Clearcut logging continues in Canada's rainforests - David Suzuki Foundation calls on province to take action

April 6, 2004 -

VANCOUVER - Destructive clearcut logging continues in Canada’s rainforest, years after a landmark agreement was reached to develop options for implementing more environmentally-responsible logging and land-use practices, says a new report by the David Suzuki Foundation.

The Foundation’s researchers assessed the status and impacts of recent logging on B.C.’s central coast, north coast and Haida Gwaii (Queen Charlotte Islands). Their findings show that clearcutting remains the predominant form of logging and the majority of small fish-bearing streams are being impacted by logging.

“These aggressive forest practices have to change. Current practices are not sustainable,” said Jim Fulton, executive director of the David Suzuki Foundation. “Three years ago commitments were made to work towards implementation of ecosystem-based management on Canada’s rainforest coast. It’s time to get serious and make this happen. More environmentally-responsible logging must become a reality, not just rhetoric.”

The Foundation’s report urges the province to implement the recommendations of a blue ribbon science panel commissioned by government and other stakeholders as an outcome of the 2001 land-use and First Nations protocol agreements. The expert panel, called the Coast Information Team, spent $3.2 million to develop a blueprint for ecosystem-based management on the coast. 

The new David Suzuki Foundation Status Report also examines the recent land-use agreement for the central coast. The multi-stakeholder agreement proposes protection for 33 percent of the land base, however, a third of this area is only off limits to logging but open to mining and road development.  While 33 percent is a significant level of protection, the Foundation’s analysis finds that the majority of critical habitat for many species, including large carnivores like grizzly bear, remain at risk outside of proposed protected areas and designated habitat corridors between protected areas are lacking. 

Despite these findings, the David Suzuki Foundation recommends that the central coast land-use agreement be adopted by the B.C. government and used as the basis for negotiations with First Nations. The Foundation encourages provincial and First Nations governments to ratify the proposed protected areas as a baseline level of conservation for this important ecosystem. 

“We are recommending that the government move quickly to ratify land-use agreements with First Nations,” said Jim Fulton.  “However, the protected areas alone are not enough. Our study indicates that a greater level of conservation is needed for this rare and endangered ecosystem to survive.”

He concluded, “We support the science panel’s recommendations. The work has been done and millions of dollars have been spent on developing a sustainable solution. It’s time to finally implement ecosystem-based management in Canada’s coastal rainforests and more importantly, to make it legally binding”.

The David Suzuki Foundation’s first and second Rainforest Status Reports together examine over 400 logging sites that have been logged or approved for logging since the 2001 agreement.  The full report can be found  at www.canadianrainforests.org or through links via www.davidsuzuki.org. 

For more information, contact:

Tamara Nowakowsky, communications specialist - David Suzuki Foundation  604-732-4228, ext. 270