Globe & Mail Scoops the Great Bear Rainforest
Three Globe & Mail articles recently shined a spotlight on the progress, and shortcomings, of Great Bear Rainforest protection effort.Globe & Mail -- Environmental groups urge Clark to protect B.C. rainforest
Excerpted from article by Matthew Robinson and published on April 1, 2011:
"We need to learn from experiences," he said. “We have the Amazon … the headwaters of what is the most important hydraulic system in the world, but again, we have major threats.”
Mr. Moran-Cahusac said the collaborative approach taken with the Great Bear Rainforest project, if fully implemented, could be a great road map for countries like his that are experiencing environmental pressure from forestry, mining and industry.
Globe & Mail -- Fulfill promise of Great Bear Rainforest pact, Clark urged
Excerpted from article by Justine Hunter and published on June 28, 2011:
That deal, forged in 2000, formalized in 2006 and codified in 2009, was hailed as a landmark agreement between the forest industry and environmentalists, and earned British Columbia headlines around the world.
“What you are seeing in those photographs is not illegal,” said Valerie Langer of ForestEthics, one of the parties to the pact. Environmentalists accepted a compromise, she said, because they recognized that the forest industry needed time to make the transition to new logging practices. But she said the government has not lived up to its commitment to details, such as creating maps that would designate where logging is permissible.
“Let’s not wait any longer, let’s make the Great Bear Rainforest agreement real, on the ground, now,” she said in an interview.
Globe & Mail -- It’s time for Christy Clark to do her part for the Great Bear Rainforest
Excerpted from article by Justine Hunter and published on June 28, 2011:
“The noise we are hearing is to get the new Premier’s attention, to let her know this isn’t resolved,” he said.
Patrick Armstrong, one of the negotiators on behalf of the forest industry since the start of the conflict, has joined the environmentalists in calling on Ms. Clark to act.
“What should motivate the Premier is that this is a globally significant agreement that was reached and it’s important for B.C.’s reputation and it’s important for coastal communities and first nations,” he said. “You don’t want to run the risk of reopening the war in the woods.”
Ms. Clark has an invitation from both industry and environmentalists – to ignore it would be to risk undoing one of the province’s most remarkable collaborative creations.
