In partnership with the Earth

Canada's precious temperate rainforests are again threatened with industrial logging. Clayoquot Sound, which lies along the West coast of British Columbia (B.C.), is a spectacular mosaic of lush coastal rainforests, fjord-like inlets and islands covering 850,000 acres. Such intact coastal temperate rainforests are globally rare, covering only about one-fifth of one percent of the Earth’s land area, half of which has already been destroyed. They are amongst the most biologically productive temperate ecosystems in the world. Clayoquot Sound is the most magnificent expression of temperate rainforest in North America. There, ancient forest meets ocean, with some of the world’s greatest coastal marine diversity.

The heart of Clayoquot's intact forest is composed of a series of pristine valleys, many of which remain unprotected. Large valleys such as the Sydney Inlet are cradled by smaller but equally important stretches of wilderness like Hesquiat Lake Creeks. In the ocean channels lie impressive islands carpeted in old-growth forest. Clayoquot Sound's magnificent landscape supports some of the continent's largest predators such as wolves, bears and cougars; numerous shell and finfish populations, including five species of Pacific salmon; hundreds of thousands of migrating waterfowl and shorebirds; and marine mammals, including two types of whales and the second largest shark. Forty-five endangered, threatened or vulnerable animal species live in Clayoquot’s undisturbed wilderness. Some of these animals have never seen a human or crossed a road.

Clayoquot Sound is a UNESCO Biosphere Reserve and as such should be an example of the best in sustainable development, yet the area is under siege from industrial logging, mining, fish farming, dams and trophy hunting. An open pit copper mine is moving forward in the middle of the sound, huge toxic fish farms pump raw sewage directly into the ocean, and run of river hydro projects are proposed. Industrial logging of Clayoquot's intact valleys is poised to recommence in earnest for the first time since protests largely shutdown the industry in the early 1990s. Clayoquot Sound contains the largest intact forest remaining on Vancouver Island and the Lower Mainland of British Columbia -- a region that has been devastated by logging for more than 150 years.

In 1993 Friends of Clayoquot Sound maintained a blockade of logging operations, which with 12,000 people and arrests of 900 peaceful blockaders, was the largest act of civil disobedience in Canadian history. Ecological Internet (then Forests.org) and many others around the world rallied to their support using the then new Internet to successfully globalize the protest. The protests were largely successful in ending industrial logging. A voluntary moratorium on logging in pristine valleys in Clayoquot was observed after the protest while a scientific panel reviewed how the areas could be logged in an "environmentally sustainable way". In the meantime, old-growth timber has continued to be harvested from previously developed areas, though not from the untouched valleys. This is about to change.

In March, First Nations-owned MaMook Natural Resources Ltd. and partner Coulson Forest Products began building logging roads into Hesquiat Point Creek with plans to start logging as early as this fall. This will be the first time a company has begun logging in such a "pristine" valley in nearly 20 years. Some things have changed since 1993, as a company owned by five local aboriginal bands now plays a role in cutting the ancient forests. Local groups are threatening a return to blockades in the sound and other types of protests and global marketing campaigns.

Some of the logging ramping up is even "FSC certified" as well-managed, falsely implying sustainability. Triumph Logging Co. in partnership with environmental group Ecotrust Canada has setup a native shell company named Iisaak that has gained FSC certification to industrially high-grade log old growth ancient forests for their valuable cedar. The damage to ecosystems has been acute, demonstrating industrial forestry practices can never be ecologically sustainable. It appears the logging industry is using native involvement as a means to advance projects that might otherwise be politically unpalatable. First Nation bands face high unemployment rates, yet high-impact mining and logging will provide at most a hundred short-term jobs. Unemployment is not an excuse to liquidate natural ecosystems that make life possible. Such a failed development strategy, pursued by indigenous peoples or anyone, means soon there will soon be no jobs, no ecosystems and no possibility of long-term sustainable alternative livelihoods based upon standing trees and fully functional ecosystems.

Although Clayoquot Sound has been a UNESCO Biosphere Reserve since 2000, most of Clayoquot’s productive ancient rainforest are still not protected and are open to logging. The current protected areas in Clayoquot Sound are mostly too small and fragmented to sustain viable populations of all native species. Intact ecosystems, such as Clayoquot Sound, provide innumerable services essential to life, including clean air, clean water, soil retention, wildlife habitat, and climate regulation. The health of local, regional and global environments, and therefore all our health, depends on these intact ecosystems.

National Canadian environmental groups continue to send confusing, mixed signals re: industrial logging in dwindling ancient temperate rainforests. Rather than working to end industrial logging and other developments throughout British Columbia, environmental groups including Greenpeace, Forest Ethics, the Wilderness Committee, Sierra Club and Friends of Clayoquot Sound have supported continued "certified" industrial logging, and in Clayoquot are pursuing a goal of a two-year moratorium on logging in pristine valleys. To what end is not clear. Do they still believe the myth that millions of year old ancient primary forests can somehow be "sustainably" industrially logged, if just they convince the loggers to be careful? Given their past record, it is uncertain whether these groups would support commitments for FSC certified logging in Clayoquot Sound as being a worthy solution.

Given the ecological importance of Clayoquot Sound, it is critical its ancient forests are fully protected and all industrial development ended in order to preserve the biodiversity and health of this rare and irreplaceable ecosystem. There is no such thing as ecologically sustainable industrial logging or other industrial activities in a fully intact ancient forest ecosystem. Ancient forest logging must end worldwide to solve climate change, protect all biodiversity and achieve global ecological sustainability. Encourage all involved in British Columbia's forest policy to commit themselves fully to developing methods for employment and community advancement based upon standing forests and fully intact ecosystems. Or else promise you support a return to the blockades and protests that halted logging in Clayoquot in 1993, as well as a massive overseas campaign targeting B.C.'s markets. Surely rich Canada can find a way to spare Clayoquot Sound's vital ecosystems.