Great Bear Rainforest protected from logging

[DavidBrown]

Most of the coastal old growth forest (7.7 million acres) in British Columbia is now permanently protected from logging and the other 1.2 million acres is subject to heavy logging regulation.

This seems like very good conservation news. Do any of our Canadian Zoochat friends have an opinion on whether this is good news from the Canadian perspective?


Vast majority of Canada?s Great Bear Rainforest made permanently off-limits to industrial logging

 

[Pleistohorse]

Playing the Devil's Advocate one migh argue that completely closing this area to sustainable logging places an economic burden on a community that might overtime lessen support for conservation legislation and result in a backlash more harmful to the cause than the sustainable forestry practices might have been.

It's also possible that the loss of this resource (located in a nation with great fidelity to the rule of law and very low levels of corruption) might actually weaken the chances of conserving (through introduction of sustainable practices) forests in other parts of the world.

In the short term though...happy news. Mid-term...the loss of an economic base will lead to a sell off of working lands to developers. The land use shift will see an increase in roads, posted lands, and sprawl development.

Still old growth temperate rainforest is a lovely thing to preserve. I'm torn.

 

[Pleistohorse]

Obviously I'm not Canadian, but more to the point I live near what one might argue is the northern edge of the Great Bear Rainforest ecosystem. Think of my point above as a Zoochatter might think of a PETA news release announcing the highest court in the country of your choice outlawing the practice of exhibiting Elephants, or great apes, or any species subject to the ESA...

If I had my way, we'd all live in densely packed cities surrounded by agricultural lands and vast wilderness preserves. But I don't have my way...and sometimes I worry about the unintended consequences of our best intentions. Particularly when the livelihoods of voters are threatened. I'm torn. Perhaps though, these protections don't affect too much the economic wellbeing of western British Columbia, of which I know very little.

 

[gerenuk]

Historically, less timber production in North America has led to increased imports (and harvest) from Asian forests (i.e. Siberia).

 

[snowleopard]

The Great Bear Rainforest is always in the news here in British Columbia and it is notable for being the home to Spirit Bears (Kermode Bears), which are American Black Bears with a genetic variation that gives them white fur. There are a high density of Cougars in the region, as well as packs of wolves that subsist mainly on fish. Eco-Tours can be taken to view Grizzly Bears and the rest of the fauna and the huge swath of land has regularly been in the news for well over a decade. I personally think that it is great conservation news and continues a now well-established tradition of sustainable logging in B.C.