If done right, conservationists say the Biodiversity and Ecosystem Health Framework (BEHF) could ensure the protection of the most endangered and least protected ecosystems, such as big-treed old-growth forests (“high productivity” old-growth forests with the classic forest giants) and diverse valley bottom and low elevation ecosystems - rather than the status quo of primarily protecting areas of low timber values (alpine, subalpine, bog). Conservationists commend the vision in the draft framework for being a potentially revolutionary game-changer in conservation - the devil will be in the details when the framework is completed in the spring.

BC Launches Vital Conservation Financing Mechanism to Protect Old-Growth Forests and Ecosystems

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 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 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.

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.

The BC NDP government has removed the “unduly restrict clause” from forest planning that has limited forest conservation measures for decades, committed to developing a conservation financing mechanism to support First Nations economic development linked to new Indigenous Protected and Conserved Areas (IPCA’s), committed more support to expand value-added forest industries, and with First Nations has added about 200,000 hectares of additional old growth forests into logging deferral areas.