07/02/2006 - International
— Take ten years of difficult, dangerous,
and at times, heartbreaking work. Add thousands
of activists from around the world -- some
who sent emails, some who stood on the blockades,
some who voted against destruction with
their wallets. Some who were beaten, some
who were sued, some who were arrested. Today
it added up to victory. Common sense has
prevailed and one of the world's treasures,
the Great Bear Rainforest, is saved from
destruction.
Rewind ten years to a beautiful forested
area on the west coast of Canada, in the
province of British Columbia imaginatively
called the 'mid-coast timber supply area.'
The old name for this magnificent forest
highlighted its intended destiny, a destiny
that would radically change once a group
of environmental activists, along with First
Nations communities decided that sitting
still and watching millions of hectares
of ancient rainforest being felled was not
an option.
They decided that action was needed to
protect the home of grizzly, black and rare
white "Spirit" bears, wild salmon,
eagles and wolves as well as one-thousand
year old cedar trees and ancient spruce.
Little did they know then that the journey
from those early days of what was called
"the War in the Woods" would lead
them to one of the greatest environmental
victories in Canadian history.
"Today's decision is welcome news
for the Great Bear Rainforest which was
being destroyed at an alarming rate to feed
a growing international appetite for wood,
paper and toilet roll," said Gavin
Edwards, Global Forest Campaign Coordinator
at Greenpeace International. "The world's
last ancient forests need a global network
of protected areas to survive - and the
Great Bear Rainforest is a good start."
The Great Bear Rainforest on the coast of
British Columbia.
The final agreement, announced today by
the British Columbian Government has been
negotiated between environmental groups,
First Nations, logging companies and the
government. It allows for the full protection
of one third of the Great Bear Rainforest
from any logging, an area of over two million
hectares (over five million acres). Significantly,
it also ensures that the logging industry
implements a strict ecosystem-based management
system by 2009 in the two thirds of the
forest that is outside strict protection.
"Greenpeace will be watching to see
if the British Columbian Government follows
through on these commitments and takes this
opportunity to make the Great Bear Rainforest
a global model of forest sustainability,"
said Amanda Carr, forest campaigner for
Greenpeace Canada.
This victory sets the scene for many more
battles for forests around the world. Activists
and communities have shown that the senseless
destruction can be stopped and that sustainably
managed forests are the way forward. This
March, the governments of the world will
be meeting in Brazil at the Convention on
Biological Diversity (CBD) to work on plans
to stop the slide towards extinction of
the world's plants and animals.
Whilst the Great Bear Rainforest has been
protected, an area of ancient forest around
one and a half times the total size of the
Great Bear Rainforest, approximately ten
million hectares, are destroyed each year.
Ancient Forests such as the Amazon, and
the Paradise Forests in Asia Pacific are
desperately in need of conservation plans
similar to those announced in the Great
Bear Rainforest today. Whether world governments
are up to the job of protecting them remains
to be seen.
Today we celebrate a magnificent victory
with the thousands of activists who stood
their ground in British Columbia, every
cyberactivist who ever sent an e-card or
an action alert on this issue, and the millions
of people worldwide who have let it be known
through their votes and their consumer choices
that the world's remaining ancient forests
need to be preserved. Tomorrow, we redouble
our efforts to save the many other forests
in the world that are facing destruction.
