The B.C. government committed to a 3 year deadline to address the old growth crisis and work with First Nations on a paradigm shift in forest stewardship – and that deadline was up this September, 2023. But it hasn't completed a single recommendation to date. Some of which were meant to be implemented as early as March 2021, like logging bans in the most at-risk, rare old growth.
As evidenced by our recently launched satellite monitoring tool, Forest Eye, we are still seeing the B.C. government allow big forestry like West Fraser and Canfor to log these irreplaceable forests. This has been a key missing link to be able to hold government accountable to its promises.
This transparency could have been provided by the B.C. government, but decision makers have been hiding behind misinformation, telling residents that it's living up to its commitments. Now we can disprove those false claims with proof. Satellite imagery doesn't lie.
We can leverage this publicly accessible data to get decision-makers to move beyond tall talk and actualize our demands: expedite logging bans (aka deferrals) and the paradigm shift in forest stewardship now, which includes funding the just transition for forest communities.
Will you send an email to B.C. decision makers to let them know that the world is watching what’s happening in old growth forests in B.C.?
