VANCOUVER – The David Suzuki Foundation joins the many voices calling on the provincial government to immediately stop logging old growth forests in accordance with recommendations from its own Old Growth Strategic Review Panel. The B.C. government promised to implement recommendations of the “Old Growth Strategic Review,” published in April 2020, which included a halt to old growth logging within six months of the report.
“B.C. should have already implemented a moratorium on old growth logging,” said David Suzuki Foundation director general for Western Canada Jay Ritchlin. “Old growth forests are fundamental to nature, cultures and economies on the Pacific Coast. Given the ongoing delays in getting necessary changes in B.C.’s logging practices, it’s understandable that many are willing to take drastic measures to protect these ancient forests. Had the province followed its own “Old Growth Strategic Review” recommendations, we could be having a meaningful discussion about forestry and ecosystems instead of more talk-and-log and arrests at Fairy Creek.”
Recent research shows that just one per cent (3,800 hectares) of the remaining high-productivity old growth forest in B.C. is currently off limits to logging.
Intact and thriving old growth forests provide habitat for hundreds of species and essential biological processes that support all life. Many of these properties are unlikely to recover in second-growth forest plantations. The loss of these old growth trees — which can reach 1,000 years old — is irreversible. Scientists point to habitat loss as a primary threat to biodiversity and a cause of species extinction.
“Logging B.C.’s old growth forests will not support biodiversity or long-term forestry jobs for people in the local communities,” Ritchlin said. “It’s got to stop.”
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For more information or a media interview please contact:
Olga Shuvalova, oshuvalova@davidsuzuki.org, 514-569-6496