Indigenous and non-Indigenous environmentalists have denounced the practice of aerial herbicide spraying on forestlands for decades. This year, Indigenous groups in Northern Ontario have announced a ban on blanket herbicide use, while in Nova Scotia, residents have resorted to peaceful direct action to enforce their own ban.
The forest industry routinely dumps tons of chemicals like glyphosate, the main ingredient in Roundup weedkiller, on logged areas to kill off naturally-regenerated trees and shrubs in favour of commercial tree farms. The problem is, these herbicides are lethal to frogs, lizards, and salamanders. They wipe out medicinal plants and berry bushes that Indigenous people and wildlife rely on. Glyphosate, a suspected carcinogen, contaminates rivers and groundwater far and wide through indiscriminate spraying.
In September 2024, a tanker truck overturned on a Northern Ontario forest road and spilled 600 litres of GlySil, a glyphosate compound, into the soil. Shocked by the accident, the Temagami First Nation (TFN) and the Teme-Augama Anishnabai community (TAA) responded by declaring a total ban on aerial herbicide spraying within their home territory.
“We are gravely concerned about both the immediate and long-term impacts this spill and this practice have had and will continue to have on our region. This practice must stop,” said TFN Chief Shelly Moore-Frappier.
TAA Annike Ogimaa (Second Chief) John Turner notes Ontario has outlawed GlySil on private lawns, parks, and schoolyards because it is “an unnecessary risk to human health, especially children’s health.”
Across Nova Scotia, community members have taken matters into their own hands and set up camps to block the use of toxic herbicides. For the past three years, grassroots volunteers from Don’t Spray Us!, No Spray Bear River, Stop Spraying and Clear-Cutting Mi’kma’ki, and Allen Hill Anti-spray Coalition have put themselves in harm’s way by camping in areas targeted for aerial spraying with banners warning pilots “Humans Are Here.”
Small victories
Groups declared victory this year at Allen Hill and two locations near Bear River (L’Sitkuk), Nova Scotia. Savanna Callison of Allen Hill Anti-Spray Coalition attributes its “small victory” to the peaceful nature of the occupation and the “civil discussions” she and the group had with company representatives. The Bear River sites included a drinking watershed and an ecological reserve, and both were cancelled this year after campaigns of civil disobedience and letter-writing that targeted provincial decision-makers.
The Nova Scotia government permitted ARF Enterprises and J.D. Irving to spray over 1800 hectares of forest in September. It is not clear how many 2024 permits expired with no herbicide application.
Meanwhile in British Columbia, TimberWest quietly scrapped almost all 2023 herbicide spraying across a large area of Kwakwaka’wakw territory on northern Vancouver Island. This apparent change of heart followed public pressure from Indigenous leaders (see “Herbicide Victory,” Watershed Sentinel, October-November 2024).
