News Coverage

Here is Radio Canada's article in French on the Ancient Forest Alliance's planned old-growth tours in Mandarin and Cantonese for the half a million Chinese-speakers in the Lower Mainland.

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L'initiative qui se fait en collaboration avec l'association Stanley Park Ecology Society et la Hua Foundation a pour but d'augmenter la sensibilité de la clientèle chinoise à l'environnement.

« Une des façons les plus importantes par laquelle nous pouvons protéger les forêts anciennes est d'inviter une grande partie de la population que nous n'avions pas encore atteinte dans le passé à y participer », explique Ken Wu, directeur de l'organisme.

Selon lui, environ 500 000 résidents du Grand Vancouver parlent chinois et la plupart des programmes environnementaux et visites ne sont offerts qu'en anglais.

M. Wu a dirigé une douzaine de bénévoles dans le parc Stanley samedi pour qu'ils deviennent des guides pour les visites écologiques. Cette première journée s'est passée en anglais pour couvrir les grandes lignes, mais les formations suivantes compteront plus de traduction.

Les organisateurs espèrent que les visites guidées en mandarin et en cantonais commenceront avant la fin de l'année. Ils demanderont une contribution volontaire.

Read more: https://ici.radio-canada.ca/regions/colombie-britannique/2016/10/23/003-protection-foret-chinois-visite-guidee.shtml

Here is today's Vancouver Sun article about the Chinese-Language Ancient Forest Tours program that we're developing.  Volunteer educators who we are training about old-growth ecology and conservation issues will be giving the tours starting in Stanley Park at dates to be announced.  Note that the tours are also open to those who are interested in learning Mandarin or Cantonese.

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When environmentalist Ken Wu was a child, his father gave him a book that blew him away: an illustrated natural history of Canada.

One photograph, of four couples dancing on top of an enormous stump, captured his imagination. “I begged my parents to take me to B.C. to see old-growth forests,” said Wu, whose family lived in Toronto.

Wu, who went on to study environmental sciences at UBC and now lives in Victoria, has been a passionate advocate of sustainable forestry practices ever since. Now he wants Canadians of all cultural backgrounds to have access to, and be educated about, the rare wonders of old-growth forests.

On Saturday, Wu led the first session to train Mandarin-speaking environmental tour guides in Stanley Park.

The educational program is co-sponsored by the Ancient Forest Alliance (www.AncientForestAlliance.org), the Hua Foundation (www.HuaFoundation.org) and the Stanley Park Ecology Society (www.StanleyParkEcology.ca). The aim is to make ecology, conservation and enjoyment of B.C.’s old-growth forests accessible to the half-million Lower Mainland residents who have one of the Chinese languages as their mother tongue.

Wu, who heads the Ancient Forest Alliance, said he noticed relatively few Chinese-speaking Vancouverites were participating in old-growth tours and broader environmental actions. For many, language was a significant barrier.

“If the goal is to diversify and broaden the movement to protect and sustain old-growth forest, and expand the movement so it has the strength to influence and change government policy, it makes sense that one of the biggest demographics in the Lower Mainland be involved,” said Wu.

After English, the next largest group of people in the Lower Mainland list Mandarin, Cantonese or Taiwanese as their first language.

“The tours are non-political,” said Wu, “but over time we’d like to engage as many people as possible to take part in democracy in relation to our forest policy.”

Wu was born in Canada, but his mother and father had immigrated from Taiwan. The experience of his parents made him aware of how isolating a language barrier can be. Although his father, a university professor, was fluent in Chinese and English, his mother was less comfortable in English. Wu saw firsthand how the language barrier affected her ability to engage in different activities.

“It’s hard being an immigrant. Language is a barrier for some, and there would be much higher level of participation in Canadian politics and Canadian social life if the language barrier was diminished.”

Wu said the training sessions are also open to anyone who is studying or learning Mandarin and wants to become more proficient.

Close to a dozen enthusiastic volunteers showed up for the first training session, which took place yesterday in Stanley Park. Wu does not speak Mandarin or Cantonese, so the training sessions are conducted in English, with an interpreter on hand to help translate the specialized terminology.

Wu and the Hua Foundation’s Kevin Huang chose Stanley Park for the educational tours because it is one of the few areas in the Lower Mainland where 800-year-old red cedars still stand. Participants will learn to be guides, to identify and explain the plants, wildlife and ecology of old growth forests, why they are important for a healthy eco-system, for biodiversity and tourism.

Wu believes that with knowledge and access, a new generation of Canadians will come to love and revere what is left of B.C.’s old growth forests. Diversity is, after all, one of the cornerstones of sustainability.

For more information or to join the program, contact (www.AncientForestAlliance.org), the Hua Foundation (www.HuaFoundation.org) and the Stanley Park Ecology Society (www.StanleyParkEcology.ca)

Read more: https://vancouversun.com/news/local-news/chinese-language-forest-tours-to-educate-more-b-c-residents-on-conservation

Vancouver Island’s rainforests are among the rarest ecosystems on the planet — temperate rainforests have never occupied more than 0.5 per cent of the earth’s land surface. They are also among its richest — they have been home to First Nations for time immemorial, and they contribute to a diverse economy including forestry, tourism and wild salmon in indigenous and non-indigenous communities.

Unfortunately, today, the vast majority of productive old-growth rainforest on Vancouver Island and B.C.’s south coast has been logged and replaced by young forest. Only about 10 per cent of the biggest trees are still standing, and some types of forest such as old-growth Douglas fir on south-eastern Vancouver Island have less than one per cent of its original range left. At-risk species, like the Marbled Murrelet, that depend on ancient trees are in decline together with the ancient forests. The original record-high amount of carbon stored in ancient trees has been dramatically reduced as a result of logging and has contributed to climate change.

With so little left it is now only a matter of time before the logging industry runs out of old-growth trees to harvest and fully transitions to logging second-growth. But despite shrinking revenue, declining job numbers from logging, and the increasing value of the remaining intact forests for species, clean water and air, carbon, and as a basis for a diverse economy, more than 9,000 hectares of old-growth rainforest are still being cut every year on Vancouver Island.

That’s why more and more voices are speaking up for protection of endangered rainforest. A year ago, the Ahousaht First Nation in Clayoquot Sound declared a moratorium on industrial logging in their territory. This spring, the B.C. Chamber of Commerce voted to protect old-growth trees where they have greater economic value for communities if left standing. In September, the majority of delegates at this year’s Union of B.C. Municipalities convention voted to protect all of Vancouver Island’s remaining old-growth forest on public land.

The finalization of the Great Bear Rainforest and Haida Gwaii Agreements by First Nations governments and the B.C. government, with the support of a number of environmental organizations and forestry companies, shows that solutions are possible. As a result of these agreements the majority of the old-growth rainforests in the Great Bear Rainforest and on Haida Gwaii are now protected. First Nations’ shared decision-making with the province over land use in their traditional territories has been solidified and there is certainty about the limited amount of old-growth available for logging subject to stringent standards.

South of the Great Bear region, a century of logging has produced an ecological emergency in coastal rainforests. Climate impacts like droughts and storms exert additional pressure and result in severe consequences for watersheds and salmon. With a few exceptions, land-use plans are not meaningfully addressing First Nations rights and interests and are not based on modern conservation science. Meanwhile, raw-log exports are at a record high and jobs per cubic metre at a record low compared to other parts of the world, leaving neither healthy forests nor healthy communities behind.

Unless the provincial government changes course to protect and restore what remains of our endangered old-growth, much of Vancouver Island could turn into an ecological wasteland this century. That’s why we are urging the B.C. government to take immediate action for the well-being of indigenous and non-indigenous communities, for biodiversity, clean air and water, long-term forestry jobs and to save one of the world’s most efficient carbon sinks.

We must start with protecting remaining intact rainforest areas imminently threatened by logging — such as the Central Walbran and East Creek — and using a science-based phased approach for protecting and restoring the remaining old-growth forest, starting with the most endangered ecosystems.

A comprehensive conservation and forest management plan for Vancouver Island and B.C.’s south coast must respect First Nations rights and interests, enable a transition to sustainable second-growth forestry, support diverse economic activities such as tourism, and reduce carbon emissions.

Saving our best ally in the fight against global warming means improving forest management to reduce carbon emissions from forests and ending wasteful practices such as slash burning. We are certainly the last generation that will have an opportunity to make a difference for the fate for Vancouver Island’s remaining old-growth forests.

Arnold Bercov is president of the Public and Private Workers of Canada; Maquinna (Lewis George) Tyee Hawiih Ahousaht; Dan Hager is president of the Port Renfrew Chamber of Commerce; Andy MacKinnon is a forest ecologist and councillor in Metchosin, B.C.; Jens Wieting is a forest campaigner with Sierra Club B.C.

Read more: https://vancouversun.com/opinion/opinion-remaining-old-growth-forest-must-be-protected