Massive old-growth clearcuts by BC Timber Sales (BCTS), the government’s own logging agency, scar the hillsides along the upper Mahatta River on northwestern Vancouver Island in the territory of the Quatsino First Nation.
Included in these cutblocks, which combine for a total of 50 hectares, were stands of endangered, productive ancient forests along the valley bottom and lower slopes, the likes of which have been reduced to fragments of their original extent across BC. The giant cedar stumps are a testimony to the majesty of the forest that once stood here. If the BC government was serious about their commitment to implement the Old Growth Review Panel’s recommendations, they could start by not issuing cutting permits for old-growth forests in BCTS tenures.
Send a (NEW!) instant message to the BC government, demanding they commit provincial funding to protect ancient rainforests while supporting First Nations communities.
The federal government has committed $50 million to a BC Old Growth Nature Fund, and with hundreds of millions of dollars more in federal funding already available for expanding protected areas in BC, including old-growth forests, the BC government must step up and commit at least $300 million dollars in provincial funding to support Indigenous Protected Areas to permanently protect old-growth forests and sustainable economic alternatives for First Nations communities.
