wide.

The inability to add misidentified at-risk old-growth stands to priority logging deferral areas constitutes one of the major gaps in the BC government’s old-growth policy as it moves forward to overhaul the conservation and management of these iconic forests.

Under relentless pressure from the Ancient Forest Alliance and Endangered Ecosystems Alliance, the BC government has made a number of commitments toward expanding the protection of old growth in BC, including protecting 30% of land area by 2030, developing a conservation financing mechanism to support Indigenous Protected and Conserved Areas, and creating a BC Biodiversity and Ecosystem Health Framework that potentially could include the office of a Chief Ecologist who develops science-based protection targets for all ecosystems with Traditional Ecological Knowledge committees — major commitments that we commend.

However, critical policy and funding gaps still remain, including the government only allowing the subtraction and not the addition of incorrectly identified at-risk old-growth stands (like the recently cut stands in Quatsino territory highlighted here) to deferral areas, and other key issues.

“It was a shock but sadly not a surprise to see more logging underway just across from where we’d documented the destruction of hundreds of giant trees only a year before,” stated AFA photographer and campaigner, TJ Watt. “We arrived to find roads being blasted into a highly productive ancient forest filled with massive cedar trees, the stump of one measuring more than 10 feet (3 meters) across. A simple on-the-ground assessment would have likely determined that this is an old-growth forest that meets the criteria for priority logging deferral, however, there is currently no government policy in place to ensure this happens despite repeated requests to the ministry from our organization. If the BC government cares about truly protecting these forests wherever they occur on the landscape, they must address this gap immediately.”

Home to scores of giant trees, many of which are likely 500+ years old, this particular grove — and surely hundreds of others — was not recommended for logging deferral by the government’s independent old-growth science panel, the Technical Advisory Panel (TAP) due to the forest being incorrectly labelled as 212 years old in the province’s forest inventory database (38 years younger than the province’s 250-year-old threshold for being considered old growth on the coast and to be included in deferral mapping).

A giant redcedar tree under threat of logging by Western Forest Products.

“When it comes to verifying forests for logging deferral, the BC government is currently playing a game of old-growth subtraction in favour of the timber industry, facilitating more old-growth logging rather than less,” stated Watt. “Instead, it should be working hard to identify at-risk old-growth forests that have been missed for deferral, such as this one, so they have a chance at being left standing and protected. To help identify these at-risk stands, forest engineers should be legally bound to field-verify planned logging cutblocks against the TAP deferral criteria and report any discrepancies to the BC government so adjustments can be made. Citizens and scientists should also be able to submit the locations of key old-growth stands they’ve identified. Government data gaps, such as simple age misclassifications, are leading to the loss of irreplaceable ancient forests vital to support endangered species, First Nations cultures, the climate, clean water, wild salmon, and tourism.”

To date, about 1.2 million hectares, or 46%, of the 2.6 million hectares of recommended priority deferral areas have been agreed upon by First Nations (whose consent and support are necessary for any new deferrals or protected areas). This leaves more than half of the forests identified as most at-risk forests open to logging, not including areas such as this one that were missed entirely. To close this gap, conservationists argue that the BC government must become advocates for protecting the most endangered old-growth forests and ensure that conservation funding for First Nations links the deferral and protection of these stands to sustainable economic alternatives to old-growth logging.

“Ultimately, the final decision around whether a forest gets deferred or not lies in the hands of First Nations, which is why immediate funding is needed from the province in the short-term to help nations offset any potential lost revenues from forgoing logging in the high-value, big-tree stands they’re being asked to defer,” explained Watt. “After more than a century of colonial exploitation, the province has an opportunity and obligation to ensure the much-anticipated conservation financing streams include long-term economic funding for Indigenous-owned sustainable businesses, such as tourism, sustainable seafood, clean energy, non-timber forest products, value-added second-growth forestry, etc., linked to new protected areas, as alternatives to an economic dependency on old-growth timber revenues and jobs.”

Old-growth fragmentation. The forest in the background of this image is now on the ground.

Conservationists underscore the urgency of securing logging deferrals by pointing to the staggering loss of productive old-growth forests in BC. The San Josef Landscape Unit on Vancouver Island (where this recently documented logging is taking place) has been hit extremely hard by industrial logging in recent decades, with less than 25% of its productive, “big-tree” old-growth forests remaining. Conservation biologists agree that when ecosystems fall below 30% of their original extent, they become at high risk of irreversible biodiversity loss.

“The BC government, under the leadership of Premier David Eby, has set the stage to vastly expand the protection of old-growth forests, for which he should be thanked. After decades of mismanagement, we may finally be on the verge of real transformation,” noted Watt. “However, it’s still possible that the BC government’s promised “paradigm shift” could fall short of its full potential as certain old-school timber bureaucrats and politicians within the Ministry of Forests try to constrain change in favour of the destructive status quo. Eby needs to pick up the pace and close the gaps as the yardstick of success will ultimately be measured by the survival of the endangered forests themselves. As we’ve seen here on northern Vancouver Island, any loopholes left open will allow for further destruction of many of the biggest and best stands that remain, never to be seen again.”

An incredible trio of ancient cedars in an at-risk old-growth forest on northern Vancouver Island, BC.

Background information:

In November 2021, the BC government agreed to, in consultation with First Nations, implement temporary logging deferrals in 2.6 million hectares of the most at-risk old-growth forests (big-tree, ancient, remnant) in BC to prevent irreversible biodiversity loss while long-term land use plans are developed. These priority deferral areas were identified and mapped by the BC government’s independent old-growth science panel, the Technical Advisory Panel (TAP).

The TAP specifically mentioned the issue of inventory errors in its report (see pages 9, 10, & 13), making clear recommendations to the BC government that on-the-ground assessments should be used to identify and defer big-tree old-growth forests that were missed in its preliminary analysis. Thus far, the BC government has only used field verification to remove deferral areas that don’t meet the TAP criteria (which are then supposed to be replaced with those that do, when possible) in order to facilitate logging — a blatant and outrageous bias toward the old-growth logging industry.

Progress is being made toward the protection of old-growth forests, however, major policy and funding gaps still remain, including funding for First Nations sustainable economic development linked to new protected areas, developing protection targets for all ecosystems that include forest productivity distinctions, maintaining strong protected areas standards, and allowing for the addition of unmapped old-growth stands into deferral consideration that meet the Technical Advisory Panel’s criteria for at-risk old-growth.

Major funding for old-growth protection is expected to arrive in the near future as well, including the province’s conservation financing mechanism and the BC Nature Fund (a potential $1.2 billion in federal-provincial funding) and BC Old-Growth Fund ($164 of federal-provincial funding) currently under development and negotiation (between the federal, provincial, and First Nations governments). So far the BC government has indicated they will fund the needs of First Nations regarding community capacity (eg. land-use planning), stewardship jobs, data collection, monitoring, and enforcement regarding old-growth protection, but has not said yet whether the funding will support Indigenous sustainable businesses that are necessary to provide the long-term revenues to permanently supplant income from old-growth logging — the fundamental barrier for many First Nations protecting old-growth forests.

Conservation financing is an approach that was successfully used on BC’s Central and North Coasts, where $120 million was committed by the provincial and federal governments and conservation groups to support First Nations business development and economic alternatives to old-growth logging. The result was a globally significant conservation achievement, with 80% of what is now known as the Great Bear Rainforest being reserved from logging.

Old-growth forests support endangered species, First Nations cultures, the climate, clean water, wild salmon, and tourism. Under BC’s current system of forestry, second-growth tree plantations are typically re-logged every 50–60 years, never to become old-growth again.

Conservation Groups Urge BC Government to Hurry Up and Close Gaps in Old-Growth Protection

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For Immediate Release
Monday, Sept 11th, 2023

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 McKelvie Valley near Tahsis in Mowachaht/Muchalaht territory where 2231 hectares (1852 hectares of old-growth) are now deferred from logging.

“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.

Those gaps include:

  • Providing critical funding to First Nations to offset any lost revenues (from their own logging operations and from revenue-sharing agreements with companies) to enable them to implement old-growth logging deferrals with the province in the most at-risk old-growth stands. The lack of funding from the province for a “solutions space” related to old-growth logging deferrals for First Nations has so far been their greatest failure in the development of effective old-growth policies in BC. This lack of funding has resulted in less than half of the 2.6 million hectares of the most at-risk unprotected old-growth stands recommended for deferral by the government’s own Technical Advisory Panel being accepted for deferral by First Nations.
  • Ensuring that the forthcoming conservation financing mechanism and the BC Nature Fund (a potential $1.2 billion in federal-provincial funding) and BC Old-Growth Fund ($164 of federal-provincial funding) currently under development and negotiation (between the federal, provincial, and First Nations governments) includes economic funding for Indigenous-owned sustainable businesses (eg. in tourism, sustainable seafood, clean energy, non-timber forest products like wild mushrooms, value-added second-growth forestry, etc) linked to new protected areas, as alternatives to economic dependency on old-growth timber revenues and jobs. So far the BC government has indicated they will fund the needs of First Nations regarding community capacity (eg. land-use planning), stewardship jobs, data collection, monitoring, and enforcement regarding old-growth protection, but has not said yet whether the funding will support Indigenous sustainable businesses that are necessary to provide the long-term revenues to permanently supplant income from old-growth logging — the fundamental barrier for many First Nations protecting old-growth forests.
  • Ensuring “ecosystem-based protection targets” for all types of ecosystems (not just an overall target of 30% by 2030 for BC’s total land area) that includes forest productivity distinctions (ie. the sites that produce large old-growth trees like well-drained valley-bottoms and lower elevations, versus small old-growth trees, like in bogs, on steep rock faces and at subalpine landscapes). Without ecosystem-based protection targets that include forest productivity distinctions, the BC government will continue to protect the sparsely treed alpine and subalpine ecosystems, while the larger old-growth stands continue to fall.
  • Closing the protection gaps in the “forest reserve system”, that is, remove the ability of the Ministry of Forests to readily shift boundaries of and/or log in Old-Growth Management Areas (OGMA’s) and Wildlife Habitat Areas (WHA’s) and other such regulatory conservation designations, that, along with legislated protected areas such as Provincial Conservancies, are vital for the forthcoming protection of old-growth forests.
  • Allowing for the addition of unmapped old-growth stands into deferral consideration that meet the Technical Advisory Panel’s criteria for at-risk old-growth, but were missed in the initial mapping exercise due to data errors. Currently, misidentified stands can be removed from deferral if they do not meet the criteria, but there is no mechanism to identify stands that were missed — a blatant and outrageous bias toward the old-growth logging industry. The actual deferral of any stands will always be contingent on First Nations acceptance.
  • Include greater information transparency on where, how much, and in what categories old-growth logging deferrals and cutblocks are taking place.

Old-growth recommended for priority deferral in the Klanawa Valley currently under thread from road construction and logging.

In BC, successive court rulings regarding the government authority of First Nations on land use changes in their territory mean that the provincial government cannot unilaterally “just protect the old-growth forests” without the support of the local First Nations. First Nations have to consent to old-growth forest protection in their unceded territories if the province is going to establish any legislated protected areas. The province has also taken a position that First Nations support is necessary for any temporary deferrals on logging in their territories. Our organizations have heard from several First Nations that this is an important step to creating the goodwill needed for future negotiations over subsequent potential legislated protected areas in their territories.

However, many or most First Nations have an economic dependency on timber industry jobs and revenues in their territories, including in old-growth logging — a dependency facilitated and fostered by successive BC governments. Hence, government and private funding is vital to help finance First Nations’ sustainable economic alternatives (in industries such as eco-tourism, sustainable seafood, clean energy, non-timber forest products, etc.) to this old-growth logging dependency. Such “conservation financing” initiatives have resulted in the protection of major tracts of old-growth forests in the Great Bear Rainforest (Central and North Coast), Haida Gwaii, and increasingly in Clayoquot Sound. Recently alongside our partners, the Nature-Based Solutions Foundation and the Endangered Ecosyems Alliance, the Ancient Forest Alliance has begun working to bring conservation financing directly to the Kanaka Bar Indian Band and other First Nations to support their Indigenous Protected and Conserved Area (IPCA) initiatives.

Under relentless pressure from the Endangered Ecosystems Alliance, Ancient Forest Alliance, and various First Nations, the BC government since David Eby came to power has agreed to develop a provincial conservation financing mechanism to fund Indigenous Protected and Conserved Areas (IPCAs), and several major funding agreements are currently being negotiated with the federal government and First Nations that will result in likely several billion dollars or more to expand the protected areas system in BC soon.

“It’s critical that the BC government expedites conservation funding — both in the short and long term — for the deferral and protection of old-growth forests and other endangered ecosystems,” notes TJ Watt, campaigner and photographer with the Ancient Forest Alliance. “In the immediate term, ‘solution space’ funding is needed to help facilitate logging deferrals by ensuring that First Nations communities aren’t forced to choose between setting aside at-risk old growth and generating revenue for their communities. In the longer term, large-scale funding is necessary to support First Nations’ sustainable economic development, stewardship jobs, and creation of new Indigenous Protected and Conserved Areas (IPCAs) linked to protecting the most at-risk old-growth forests and ecosystems. This can include new land-use planning, Indigenous guardians programs, and, most importantly, the development of sustainable economic alternatives to old-growth logging such as tourism, clean energy, sustainable seafood harvesting, non-timber forest products, and value-added, second-growth forestry. We continue to find scores of old-growth stumps from freshly fallen trees, some measuring more than 10ft/3m wide, on our field expeditions, underscoring the permanent impacts these funding gaps have on the landscape.”

AFA’s TJ Watt sits a top a giant redcedar stump in a recommended deferral area logged by Teal Jones in the Caycuse Valley, Ditidaht territory.

Eby has also committed to doubling the protected areas system from 15% now to 30% by 2030 of the province’s land area, that is, to do in seven years what took about 100 years to do to reach the first 15%. He has also committed to targeting ‘biodiverse areas’ for protection, launching a Biodiversity and Ecosystem Health Framework that potentially could include the office of a Chief Ecologist who develops science-based protection targets for all ecosystems with Traditional Ecological Knowledge committees.

A month ago, EEA developed a small video series outlining the situation with old-growth forests in BC:

  1. Summary of BC’s Old-Growth Policy Development — Overview in early August 2023
  2. Why is Conservation Financing Vital? Video #1 and Video #2.
  3. Why are Ecosystem-Based Protection Targets Vital?

Many of these gaps in old-growth protection are elaborated upon in the EEA’s submission to the Biodiversity and Ecosystem Health Framework.

“The public is losing patience — and rightly so — over a lack of on-the-ground protection thus far, and the only way to speed this up is for the BC government to provide the enabling conditions — the critical funding for deferrals and protected areas, and the needed policy framework including ecosystem-based targets — to enable First Nations whose unceded lands these are to move forward more readily with logging deferrals and protected areas initiatives,” stated Ken Wu, EEA executive director.

Canada’s Most Impressive Tree Located by Conservationists in Clayoquot Sound, BC

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For Immediate Release
July 26, 2023

Conservationists on Vancouver Island with the Ancient Forest Alliance (AFA) have identified what may very well be Canada’s most impressive tree in a remote location in Ahousaht First Nation territory near Tofino in Clayoquot Sound. While the gargantuan ancient western redcedar tree, located by AFA Photographer and Campaigner TJ Watt on Flores Island, measures over 17 feet (5 metres) wide near its base, its trunk gets even wider going upwards over dozens of meters — as opposed to tapering like virtually all other trees. The widening trunk eventually becomes a sprawling, fortress-like crown of wooden spires, creating a most impressive spectacle akin to a massive wooden wall of an ancient castle. The tree stands 151 feet (46 metres) tall and is almost certainly well over a thousand years old given its size.

See incredible video footage here.
See the full photo gallery here.

This giant could very well have the largest or near largest wood volume of any tree in Canada for about the first 50 feet of its trunk – the part you see and experience from the ground (since humans don’t fly or swing through the canopies at the tops of trees). This means that, experientially, it’s perhaps the most impressive tree in Canada, despite other cedars being taller or ranking higher based on the American Forestry Association points system (based on a tree’s height, diameter at breast height at 1.37 meters, and crown spread).

Ancient Forest Alliance photographer TJ Watt beside the gargantuan redcedar on the day he first came across it.

“After nearly two decades of photographing, exploring, and searching for big trees in old-growth forests across BC, no tree has blown me away more than this one,” stated Ancient Forest Alliance Photographer & Campaigner TJ Watt, who first located and photographed the tree while exploring with his friend Nathaniel Glickman. “It’s a literal wall of wood. Your brain can’t compute the scale when you stand below it. The first time I arrived, from a distance I thought it had to be two trees because of how wide the trunk and limbs are. It defies words. As an avid big tree hunter, it’s a highlight of my life to find something as spectacular as this.”

The record-sized tree has so far garnered the nickname ‘The Wall’, or ‘ʔiiḥaq ḥumiis’, meaning ‘big redcedar’ in the Nuu-chah-nulth language. It grows on unprotected Crown/public lands in the unceded territory of the Ahousaht First Nation, who have asked to keep the exact location of the tree private at this time. No logging plans exist for the area and thankfully, the Ahousaht First Nation’s Land Use Vision, currently in the late stages of negotiations with the BC government, includes the protection of the forest where this tree is found. Their Land Use Vision calls for the protection of 80% of Ahousaht territory through the creation of new Indigenous Protected and Conserved Areas (IPCAs), encompassing most of the old-growth forests in their territory, to be legislated as Provincial Conservancies by the province. Watt re-visited the giant tree in spring with members of the Ahousaht Nation and Stewardship Guardian Program, the Maaqutusiis Hahoutlhee Stewardship Society (MHSS).

“Old-growth forests with their monumental redcedar trees have been of great cultural importance for the Ahousaht Nation since time immemorial,” stated Tyson Atleo, a Hereditary Representative of the Ahousaht Nation and the Natural Climate Solutions Program Director of Nature United. “A tree as large and ancient as this supports an incredible web of life both above and below ground while also storing huge amounts of carbon. Large, intact old-growth ecosystems are critical in combating the global biodiversity and climate crisis, and the Ahousaht Nation’s Land Use Vision will ensure they remain standing for generations to come.”

According to the BC Big Tree Registry, the tree would currently rank as the 6th largest known redcedar in the country. That it doesn’t rank at the top is in large part due to the limitations in how a tree’s overall score is calculated using a formula that factors in the diameter at breast height (1.37 meters from the ground), height, and average crown spread. This method is fairly effective for depicting the size of trees that have a typical cone shape. However, since this tree gets wider as it goes up, it harbours an incredible volume of wood that’s difficult to calculate. If one was able to factor in the tree’s full scale, it would likely rank right near the top of the list.

“Having visited most of the top 10 old-growth redcedar trees on record in Canada, including the Cheewhat Giant near Nitinat Lake that currently ranks as the largest cedar on Earth, to me, this one still feels the most impressive in person,” adds Watt. “That this unique tree is not the grandest tree in Canada is largely an artifact of the methodology used to measure trees under the points system of the American Forestry Association. Its towering presence is all-encompassing. Of the few people who’ve come to see it with me since, more than one thought that they were approaching not a tree but a rock wall. It goes to show that some of the most spectacular living organisms on all of Planet Earth grow right here in BC, and the provincial government should be fully funding and supporting the Indigenous-led protection of old-growth forests, including the remaining monumental old-growth stands.”

Ancient Forest Alliance photographer TJ Watt and Ahousaht Hereditary Representative Tyson Atleo stand beside an ancient western redcedar tree thought to be the most impressive tree in Canada.

The BC government is currently developing a number of different policies and initiatives that have the potential to vastly expand the protection of old-growth forests across BC if done right, including creating a new conservation financing fund by early fall to help protect old-growth forests through the creation of Indigenous Protected and Conserved Areas (IPCAs). This funding, if directed wisely, will help to supplant the lost revenues and jobs for First Nations communities from forgoing old-growth logging opportunities through the creation of economic alternatives such as eco-tourism, sustainable aquaculture, non-timber forest products, renewable energy, and sustainable, value-added second-growth forestry. It should also provide the funding needed by First Nations for guardian and stewardship programs.

Conservation financing has already played a pivotal role in helping the Ahousaht Nation propose protection for the majority of the old-growth in their territory while supporting the creation of new sustainable business opportunities such as Ahous Adventures, an Ahousaht-owned and operated eco-cultural tour company in Tofino.

Tyson Atleo, Ahousaht Nation.

“We encourage those who are interested in learning more about Ahousaht culture and viewing the incredible natural beauty found in our territory to take a trip with Ahous Adventures next time they’re in Tofino,” notes Atleo. “Supporting conservation-based economies is integral to protecting old-growth ecosystems while still providing good jobs for members of our community that connect them with the land. We hope our story can be an example for other Indigenous communities who might be considering how to leave old-growth forests standing while building a more prosperous, sustainable economy.”

When visiting Ahousaht territory, visitors are encouraged to participate in their voluntary Stewardship Fee. Revenues from the Stewardship Fee directly fund the MHSS Stewardship Guardian Program which works on restoration, monitoring, infrastructure maintenance, and visitor engagement for the Ahousaht. Stewardship Fees can be paid online or at their office at 9-368 Main Street in Tofino.

“I extend my gratitude to the Ahousaht Nation for continuing to be amazing stewards of their lands in Clayoquot Sound, which harbour some of the most magnificent ancient forests, trees, and wildlife on Earth,” notes Watt. “Across BC, over a century of industrial logging has vastly decimated the productive old-growth forests with the giants like this one. Only a tiny, tiny fraction of the grandest temperate rainforest stands remain today. The BC government has a chance and an obligation to support First Nations communities to both protect these ecosystems while funding sustainable economic development alternatives. Creating conservation economies that allow new, sustainable jobs and businesses to flourish while preserving imperiled ecosystems is a win-win for humans and nature.”

The photos and exploration for this project were made possible in part by support from the Trebek Initiative, a grantmaking partnership between the National Geographic Society and the Royal Canadian Geographical Society that supports emerging Canadian explorers, scientists, photographers, geographers, and educators with a goal of using storytelling to ignite “a passion to preserve” in all Canadians. Watt was among the first round of grant recipients in 2021 and was named a National Geographic Explorer and Royal Canadian Geographical Society Explorer.

Aerial view over the ancient forests of Flores Island in Ahousaht territory in Clayoqout Sound, BC.

Background Info on Endangered Old-Growth Forests in BC

Old-growth forests have unique characteristics not found in the ensuing second-growth tree plantations that they are being replaced with and which are re-logged every 50 to 60 years on BC’s coast – never to become old-growth again. Old-growth forests are vital to support endangered species, the multi-billion dollar tourism industry, carbon storage, clean water, wild salmon, and First Nations cultures. Well over 90% of the high-productivity old-growth forests with the biggest trees and over 80% of the medium-productivity old-growth forests have been logged in BC.

A man in a red jacket lays on a monumental western redcedar among hundreds of other fallen old-growth trees in a clearcut on northern Vancouver Island.

Clearcutting of Grove of Forest Giants on Northern Vancouver Island – Photos and Videos Document the Destruction

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For Immediate Release
May 10, 2023

Shocking photos and drone footage reveal the destruction of rare, big-tree old-growth forests on northern Vancouver Island in Quatsino Sound, highlighting the urgent need for dedicated funding to enable both temporary logging deferrals and permanent, Indigenous-led protected areas initiatives.

Conservationists with the Ancient Forest Alliance have documented with photos and video the clearcutting of a magnificent ancient forest in Quatsino Sound and are urging the BC government to immediately commit funding for old-growth protection to help prevent further loss of the most endangered old-growth forests in BC, plus identify at-risk old-growth forests for deferral that were missed due to mapping errors in the original process.

Ancient Forest Alliance (AFA) members TJ Watt and Ian Thomas came across the fallen remains of a grove of enormous western redcedars — some measuring upwards of 10 feet (3 metres) wide, on a field expedition in 2022. The 25-hectare old-growth cutblock, an area equivalent to over 50 football fields, is located on public lands in Tree Farm Licence 6, which is held by logging company Western Forest Products in Quatsino territory.

AFA’s TJ Watt provides some scale by lying down on the trunk of an old-growth western redcedar tree recently cut by Western Forest Products in Quatsino Sound.

“This was a superlative ancient forest,” stated AFA photographer and campaigner, TJ Watt. “I was floored by the sheer number of monumental redcedars that had been cut down. It was the most shocking example of industrial old-growth logging I’ve witnessed since the logging in the Caycuse and Nahmint Valleys. Dozens of centuries-old trees littered the ground, trees that were taller on their side than I was standing beside them. Some of them were alive earlier that day. After more than a century of high-grade logging in BC, groves of unprotected giants like these are extremely rare to find. To lose another one as special as this is heartbreaking.”

In November 2021, the BC government agreed to implement temporary logging deferrals in 2.6 million hectares of the most at-risk old-growth forests in BC. These priority deferrals were identified by an independent old-growth science panel, the Technical Advisory Panel (TAP), to prevent irreversible biodiversity loss while long-term land use plans are developed. To date, about 1.2 million hectares, or 46%, of priority deferral areas have been agreed upon by First Nations (whose consent and support are a necessity for any new deferrals or protected areas). More than half the areas recommended are still open to logging.

Despite being home to scores of giant trees, many of which would have been 500+ years old, this particular grove — and likely hundreds of others — was not included in the TAP’s original deferral recommendations due to the forest being incorrectly labelled as 210 years old in the province’s forest inventory database (40 years younger than the province’s 250-year-old threshold for being considered old-growth on the coast and to be included in deferral mapping).

A massive old-growth redcedar tree logged on Vancouver Island in Quatsino Sound

The TAP specifically mentioned the issue of inventory errors in their report (see pages 9, 10, 13), making clear recommendations to the BC government that on-the-ground assessments should be used to identify and defer big-tree old-growth forests that were missed in their preliminary analysis. Thus far, it appears the BC government has only used field verification to remove deferral areas that don’t meet the TAP criteria (which are to then be replaced with those that do) in order to facilitate logging, but they are not actively working to identify key old-growth stands that were missed during the TAP analysis due to mapping or inventory errors.

“Knowing that this irreplaceable ancient forest could potentially still be standing today if the BC government was using field verification to identify and defer old-growth forests missed due to mapping errors is a punch in the gut,” stated Watt. “We’ve continually raised this issue with the BC government but so far our concerns have been brushed aside. They only want to subtract old-growth from the priority most-risk category and not add any, even when it is their mistake. Citizens and scientists should be able to submit the locations of old-growth forests that meet the criteria for priority deferral but that have been missed for various reasons. Forest companies should also be obligated to field-verify cutblocks against the TAP deferral criteria before getting approval for logging. These images highlight the devastating impacts on the landscape due to provincial policy and funding gaps.”

A man in a blue jacket stands inside the base of a logged western redcedar in the middle of a massive clearcut on northern Vancouver Island.

AFA’s Ian Thomas stands inside a nearly 10 ft (3 m) wide stump of a fallen western redcedar.

Conservationists argue that without significant funding, it will be nearly impossible to secure the full suite of priority old-growth logging deferrals and their eventual permanent protection, especially in the highest-value old-growth forests with the biggest trees that are most coveted by industry.

“The BC government must come to the table with immediate funding, both in the short and long term, for the deferral and protection of old-growth forests,” explained Watt. “At least $120 million in ‘solution space’ funding is needed immediately to help facilitate logging deferrals by ensuring that First Nations communities aren’t forced to choose between setting aside at-risk old growth and generating revenue for their communities. In the longer term, at least $300 million in conservation financing is needed from the province and another $300 million more from the feds, as well as hundreds of millions more from private donors, to support First Nations’ sustainable economic development, stewardship jobs, and creation of new Indigenous Protected and Conserved Areas (IPCAs) linked to protecting the most at-risk old-growth forests and ecosystems. This can include new land-use planning, Indigenous guardians programs, and the development of sustainable economic alternatives to old-growth logging such as tourism, clean energy, sustainable seafood harvesting, non-timber forest products, and value-added, second-growth forestry.

A man in a red jacket stands among towering western redcedars in Quatsino Territory.

TJ stands beside a massive redcedar tree growing unprotected adjacent to the cutblock in Quatsino Sound.

Under pressure, the province recently committed to creating a new conservation financing mechanism by the end of June to be filled with philanthropic and private contributions but has yet to publicly commit any of its own funding towards the initiative. The long-awaited BC Canada Nature Agreement and the recent multi-billion dollar provincial budget surplus provide excellent avenues for securing the estimated $800-$1B+ in overall funding necessary to protect the majority of endangered old-growth ecosystems across BC

The Quatsino region on Vancouver Island has historically been hit hard by industrial logging, with less than 25% of its productive (big tree) old-growth forests remaining. Conservation biologists agree that when ecosystems fall below 30% of their original extent, they are at high risk of irreversible biodiversity loss. Despite this ecological emergency, nearby old-growth groves, including some forests specifically recommended for deferral are currently flagged for logging

“Driving to this ancient forest, one must pass through mile after mile of industrial tree farms that have replaced the once magnificent old-growth rainforests of Quatsino Sound. This grove was one of the last fragments of rich old-growth forest remaining in the area, a crucial reservoir of biodiversity and ecological resilience in a damaged landscape,” stated Watt. “Witnessing the disappearance of the last unprotected stands of old-growth forests on Vancouver Island leaves one with a profound sense of ecological grief. The BC government can and must use its vast resources to help pave the path toward the protection of what still remains.”

The BC government has committed to protect 30% of BC’s land area by 2030, to develop a conservation financing mechanism to support Indigenous Protected and Conserved Areas by the end of June, and to target protection for the most biodiverse areas — major commitments that the Ancient Forest Alliance commends. However, missing still is the immediate funding to facilitate deferrals among First Nations, provincial funding for conservation financing (not just a commitment to seek philanthropic funds), and ecosystem-based protected areas targets that include forest productivity distinctions.

This series of images and video is part of work Watt has created with support from the Trebek Initiative, a grantmaking partnership between the National Geographic Society and the Royal Canadian Geographical Society that supports emerging Canadian explorers, scientists, photographers, geographers, and educators with a goal of using storytelling to ignite “a passion to preserve” in all Canadians. Watt was among the first round of grant recipients in 2021 and was named a National Geographic Explorer and Royal Canadian Geographical Society Explorer.

Old-growth forests are vital to support endangered species, First Nations cultures, the climate, clean water, wild salmon, and tourism. Under BC’s current system of forestry, second-growth tree plantations are typically re-logged every 50–60 years, never to become old-growth again.

An aerial image of a patchwork of clearcuts in Quatsino Territory.

25 hectares (roughly 50 football fields) of prime old-growth forests were clearcut here in total by Western Forest Products.

 

 

 

Motion for Old-Growth Fund & Export Ban Introduced by MP Patrick Weiler

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For Immediate Release
May 5, 2023

MP Patrick Weiler Introduces Motion to Launch the $82 million Old-Growth Protection Fund ($164 million with BC matching funds) and to End Old-Growth Log and Wood Product Exports

The Ancient Forest Alliance (AFA) and the Endangered Ecosystems Alliance (EEA) give great thanks to Member of Parliament Patrick Weiler (West Vancouver-Sunshine Coast-Sea to Sky Country) for his new motion to help protect old-growth forests in BC and Canada.

Weiler has crafted a motion, introduced into federal Parliament yesterday, calling for the $82 million BC Old-Growth Protection Fund (increased from $50 million previously, and contingent on matching BC funding that would bring it to $164 million), to end the international export of old-growth raw logs and wood products from across Canada as quickly as possible (and by no later than 2030), and to protect old-growth on federal lands on Department of National Defense and National Park lands from any destructive infrastructure developments.

If implemented, these motions will be significant contributions to help protect old-growth forests in BC and across Canada, where the main “War in the Woods” over old-growth forests has taken place over half a century.

“We welcome this motion by MP Patrick Weiler. $82 million dedicated to old-growth protection in BC, when matched by the province for a total of $164 million, is no small sum. It would result in a major leap forward to protect old-growth forests here, along with a much larger federal-provincial BC Nature Agreement fund — as would a rapid phase-out on the export of old-growth wood products across Canada with an emphasis on second- and third-growth wood products instead. We commend Weiler for taking the initiative here to help keep the ball rolling for old-growth protection,” stated TJ Watt, Ancient Forest Alliance campaigner and photographer.

Ancient Forest Alliance campaigner & photographer TJ Watt stands beside a giant old-growth redcedar growing unprotected on northwestern Vancouver Island in Quatsino territory.

“The Biden administration in the US is now creating a pathway that could end old-growth logging on their federal public lands across the country, and BC and Canada need to do the same. MP Patrick Weiler is starting this process, and I hope his positive motion pushes the province to really get on track — as the province is directly in charge of provincially-managed Crown lands where the vast majority of old-growth forests stand, along with the local First Nations whose unceded territories it is. Premier Eby’s recent move to embrace the 30% by 2030 target and to undertake a conservation financing mechanism to fund First Nations IPCA plans should be applauded. However, there is still significant space for spin and sophistry to keep the status quo of old-growth forest liquidation safeguarded as new provincial policies are being developed. I can see many of the same old actors from the old-growth timber industry and old timber bureaucracy at work in this regard right now, and they are both pervasive and clever,” stated Ken Wu, Endangered Ecosystems Alliance executive director.

There are elements in the provincial government that appear to be employing a number of different strategies in an attempt to contain change and extend the life of the destructive status quo of old-growth liquidation, including efforts to minimize the centrality of fully protected areas — and instead to emphasize better old-growth logging rather than no logging of old-growth as the first consideration, as well as “conservation” areas that keep the door open for commercial old-growth logging. Other apparent strategies include minimizing ecosystem-based protected areas targets, including failing to distinguish between big-treed vs small-treed old-growth forests (forest productivity distinctions); minimizing the role of science and scientists in developing ecosystem-based targets in conjunction with Traditional Ecological Knowledge holders; and making conservation financing primarily about capacity and stewardship funding rather than about sustainable economic development funding to supplant the old-growth logging dependency in many First Nations communities.

Ancient Forest Alliance Campaigner & Photographer TJ Watt stands atop the stump of an old-growth redcedar tree cut in 2022 the Klanawa Valley on Vancouver Island in Huu-ay-aht territory.

The federal government has been offering significant funding for years of several hundred million dollars, contingent on an agreement for matching funds from BC — to drastically expand the protected areas system across the province as part of Canada’s commitment to protect 25% of the country’s land area by 2025 and 30% by 2030 (BC has committed to the latter target). Currently 15% of BC is in legislated protected areas. Negotiations over a BC Nature Fund between the federal and provincial governments have been ongoing for two and a half years (since January of 2021), and now include First Nations, and an agreement is expected in the not distant future.

Endangered Ecosystems Alliance executive director Ken Wu stands beside a giant old-growth redcedar tree growing unprotected on Nootka Island in Mowachaht/ Muchalaht territory.

The provincial government has also stated that they will have a conservation financing mechanism in place by the end of June, and the EEA and AFA are encouraging the province to ensure that they bring in both provincial and federal contributions into that fund (not just private donations) which can be used to help ensure both old-growth logging deferrals and protected areas, including by providing the needed funds to First Nations for their capacity, stewardship, and sustainable business development needs linked to new Indigenous Protected and Conserved Areas (typically legislated via Provincial Conservancy and various Protected Areas designations provincially).

The original sum of $50 million for a BC Old-Growth Fund has now been increased by MP Weiler and his colleagues to $81.9 million. If matched by provincial funds, it would be $164 million to help First Nations and other parties to specifically protect some of the grandest and most endangered old-growth forests in BC, with an emphasis on protecting Coastal and Inland old-growth rainforests and Interior Douglas-fir forests. Weiler also noted that additional federal protected areas funds are available from the $2.3 billion in terrestrial protected areas funding, as well as from the several billion dollar Nature Smart Climate Fund, that would also help protect old-growth forests in BC as part of the overall effort to expand protected areas in the province and across the country.

Old-growth forests across BC are on the unceded territories of diverse First Nations, whose consent is a legal necessity for the establishment of new protected areas on Crown/unceded First Nations lands (ie. the provincial government cannot unilaterally just protect old-growth forests in BC — the support of the local First Nations is needed, and the province should undertake the policy framework and provide key funding as part of the “enabling conditions” to facilitate interested First Nations to establish new protected areas). Across BC, many or most First Nations have a major economic dependency on timber revenues and jobs, including on old-growth forestry.

Land Guardian Domonique Samson with the Kanaka Bar Indian Band stands beside an old-growth Douglas-fir tree on a property recently purchased by the Nature-Based Solutions Foundation to be given back to the band with a conservation covenant.

“Conservation financing” refers to funding from governments and private sources for the development of sustainable economic alternatives in First Nations and other communities that enable the development of Indigenous businesses and jobs in eco- and cultural tourism, clean energy, sustainable seafood, non-timber forest products (eg. wild mushrooms) and other industries, linked to the establishment of new Indigenous Protected and Conserved Areas (IPCAs). In the Great Bear Rainforest, Haida Gwaii, and currently in Clayoqout Sound, major conservation financing funds from the federal and provincial governments, environmental groups, and carbon offset projects have enabled high levels of forest protection and conservation to move forward. The Endangered Ecosystems Alliance and the Ancient Forest Alliance, with our partner organization the Nature-Based Solutions Foundation, are now moving ahead with similar conservation financing projects to support old-growth protection initiatives and new IPCAs by the Kanaka Bar Indian Band near Lytton and the Salmon Parks initiative of the Mowachaht/ Muchalaht First Nation.

Over 80% of the medium to high productivity forest lands (places that typically grow the largest trees the fastest) in BC are now second-growth. With appropriate government incentives and regulations, old-growth forests can be protected while forestry employment levels could be enhanced with the development of a sustainable, value-added second-growth forest industry. This is particularly true if the extensive second-growth harvest (which currently is also unsustainable), which already contributes most of the cut in BC, is turned into higher end wood products in the province, rather than being shipped out as raw log exports. Eby is now starting to provide funding for a value-added transition for industry to manufacture smaller diameter (ie. mainly second-growth) logs, and we encourage him to continue this trajectory, while the federal government is also starting to support the value-added sector.

Old-growth forests are typically defined by the BC government as stands older than 250 years on the Coast and older than 140 years in BC’s Interior, although old-growth characteristics (canopy gaps, well-developed understories, multi-layered canopies, large woody debris) can develop in significantly younger stands in many areas.

Old-growth forests are vital to support endangered species, the climate, tourism and recreation, clean water, wild salmon, and diverse First Nations cultures whose unceded territories it is. Old-growth forests have unique characteristics that are not replicated in the ensuing second-growth tree plantations that they are being replaced with. Because they are re-logged every 50 to 60 years on BC’s coast and every 80 to 100 years in the Interior, they never become old-growth again. As a result, old-growth logging is not a sustainable activity under BC’s and Canada’s system of forestry but is more similar to “forest mining”.

A logging truck loaded with old-growth logs passes through the Klanawa Valley on Vancouver Island.

 

An aerial shot of a clearcut in the Caycuse Watershed in Ditidaht Territory.

Conservationists decry lack of funding to protect old-growth forests despite major provincial budget surplus and ecological crisis in the woods

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For immediate release
Tuesday, February 28th, 2023

Still needed is short-term funding for First Nations to offset lost logging revenues from accepting logging deferrals as well as long-term conservation financing to develop sustainable economic alternatives to old-growth logging linked to the creation of new Indigenous Protected and Conserved Areas.

VICTORIA (Unceded Lekwungen Territories) – Conservationists are disappointed that the BC government has failed to allocate critical funding in the 2023 provincial budget for old-growth protection despite having a major budget surplus and recently committing to creating a conservation financing mechanism to protect old-growth forests and biodiverse areas. The Ancient Forest Alliance has repeatedly called on the province to provide significant short- and long-term funding for First Nations, many of whom now have an economic dependency on the revenues of old-growth logging, to help further conservation efforts.

“Today the BC government missed an historic opportunity to use its multi-billion dollar budget surplus to help safeguard critically endangered old-growth forests and ecosystems,’” stated AFA Campaigner and Photographer, TJ Watt. “David Eby has committed to ‘accelerating’ the government’s efforts on old-growth, to protect 30% of BC by 2030, and create a conservation financing fund to protect old-growth forests and the most biodiverse areas. Allocating significant funding in this budget would have been the gas in the tank to accelerate those commitments. Instead, the conservation fund remains empty and the expectation so far is that it will be filled through private and philanthropic donations, a complete abdication of the province’s responsibilities.”

Two types of funding are still urgently needed from the province in order to help achieve the protection of old-growth forests: both short and long-term.

In the short term, at least $120 million in “solutions space” funding is needed to help offset lost logging revenues for First Nations who accept temporary logging deferrals in the most at-risk old-growth forests, as identified by the government’s independent science panel, the Technical Advisory Panel (TAP). To date, less than half of the 2.6 million hectares of the most at-risk ancient forests identified for deferral by the TAP have been secured and progress on additional priority deferrals has stalled, leaving over one million hectares of BC’s most at-risk old-growth forests without even temporary protection. The vast majority of old-growth forests in BC are located on the unceded territories of diverse First Nations communities, whose consent and support are a legal necessity for the creation of any new deferrals or protected areas.

A pink ribbon signalling a new road to be put in flies in front of an old-growth section in the Caycuse Valley on unceded Ditidaht Territory

A pink ribbon signalling a new road to be built through an old-growth forest in the Caycuse Valley on unceded Ditidaht Territory. Photo by TJ Watt – Ancient Forest Alliance.

“The province should use its massive budget surplus or unallocated funds at a later date to provide short-term funding to help offset lost logging revenues when asking First Nations, who have the final say on whether they want to defer logging or not in the most at-risk old-growth forests. The point of temporary logging deferrals is to ‘stop the bleed’ while long-term land use plans can be developed and the province — the one responsible for creating the ecological wounds in the first place — must use its vast resources to make the path to protecting old-growth as painless as possible,” stated Watt. “Without deferrals, many areas remain in a “talk and log” situation where, day by day, we continue to lose the best of the big-tree, ancient, and rare old-growth forests. $120 million in “solution space” funding would help to ensure that First Nations communities aren’t forced to choose between setting aside at-risk old growth and generating revenue for their communities. With billions of dollars in surplus money, there’s never been a better time for the province to fully fund all avenues of old-growth protection. Why haven’t they done so?”

In the long term, at least $300 million in conservation financing is needed from the province to support First Nations’ sustainable economic development, stewardship jobs, and creation of new Indigenous Protected and Conserved Areas (IPCAs) linked to protecting the most at-risk old-growth forests and ecosystems. This can include new land-use planning, guardians programs, and the development of sustainable economic alternatives to old-growth logging such as tourism, clean energy, sustainable seafood harvesting, non-timber forest products, and a value-added, second-growth forestry. Support for forestry workers and contractors, as well as legally defined compensation for major licensees, would be above and beyond this total.

The federal government has significant funding available to support environmental protection as well. $2.3 billion has been committed to help Canada achieve its international commitments to protect 25% of lands and waters by 2025 and 30% by 2030 (a goal to which BC has also committed) and of this, several hundred million dollars are available for the expansion of protected areas in BC, with $55 million specifically allocated to old growth in BC so far. The BC government must commit to providing matching funding and formalize the long-awaited BC-Canada Nature Agreement, which remains under negotiation, and would allow the federal funds to flow into BC.

Also missing from the budget is any investment into a much-needed “Provincial Land Acquisition Fund” which would help the province to purchase privately held lands of high conservation, scenic, cultural, and recreational value that are under threat from logging or development. The Ancient Forest Alliance has called for such a fund for more than a decade, which would start with an initial investment of $70 million, to be increased by $10 million a year until the fund reaches $100 million. The fund would fill a crucial gap in BC’s current conservation policies by allowing for the acquisition and permanent protection of endangered old-growth forests and other threatened ecosystems across the province that otherwise have no form of legislated protection.

A positive note was the allocation of $21 million over three years in funding for the development of eight new Forest Landscape Planning projects. Landscape planning work includes First Nations as well as a variety of stakeholders and is part of the pathway towards permanent protection for old-growth forests. However, conservationists stress that without significant conservation financing, future land-use plans will not go far enough when it comes to protecting BC’s rarest and most productive forest ecosystems. Conservationists also argue that the implementation of logging deferrals is the essential prerequisite for fulsome and comprehensive land-use planning, as it alone ensures that those ecologically critical forests will not be lost while planning is underway. Additionally, $101 million was committed to help preserve and enhance outdoor recreational opportunities in BC Parks and outdoor recreation sites and trails.

“David Eby promised to accelerate the protection of old-growth forests as well as protect 30% of lands in BC by 2030. That would be a major step forward for conservation, but it won’t happen for free,” stated Watt. “You wouldn’t promise a paradigm shift in health care or expect to build major new infrastructure without the money to back it up. The province should be using its multi-billion dollar surplus to help solve the decades-long battle to protect old-growth forests once and for all. It must also match and accept the hundreds of millions in funding available from the federal government to support Indigenous-led conservation efforts, including protecting old-growth forests. Every day there’s a delay, we further lose our chance to protect these irreplaceable ecosystems.”

Ancient Forest Alliance photographer TJ Watt stands beside an old-growth redcedar tree before and after logging in the Caycuse watershed in Ditidaht territory on Vancouver Island, BC.

Ancient Forest Alliance photographer TJ Watt stands beside an old-growth redcedar tree before and after logging in the Caycuse watershed in Ditidaht territory on Vancouver Island, BC.

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Background info:

Conservation financing is an approach that was successfully used on BC’s Central and North Coasts, where $120 million was committed by the provincial and federal governments and conservation groups to support First Nations business development and economic alternatives to old-growth logging. The result was a globally significant conservation achievement, with 80% of what is now known as the Great Bear Rainforest being reserved from logging.

This funding helps to supplant the lost revenues and jobs from forgoing old-growth logging through the creation of alternatives such as eco-tourism, sustainable aquaculture, non-timber forest products, renewable energy, and even sustainable second-growth logging. It can also provide funds needed for First Nations’ guardian and stewardship programs.

Old-growth forests are vital to support endangered species, First Nations cultures, the climate, clean water, wild salmon, and tourism. Under BC’s current system of forestry, second-growth tree plantations are typically re-logged every 50–60 years, never to become old-growth again.

Government Signals Critical Shift Toward Greater Value-Added Wood Manufacturing and Potential Old-Growth Protection

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For immediate release
Wednesday, February 15th, 2023

Conservation group increasingly optimistic about old-growth protection as BC government adjusts forestry regulations, invests funding in value-added forestry, and commits to a conservation financing mechanism to help establish new Indigenous Protected and Conserved Areas (IPCAs).

Victoria / Unceded Lekwungen Territories – Premier David Eby announced critical changes to BC forestry policy today that could help fulfill promises to protect old-growth forests and create a more resilient value-added wood manufacturing industry. These changes include removing the “unduly restrict” clause that has historically limited the scope of conservation efforts by preventing forest reserves from interfering with timber supply; establishing a conservation financing fund to help with the establishment of new Indigenous Protected and Conserved Areas (IPCAs); investing $180m in support for value-added wood manufacturing to help the forest industry adapt to old-growth protection measures and using smaller-diameter trees while maintaining employment in the industry; and temporarily deferring an additional estimated 200,000 hectares of old-growth forests while longer-term land use plans can be developed.

“Removing the “unduly restrict” clause is as important a step symbolically as it is legally in helping facilitate the promised paradigm shift in the approach to old-growth forests and endangered ecosystems across the province,” stated Ancient Forest Alliance Campaigner TJ Watt. “For far too long the protection of old-growth forests, wildlife habitat, and other critical ecosystem services has been secondary to the push to industrially extract resources from the land. In light of the global biodiversity crisis we are in, we must first determine what needs protection before determining what, if anything, can be sustainably removed. We commend the BC government for taking this first step and hope it continues to take action by removing any remaining policy caps on regulatory protection measures such as Old-Growth Management Areas, Wildlife Habitat Areas, etc.”

The BC government has also committed to establishing a new conservation financing mechanism in the next six months to support First Nations’ capacity, sustainable economic development, and land stewardship, as well as the creation of new IPCAs. The vast majority of old-growth forests in BC are located on the unceded territories of diverse First Nations communities, whose consent and support is a legal necessity for the creation of any new protected areas. The BC government can’t unilaterally declare new legislated protected areas on the unceded territory of First Nations, many of whom are also heavily dependent on the revenues of old-growth logging for their economic survival. Conservation financing, which was critical to the protection of old-growth ecosystems in the Great Bear Rainforest, is needed elsewhere across BC to provide economic alternatives to old-growth logging, giving First Nations communities a fair choice and viable path to old-growth protection.

“For years we have been pushing for the province to commit to conservation financing that links protecting endangered old-growth forests through IPCAs with First Nations’ sustainable economic development,” notes Watt. “Creating conservation economies that allow new, sustainable jobs and businesses to flourish while preserving imperiled ecosystems is a win-win for humans and nature. The province must now dedicate a significant amount of its own funding to this plan, especially with its current budget surplus. Private funders and philanthropists will play an important role but cannot be expected to provide the scale of funding quickly enough in the time frame needed to keep all at-risk old-growth standing.”

Ancient Forest Alliance Co-Founder, Ken Wu, beside an old-growth redcedar in the unprotected Eden Grove near Port Renfrew in Pacheedaht territory.

The BC government has also committed $180 million to expand support for the value-added wood processing sector in BC, which includes support to mills to process smaller-diameter and second-growth trees. This is a crucial step to shifting the current model of old-growth logging in BC to a more sustainable second-growth industry that we have been advocating for, helping to protect endangered old-growth forests and forestry jobs at the same time.

On the deferral front, the province identified that a total of 2.1 million hectares of old-growth forest have now been deferred (temporarily paused) from logging but was unclear about how much of that included priority at-risk areas identified by the province’s science panel, the Technical Advisory Panel versus additional areas identified by First Nations for important cultural or ecological values. Based on the province’s last announcement, it remains possible that over half of BC’s most at-risk and biodiverse old-growth forests (i.e. the biggest and oldest trees in the rarest ecosystems) are still without temporary protection, underscoring the dire need for conservation funding. In addition, the government noted that 11,000 hectares of the most at-risk old-growth have been logged since they were first identified as candidates for immediate deferral, an area about as large as the entire city of Vancouver.

“Old-growth forests, with their 1000-year-old trees, are irreplaceable. The government must bring forth significant conservation financing to relieve the economic burden communities face in accepting old-growth logging deferrals and to help establish permanent protection measures through long-term land use plans and new Indigenous Protected and Conserved Areas,” stated Watt. “We are encouraged by the BC government’s latest commitments, now it’s time for it to fully fund the paradigm shift it has promised, set targets for the protection of each ecosystem type based on science, and ensure that protection is not skewed towards lower productivity areas of less ecological value and more towards the productive, biologically rich areas most heavily targeted by industry. The endangered ecosystems and countless creatures that depend on them for their survival—including us—are counting on the fulfillment of this promise.”

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Background:

Conservation financing is an approach that was successfully used on BC’s Central and North Coasts, where $120 million was committed by the provincial and federal governments and conservation groups to support First Nations business development and economic alternatives to old-growth logging. The result was a globally significant conservation achievement, with 80% of what is now known as the Great Bear Rainforest being reserved from logging.

This funding helps to supplant the lost revenues and jobs from forgoing old-growth logging through the creation of alternatives such as eco-tourism, sustainable aquaculture, non-timber forest products, renewable energy, and even sustainable second-growth logging. It can also provide funds needed for First Nations’ guardian and stewardship programs.

Old-growth forests are vital to support endangered species, First Nations cultures, the climate, clean water, wild salmon, and tourism. Under BC’s current system of forestry, second-growth tree plantations are typically relogged every 50-60 years, never to become old-growth again.

BC Government Commits to Doubling the Protection of Lands in BC to 30% by 2030 and Creating a New Conservation Financing Mechanism to Help Establish IPCA’s

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For immediate release
December 9th, 2022

BC Government Commits to Doubling the Protection of Lands in BC to 30% by 2030 and Creating a New Conservation Financing Mechanism to Help Establish IPCA’s.

Framework for increased protection has been laid, major funding now needed to make it succeed.

Victoria / Unceded Lekwungen Territories – The Ancient Forest Alliance commends the BC government for committing to protecting 30% of lands in the province by 2030, including through the creation of new Indigenous Protected and Conserved Areas (IPCAs), which would double what is currently protected in legislated areas in BC. Nathan Cullen, Minister of Water, Land, and Resource Stewardship, has also been directed in his new mandate letter from Premier David Eby to “develop a new conservation financing mechanism to support protection of biodiverse areas.” No announcements around funding commitments have yet been made.

“The commitment to double legislated protected areas in BC has the potential to be a major step towards protecting endangered old-growth forests, ecosystems, and species across British Columbia,” stated Ancient Forest Alliance Campaigner & Photographer, TJ Watt. “The new premier should be commended for this. To ensure these promises can be made a reality, it’s imperative that major conservation funding is secured through the much anticipated BC-Canada Nature Agreement. We have the framework, now we just need the funding to implement it.”

An aerial view over the Klaskish Inlet where the unprotected East Creek and Klaskish Rivers meet the Pacific Ocean in Quatsino territory on Vancouver Island, BC. The Brooks Peninsula Provincial Park is in the background.

This is also the first time the provincial government has publicly acknowledged the need for conservation financing linked to protecting the most biologically diverse areas and the creation of new IPCAs. In British Columbia, under successive court rulings, First Nations ultimately decide which areas within their unceded territories get protected or not. The provincial government can provide enabling conditions for First Nations to protect old-growth forests by providing critical funding for land use planning capacity, stewardship jobs, and sustainable economic development linked to new protected areas. The province choosing the most biodiverse areas for candidate protected areas, should First Nations agree, is a vital step towards securing productive old-growth forests, where the greatest species richness tends to be.

“For years we have been pushing for the province to commit to conservation financing that links protecting endangered old-growth forests through Indigenous Protected Areas with First Nations’ sustainable economic development,” notes Watt. “Creating conservation economies that allow new, sustainable jobs and businesses to flourish while preserving imperiled ecosystems is a win-win for humans and nature. None of this happens for free, though. That is why the BC government now needs to accept and match the hundreds of millions of dollars that’s available from the federal government for expanding protected areas in BC through the much anticipated BC-Canada Nature Agreement.”

First Nations cultural tours, such as those pictured here in Clayoquot Sound, are just one example of sustainable business alternatives to old-growth logging.

The federal government has so far committed $3.3 billion over 5 years to expand terrestrial ($2.3 billion) and marine ($1 billion) protected areas, along with several billion dollars more for “natural climate solutions” that often overlap with nature protection initiatives. BC’s share of those funds is estimated to be between $200 to $400+ million, which also includes a dedicated $55.1 million Old Growth Nature Fund for the protection of the most at-risk old-growth stands, but only if the province matches this funding. When adding in potential funding from private donors, this could result in anywhere from $500M-$1B+ in total funding for conservation in BC.

“These latest commitments from Premier Eby appear to signal that the province is willing to move in the right direction. The Ancient Forest Alliance has long called for conservation financing to help establish new Indigenous-led protected areas that support sustainable enterprises, and for the government to adopt the federal protected areas targets at a bare minimum,” said Watt. “To make sure their actions truly make a difference on the ground, they must focus on the old-growth forests most at-risk, such as those with the grandest trees in the valley bottoms, as well as other endangered ecosystems across the province. Doubling the protected areas in BC by scooping up vast areas not under threat while allowing the logging of thousand year old trees to continue will only fuel the rampant public cynicism that’s resulted from broken political promises in the past. Ancient temperate forests in BC, and the communities and cultures that evolved amongst them for millennia, are counting on Eby to do the right thing.”

For interviews please contact TJ Watt at info@16.52.162.165

Ancient Forest Alliance Photographer & Campaigner, TJ Watt, admires the unprotected old-growth Sitka spruce trees in Mossome Grove near Port Renfrew in Pacheedaht territory on Vancouver Island, BC.

Background:

Conservation financing is an approach that was successfully used on BC’s Central and North Coasts, where $120 million was committed by the provincial and federal governments and conservation groups to support First Nations business development and economic alternatives to old-growth logging. The result was a globally significant conservation achievement, with 80% of what is now known as the Great Bear Rainforest being reserved from logging.

This funding helps to supplant the lost revenues and jobs from forgoing old-growth logging through the creation of alternatives such as eco-tourism, sustainable aquaculture, non-timber forest products, renewable energy, and even sustainable second-growth logging. It can also provide funds needed for First Nations’ guardian and stewardship programs.

Old-growth forests are vital to support endangered species, First Nations cultures, the climate, clean water, wild salmon, and tourism. Under BC’s current system of forestry, second-growth tree plantations are typically relogged every 50-60 years, never to become old-growth again.

Before COP15, Conservation Groups call on BC Government to Commit to Funding and Targets to Expand Protected Areas in BC

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For Immediate Release
November 30, 2022

BC has a chance to protect the most endangered ecosystems and promote community economic, social and cultural well-being linked to nature conservation – and also to finally end the War in the Woods over old-growth forests.

In the lead-up to the UN Biodiversity Conference (COP15) in Montreal where 195 countries will meet next week to negotiate new international protected areas targets and policies, the Endangered Ecosystems Alliance (EEA) and the Ancient Forest Alliance (AFA) are calling on the BC government to commit to the federal protected areas targets to protect 25% by 2025 and 30% by 2030 its land and marine areas, at a bare minimum, and to ensure a significant federal-provincial funding package (the “Nature Agreement” that is currently being negotiated) that directs funding for the right “places, parties, and purposes” needed to ensure an effective protected areas system in BC.

The federal government has committed $3.3 billion over 5 years to expand terrestrial ($2.3 billion) and marine ($1 billion) protected areas, along with several billion dollars more for “natural climate solutions” that often overlap with nature protection initiatives.

BC’s share of those funds are between $200 to $400 million, yet the province has neither embraced the federal funds nor committed its own funds – nor even embraced the federal protected areas targets yet.

For the protection of the most at-risk old-growth stands, the federal government has also earmarked $55 million in a BC old-growth fund (a campaign for this fund was spearheaded by the Endangered Ecosystems Alliance with the Union of BC Indian Chiefs in 2020), contingent on BC providing matching funding for a total old-growth fund of $110 million – which again the BC government has not committed to.

For almost 2 years, the federal and BC governments have been in negotiations to develop a bi-lateral Nature Agreement on a funding package with protected areas targets for BC, yet still nothing has been announced just 1 week from the start of the UN Biodiversity Conference.

“Now is the time, in the lead-up to the UN Biodiversity Conference, for the BC government to commit to major federal funding and to provide its own funding on a sufficient scale. With significant funding and protected areas targets, including targets for all ecosystem types that ensures prioritization for the most underrepresented and at-risk ecosystems, such as the last of the ‘high-productivity’ old-growth stands with the biggest trees, we could see a historically unprecedented expansion of the protected areas system to safeguard the rarest and most endangered ecosystems in BC – and to end the half-century long ‘War in the Woods’. We’ve maintained for years that funding is the fundamental driver for protected areas expansion in BC, in particular to support First Nations sustainable economic development linked to new protected areas and for private land acquisition. Without this funding, major protected areas expansion in BC cannot happen at a scale and speed commensurate to the extinction and climate crises”, stated Ken Wu, Endangered Ecosystems Alliance Executive Director.

“Thousand-year-old trees with trunks as wide as living rooms and as tall as downtown skyscrapers are still being cut on a daily basis in BC. The provincial government has reaped billions from the logging of these highly endangered and irreplaceable ecosystems and now, with the planet facing a climate and biodiversity crisis that threatens the survival of even our own species, it’s time for them to give back. This means matching the federal government’s major funding commitments towards expanding protected areas in BC, adding additional funds of their own, and ensuring those funds are directed towards protecting the highest value forests that remain, not just scrub, rock, and ice. Leaving high-value old-growth forests standing needs to be made as economically viable for communities, even in the short term, as cutting them down”, stated TJ Watt, Campaigner and Photographer with the Ancient Forest Alliance.

AFA’s TJ Watt beside an old-growth redcedar stump near Port Renfrew in Pacheedaht territory.

Across BC, most old-growth forests and endangered ecosystems are on the unceded territories of diverse First Nations, whose consent is a legal necessity to establish new legislated protected areas in the province. The British Columbian government is currently under pressure to help finance First Nations old-growth logging deferrals and protection, in particular to fund First Nations sustainable businesses and jobs linked to new protected areas, a process known as “conservation financing”. 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 the key funding to First Nations 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) as was done in years past to secure the protection for large sections of BC’s Central and North Coast (ie. the Great Bear Rainforest) and Haida Gwaii, and as is currently underway to protect most of Clayoquot Sound. 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, major funding worth several hundred million dollars is needed to support sustainable economic alternatives (ie. business development) for First Nations communities linked to Indigenous Protected and Conserved Areas and old-growth logging deferrals. Compensation currently exists for First Nations forestry workers (ie. the labour side) via the province’s $185 million fund to support BC forestry workers affected by old-growth logging deferrals, while the province has also provided $12 million (an insufficient amount) to help First Nations undertake land-use planning, including assessing old-growth logging deferrals and the impacts to their communities. However, it is the “business side” of the equation – the largest part of funding needs, estimated to cost about $600 to $800 million for First Nations in order to supplant their old-growth logging interests (for example, to protect much of the Great Bear Rainforest, which is 6% of the land area in BC, $120 million in conservation financing was brought in from environmental groups and the provincial and federal governments, and tens of millions more in carbon offset funding) that will enable them to protect the most at-risk old-growth forests in BC – that is lacking from government at this time. Additional funds are also needed by First Nations to protect non-old-growth forest ecosystems as well – second-growth forests, grasslands, wetlands, etc.

At its core, to actually protect the most contested and endangered high-productivity old-growth forests sought after by the timber industry with the biggest trees and greatest biological richness, the conservation financing for First Nations businesses must be tied to supplanting old-growth logging interests specifically in the stands most coveted for logging. Simply providing capacity funding or labour support, or even economic development funding not linked to protecting the most valuable old-growth timber, is a recipe for the biggest and best old-growth stands to still fall, while new protected areas skirt around these monumental stands and instead protect smaller trees in the lower-productivity old-growth stands typically at higher elevations, in poor soils or in boggy landscapes, and that have fewer species at risk and which are far more represented in the existing protected areas system.

Unprotected old-growth forest at risk of future logging on Edinburgh Mountain near Port Renfrew in Pacheedaht territory.

In addition, to protect endangered ecosystems and old-growth forests on private lands, provincial and federal government funding is needed to purchase these lands. In BC, only about 5% of the lands are privately owned, concentrated on southeastern Vancouver Island, in the Lower Mainland, and in major river valleys in BC.

If the BC government ends up providing major funding and adopting the federal protected areas targets with a new Nature Agreement deal, there are still ways the agreement can come up short. For such a deal to be most effective, the funding must be directed to the key “places, parties, and purposes”:

Places: Priority must be given to the most endangered ecosystems that are most at risk from industry – in particular logging, agricultural conversion and suburban sprawl – in the major valley bottoms and lower elevations in southern BC where most of the people and industry are, and by no coincidence where most species and ecosystem at risk are. The government will tend to protect vast areas of lower productivity “rock and ice” – alpine areas at high elevations and far northern forests with minimal timber value in order to maximize the hectares protected for PR purposes and that minimize the impacts to most industries, which also minimizes protection for the vast majority of species and ecosystems at risk. These alpine, subalpine, far northern, and bog ecosystems are native ecosystems that deserve protection, but a far greater emphasis must be on saving the most contested, endangered ecosystems right now given the current ecological crisis.

The government also has to stop its “creative accounting” on how much they claim is protected in BC. About 15% of BC is in legislated protected areas – however, in some of its PR claims, the province has sometimes been adding an extra 4%, largely in tenuous conservation regulations, known as Old-Growth Management Areas and Wildlife Habitat Areas, that lack the permanency (OGMA’s can be moved around in chunks and logged, for example) and/or the standards (oil and gas and some logging is allowed in some types of WHA’s) of real protected areas.

Parties: Priority should be given to First Nations sustainable economic development linked to new protected areas and conservation reserves. Legally mandated corporate compensation for logging, mining and oil and gas companies should be years down the road – First Nations must come first, being Nations, as they decide the fate of their unceded territories. Land acquisition funding for private lands is also important.

In addition, as most First Nations have not initiated new land use planning processes where protected areas are decided, it is vital that much of the funding be “open” and uncommitted at this time to help drive protection options during the land use planning processes over the next couple years.

Purposes: Funding for the development of sustainable businesses for interested First Nations that is linked to new protected areas is by far the largest amount of funding needed – smaller funds are needed for First Nations capacity around land-use planning and deferral assessments and for interim jobs and labour needs. Without this core business development funding, protected areas will be add-ons that will largely skirt around the status quo of old-growth logging in the core areas with the biggest trees. The excuse of government saying that “First Nations haven’t been telling us they want conservation financing” is both incorrect in many cases, and often disingenuous when they haven’t even raised the possibility of any major conservation financing to First Nations.

Increasing the economic dependency of communities on old-growth logging, whether First Nations or non-First Nations, is the wrong approach for these conservation funds, including tenure buy-backs if they lack legal conservation measures to protect the remaining old-growth and endangered ecosystems.

Provincial funds are also needed from other sources – but not from the conservation funds of a Nature Agreement – to support incentives for a value-added, second-growth forest industry and the expansion of a smart, second-growth engineered wood products industry in general across BC.

It should also be noted that forestry revenue-sharing agreements do not constitute “conservation financing” for First Nations, contrary to the recent PR-spin of the BC government – quite the oppositive, it entrenches the economic dependency of the communities on old-growth logging (which would be akin to sharing oil and gas revenues, and then expecting the communities to then stop oil and gas activities).

“We hope the new Premier David Eby takes this chance for a major protected areas funding agreement of a sufficient size and with ambitious targets, aimed at the most endangered ecosystems and that prioritizes support for First Nations. He can end the War in the Woods and ensure the protection of the amazing diversity of endangered ecosystems across BC – what a great start to his first 100 days that would be and a historic leap forward for the planet!” stated Ken Wu, Endangered Ecosystems Alliance Executive Director.

EEA Excutive Director, Ken Wu, beside an incredible unproteted old-growth redcedar at Jurassic Grove near Port Renfrew in Pacheedaht territory.

More background info:

Old-growth forests are vital to support endangered species, First Nations cultures, the climate, clean water, wild salmon, and tourism.

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.

The province appointed an independent science team, the Technical Advisory Panel, in 2021 who recommended that logging be 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 to decide which areas are permanently protected in legislation. These recommended deferral areas have been put forward by the BC government for the consent of local First Nations to decide which areas get deferred. Currently about 1 million of the recommended 2.6 million hectares (ie. 40%) are under deferral, while some areas have been logged. 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.

EEA Executive Director, Ken Wu, by an old-growth Douglas-fir in the Nahmint Valley near Port Alberni on Vancouver Island in Hupacasath, Tseshaht, & Uclulet territory.