The B.C. Greens would put a stop to logging in-old growth forests in the province if the party forms a government after the provincial election on Oct. 19.
That strategy is one part of a planned extensive overhaul of the way the forest industry in B.C. works that Green Party Leader Sonia Furstenau announced on Oct. 4 in Cowichan Bay, along with Cammy Lockwood, the Green candidate for the Cowichan Valley, and David Evans, the Green candidate for Juan de Fuca-Malahat.
Furstenau, who is currently the MLA for the Cowichan Valley but is running in the Victoria-Beacon Hill riding in this election, said the Greens would also fully fund the protection of old growth forests and compensate First Nations for any lost revenues due to deferrals.
As well, she said her party would the stop clearcut logging and switch to practices like selective logging, commercial thinning, and longer rotation cycles that mimic natural forest changes.
鈥淲e would also expand the community-forest program by increasing the number and size of community forests to promote biodiversity, wildfire protection, rural development, and ecosystem resilience,鈥� Furstenau said.
鈥淚n addition, 20 per cent of the annual-allowable cut [of forests in B.C.] would be dedicated to community forests.鈥�
Furstenau said these measures would protect forests, while boosting local jobs and supporting rural economies.
She said the province鈥檚 forests are part of B.C.鈥檚 identity, but years of industrial logging, wildfires, insect infestations and other disturbances have left them in crisis.
"Multinational corporations have exploited our forests, shipping raw logs overseas while communities lose mills and jobs,鈥� Furstenau said. 鈥淕overnments in B.C. have repeatedly put the interests of industry ahead of the interests of communities and forests and now we鈥檙e all paying the price. [Conservative Leader] John Rustad wants to take us back to the old B.C. Liberal days, where corporate profits came at the expense of our old growth and ecosystems. It鈥檚 a path that brought us to the brink. We can鈥檛 afford to go back."
Furstenau said the Greens have been pushing the NDP government for real action on forestry for years and has called on the NDP to fully implement all recommendations of the Old Growth Strategic Review, protection of species at risk, and an end to harmful practices like logging for wood pellets and using glyphosate.
She pointed out that the amount of revenue from the oil and gas and forest industries combined amount to less than four per cent of the province鈥檚 revenues, but consecutive government鈥檚 continue to heavily subsidize them.
鈥淪ince this province began, governments have focused on serving the extraction industries,鈥� Furstenau said. 鈥淭imber barons have been allowed to run roughshod and have failed to protect watersheds, species at risk and communities. We need a government oriented to protect these things. We鈥檙e at a point where we can鈥檛 continue on as normal.鈥�
Lockwood added that B.C.鈥檚 forests are essential in that they improve well-being and demonstrate our "interconnectedness" with nature.
"We've seen that exploitative practices harm water resources and increase wildfire risks,鈥� she said. 鈥淐ommunity forests create twice as many jobs as industrial logging and ensure the benefits stay local. Transferring tenure from large corporations to First Nations and communities is good for forest stewardship and supports a healthy wood-products sector.鈥�
Evans said there is great concern about poor forestry practices and the negative impact on key water supplies, both quality and quantity, and increasing vulnerability to wildfire in the more rural areas of B.C., including in Juan de Fuca-Malahat.
鈥淚n addition, we are losing valuable resources by not harvesting trees sustainably, while taking a very shortsighted view of jobs in the resource sector,鈥� he said.
