In April 2001, government and industry promised to explore how to implement environmentally-responsible logging practices and planning in British Columbia's magnificent coastal rainforests. Recently completed land use planning processes have recommended improving forest management practices to more environmentally responsible methods defined as Ecosystem Based Management (EBM). To determine how current logging practices compare to EBM, the David Suzuki Foundation conducted an audit of recently approved logging plans across four Forest Districts: North Coast, Central Coast, Kalum and Haida Gwaii (Queen Charlotte Islands). Our assessment underscores the degree to which current logging practices fail to meet agreed-upon EBM standards; firstly, clearcutting remains the dominant method of logging, and, secondly, small fish-bearing streams remain unprotected.
This paper was published in the peer-reviewed scientific journal Biodiversity 5(3): 9-15, 2004.
