If implemented, the Great Bear Rainforest agreement would be unprecented in Canadian history. It would protect 33% of the Central and North Coast regions (an area twice the size of Switzerland) from logging, where all previous land use plans in BC have only protected between 7% (Okanagan) to 14% (Lower Mainland) of their regions.
Please read the following statements from Greenpeace and from Guujaw and Art Steritt of the coastal First Nations, and take action!
The Great Bear Rainforest - a decisive moment in history
Decisions are being made right now that will determine the future of the Great Bear Rainforest and one party -- the Government of British Columbia -- represents the final hold out. The logging industry, unions, local communities, mining, recreational users, tourism industry, Greenpeace and other environmental groups have put a consensus recommendation forward. First Nations have melded these recommendations with their own land use visions and are also ready for change in the Great Bear Rainforest.
At this moment in time, this is the agreement that will be moved forward or rejected. Please act now by sending a fax to the Premier of British Columbia
We're talking about a massive paradigm shift
The scale of agreements in the Great Bear Rainforest go beyond protecting one single valley or establishing of one sustainable business venture. The campaign goals we all embarked on were grand and visionary covering 21 million acres, the traditional territory of 17 First Nations, and a region of economic importance to many, including 5 major multinational logging companies. To be successful and sustainable in this complicated political, economic and environmental landscape, conservation in the Great Bear Rainforest must not only protect the ecosystem, but also leverage change in multinational economic forces, respect indigenous cultures, and strengthen local stewardship efforts and economies.
The Government of British Columbia is currently confronted with a choice to support agreements that include:
Protect of an area 5 times the size of Prince Edward Island.
A commitment to take a first step and see implementation of new logging practices by 2009.
$120 million for First Nations to manage their parks, restore damaged watersheds, and build their tourism and alternative energy businesses. Up to an additional $80 million in socially responsible investments will be available for both native and non-native communities with ties to the current economy of the Great Bear Rainforest. Together these funds will enable locals to direct a new economy, rather than rely on multinational corporations that chose to enter the region (such as salmon farming and logging companies).
The protected areas network alone is not the only part of this package that addresses the future of the ecology of the Great Bear Rainforest. While it is the largest coastal rainforest protection package in Canadian history, what is on the table for consideration by the Government of British Columbia is about much more.
Government is letting this opportunity slide away and all that remains certain in the Great Bear Rainforest is 7% in existing protection, continued clearcut logging and communities with up to 80% unemployment and few options.
Help Greenpeace wake them up and turn the vision for the Great Bear Rainforest into reality
Amanda Carr
Greenpeace Forests Campaigner
To help save the Great Bear Rainforest, please send a fax to the BC government through the website www.savethegreatbear.org
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Best Chance for Coastal Rainforest
by Art Sterritt and Guujaaw
Some continue to claim the proposed land use agreements to protect
B.C.'s Central and North Coast -- also known as the Great Bear
Rainforest -- and the islands of Haida Gwaii don't go far enough. Others
think it goes too far.
As 12 first nations who live in these regions, our traditional
territory, and who have 8,000 years of on-the-ground management
experience, we believe those who make those claim fail to consider one
critical question.
How do we integrate the needs of natural systems with the needs of the
people who depend upon them for their livelihoods and way of life?
We live and work on this coast, where the forest and waters are a vital
natural, cultural and economic resource for first nations, coastal
communities and B.C. as a whole.
To be successful, land use agreements must not only preserve the land
and protect its ecological integrity -- they must also respect
indigenous cultures and strengthen local economies.
To be successful, conservation must be sustainable, both ecologically
and economically.
The coastal land use agreements, currently awaiting cabinet approval, do
both.
In these agreements, the total size of protected areas would be
quadrupled to secure many of its most sensitive and intact valleys and
islands.
This will be more than seven million acres of area protected from
logging on the Central and North Coast and Haida Gwaii.
When approved, it will be the largest temperate rainforest protection
package in Canadian history. The agreements also represent the first
effort to apply ecosystem-based management on all areas outside the
protected areas.
This amounts to re-engineering an entire regional economy, tuning it to
measurable indicators of ecological health and human well-being.
Through a declaration signed in June 2000, Coastal First Nations
committed to making decisions that ensure the well-being of our lands
and waters, and to preserve and renew their territories and cultures
through tradition, knowledge, and authority.
Since then, this position has not changed, only strengthened, as we seek
to find more opportunities for conservation approaches based on
independent science and local and traditional knowledge.
As well, we are looking for approaches for our coastal communities where
unemployment and poverty rates are well above national averages.
The intricate process that has led to this stage represents a commitment
to a new relationship between the provincial government and first
nations.
Beyond mere consultation, this government-to-government relationship
will allow for a more just approach to land use decisions today and in
the future.
We believe the application of these land use agreements present the
world with its best chance yet to integrate conservation, community
development and first nations self-determination. We are supported by
Greenpeace, ForestEthics, the Sierra Club of Canada B.C. Chapter, the
Rainforest Action Network, the Nature Conservancy and others.
We are proud to support these agreements and are working with the
British Columbia government to develop legal and legislative tools to
make them a reality.
Art Sterritt is executive director of the Coastal First Nations of the
Turning Point Initiative Society.
Guujaaw is the president of the Council of Haida Nation.
*** Send a message to the BC government to protect the Great Bear
Rainforest at:
http://www.savethegreatbear.org