BC’s latest ‘old growth’ conservation announcement is mostly not about old growth.
In late June, British Columbia and the federal government announced that they’ve helped non-profit foundations and trusts buy eight parcels of land from private owners for old-growth conservation, largely on and around Vancouver Island.
However, all but one of the forests included in this purchase announcement do not contain old-growth trees, defined by the B.C. government as 250-year-old coastal forests and 140-year-old forests in parts of the B.C. interior. Instead, seven of the eight purchased properties contain what’s called “recruitment” old-growth—that is, forests that have been logged.
For Torrance Coste, national campaign director for the Wilderness Committee, buying these lands to protect them from future threats of logging and development is important, both ecologically and for reconciliation., bt it’s dishonest to announce this as a win, particularly as old-growth logging continues in other parts of Vancouver Island and B.C.
“Passing this off as old-growth protection, using funds earmarked for old-growth protection and publicly celebrating it, is lying, and further shreds the government’s credibility when it comes to conservation,” Coste said.
[more]
Link to | BC’s latest ‘old growth’ conservation announcement is mostly not about old growth.