by Delores Broten
In February, conservationists uniformly rejoiced as the BC government announced the results of land use planning after a decade-long campaign to protect the Great Bear Rainforest on BC’s north and central coast. The BC provincial government, after consultation with 25 First Nations, announced that almost a third of therainforest, 1.8 million hectares, will be protected, including 100 new areas totaling 1.2 million hectares and the previous protection areas of 600,000 hectares.
A further three per cent of the Central Coast and 10 per cent of the North Coast are to be zoned as Biodiversity areas, which will allow mining and tourism, but not logging or hydro-electric activity.
Two-thirds of the land, about 4.3 million hectares, will be zoned for Ecosystem-Based Management. The government says, “EBM is a new adaptive approach to managing human activities that ensures the coexistence of healthy ecosystems and communities. The intent of EBM is to support a sustainable economy while protecting a healthy ecosystem.” The actual details of the EBM will be worked out in future local planning with First Nations and industry, although much work has been done on scientifi c standards.
Local First Nations will be involved in decision making, to decide what happens on their land. First Nations are to receive $30 million from the province for economic development, out of a $120 million package, of which, according to the conservationist press release, about $60 million has been raised by “philanthropic donors” with the environmental groups calling on the federal government to pitch in.
ForestEthics, Greenpeace and Sierra Club of Canada BC Chapter worked on the issue for almost a decade, using tactics that ranged from blockades to boycotts to boardroom negotiations. “This agreement represents a revolution in the way we approach BC’s rainforests — it’s no longer just about logging, but about conservation, new economic ventures and community involvement,” said Merran Smith of ForestEthics.
The Valhalla Wilderness Society, who fi rst advocated for the Khutzeymateen Grizzly Sanctuary almost two decades ago, called the announcement “very good news.” “The government’s scientifi c panel recommended that 44- 50% of the mid- and north-coasts must be fully protected or grizzly bears will disappear over the long term,” said biologist Wayne McCrory. “The BC government has made a major fi rst step in that direction. We especially commend the Kitasoo and Gitga’at for meeting the panel’s recommendations in their own territories, including the Spirit Bear Proposal and the tripling of the Khutzeymateen Sanctuary.”
The new Spirit Bear Conservancy represents about 80% of Valhalla’s original proposal area of 262,000 hectares. It includes over 50 salmon streams, pristine inlets, and rare coastal estuaries. McCrory noted that, “Protection would not have happened at all without the First Nations, and when the planning tables negotiated an inadequate deal, the Kitasoo and the Gitga’at increased the percentage of fully protected lands to a level we could accept.”
Other bystanders close to the process such as the David Suzuki Foundation (DSF) called the Great Bear conservation plan “a good start,” saying the core protected areas would serve as “the backbone on which further conservation and sustainable economic initiatives can be developed.” However, the DSF noted that most wild salmon rivers were outside the protected areas, and still at risk. A 2005 report found that almost three quarters of current logging in the region is done by clearcutting, and that many small salmon streams within these cutblocks were being logged right to their banks. DSF said they looked forward to working on the details of the plan to see forestry practices change in time for the 2010 Olympics.
The agreement did not deal with marine uses, whether protected areas, offshore oil and gas, fi sh farms or lodges.
As could be expected, the new peace in the woods merely fanned the fl ames of discontent in BC’s disgruntled green ranks. Local environmentalists all over the province have their own special places, large and small, that they still want to see protected. They also have a hearty disrespect for the New Era forest practices which seem to have won the public relations battle.
Environmentalists seemed to agree on one thing, that the proof of the deal would be in the logging. “We’ll be watching to ensure that today’s announcement results in real change on the ground,” said ForestEthics’ Smith.
To those who remember the Special Management Zones of previous planning processes, it was more than a little interesting to see Mike Morton’s name on the press release for the premier. Morton was Executive Director of Share BC, a pro-industry organization which delivered forest workers’ political support to the logging companies during the NDP land use negotiations of the 1990s.
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