Skip to content or view mobile version

Home | Mobile | Editorial | Mission | Privacy | About | Contact | Help | Security | Support

A network of individuals, independent and alternative media activists and organisations, offering grassroots, non-corporate, non-commercial coverage of important social and political issues.

The Great Bear Rainforest

William Thomas | 26.11.2005 22:29 | Ecology

YOUR help is needed to protect the world's largest intact temperate rainforest, the Great Bear Rainforest, by sending the government of British Columbia, Canada, a fax through the website:
www.savethegreatbear.org

Below is a joint statement by the coastal indigenous native bands and environmental groups about the Great Bear Rainforest deal:


Nov.22, 2005

B.C.’s Coastal Temperate Rainforest: The Vision Going Forward

By the Turning Point Initiative Society member nations (Heiltsuk First Nation, Kitasoo First
Nation, Gitga’at First Nation, Wuikinuxv First Nation, Council of Haida Nation, Old Massett
Village Council, Skidegate Band, Metlakatla First Nation) and
ForestEthics, Greenpeace, Sierra Club of Canada, B.C. Chapter

British Columbia’s Central and North Coast (the Great Bear Rainforest) and the islands of Haida
Gwaii are among the world’s greatest ecological treasures. One of the largest unprotected
temperate rainforest remaining on the planet, this region also has a rich cultural landscape, and
is the Traditional Territory of twelve First Nation communities.

From the Amazon basin to the Great Barrier Reef, the challenge on the Central and North Coast
and Haida Gwaii is echoed around the world: How do we integrate the needs of natural systems
with the needs of the people who depend upon them for their livelihoods and way of life?
The coastal rainforests and waters are a vital natural, cultural and economic resource for First
Nations, coastal communities and British Columbia as a whole. To be successful, land use
agreements must not only preserve the lands and protect its ecological integrity—they must also
respect indigenous cultures and strengthen local economies. To be successful, conservation must
be sustainable, both ecologically and economically.

Having inherited the responsibility to protect and restore their lands, waters and air for future
generations, British Columbia’s coastal First Nations continue to work to create an ecologically
and economically sustainable future. In a declaration signed in June 2000, coastal First Nations
committed to make decisions that ensure the well-being of their lands and waters, and to
preserve and renew their territories and cultures through tradition, knowledge, and authority.
This declaration provides the foundation for protecting and restoring First Nations culture and
the natural world.

Years of work – science, community forums, stakeholder dialogues and government to
government negotiations - have forged agreements among diverse parties around land-use for
the North and Central Coast and Haida Gwaii. These agreements represent a new, more holistic
approach to conservation and through them three unprecedented breakthroughs have emerged
for this unique and threatened region.

The first is a commitment to a new relationship between the provincial government and First
Nations. Beyond mere consultation, this government-to-government relationship allows for a
more just approach to land-use decisions now and in the future.

The second sees the total size of the Great Bear Rainforest’s protected areas quadrupled to
secure many of its most sensitive and intact valleys and islands. This is more than 5 million
acres of area protected from logging. When approved, it will be the largest temperate rainforest
protection package in Canadian history. In addition, there are over a million new acres of
protected areas on Haida Gwaii, which when announcd will bring the total rainforest protection
package in the region to over 7 million acres.

The third and, in many respects, boldest breakthrough is a commitment by the people of the
region to rebuild a sustainable relationship with the forest itself. This relationship is termed
Ecosystem-based Management, and to many coastal First Nations represents a scientific
articulation of thousands of years of cultural practice and traditional resource use.
On the ground, Ecosystem-based Management means a comprehensive protected areas network
within a working landscape that is managed to ensure low risk to the ecology of the rainforest.
Outside of protected areas, cultural sites, rare and endangered species habitat, wildlife corridors,
and other elements require special protective status while allowing EBM logging to occur in a
manner that doesn’t undermine the ecological and cultural values of the region.
Economic redevelopment

Economic challenges facing the people of the region are as important as the conservation
challenges. Unemployment and poverty rates in coastal communities are well above national
averages.

Coastal First Nations have worked alongside the conservation community to make an alternative
economy possible. Over $60 million in new private funding and investment are set to flow into
the region. This is contingent upon land use agreements being finalized and implemented this
fall, and matching funding from provincial and federal governments. This, then, will create a
total of over $120 million for communities to create sustainable business opportunities for First
Nations. An additional $80 million in Socially Responsible Investments may be secured for
native and non-native ventures alike.

Ecosystem-based Management. Ecotourism. Sustainable fisheries. Other exciting new
enterprises. The economy of the Central and North Coast and Haida Gwaii will indeed be ‘rebuilt
to last’, following principles crafted by the people who live and work there.
Implementing a bold vision

This endeavour represents many firsts. It is the first effort to apply integrated concepts across
such a large and complex natural and social landscape. At this scale, Ecosystem-based
Management is a paradigm shift. It amounts to re-engineering an entire regional economy,
tuning it to measurable indicators of ecological health and human well being.
The challenge is enormous. But the opportunity is extraordinary. The application of these
agreements—conservation areas and Ecosystem-based Management—presents the world with
its best chance yet to integrate conservation, community development and First Nations selfdetermination

That is why we believe this step for Haida Gwaii and the Central and North Coast of British
Columbia is worth taking. Moving forward with these agreements does not mark the end of our
work, but rather the beginning of its next phase.

We are proud to support these agreements, and strongly urge the British Columbia government
to use the necessary legal and legislative tools to make them a reality.

Please send the government of British Columbia, Canada, a fax to protect the Great Bear Rainforest through the website:
www.savethegreatbear.org

William Thomas

Upcoming Coverage
View and post events
Upcoming Events UK
24th October, London: 2015 London Anarchist Bookfair
2nd - 8th November: Wrexham, Wales, UK & Everywhere: Week of Action Against the North Wales Prison & the Prison Industrial Complex. Cymraeg: Wythnos o Weithredu yn Erbyn Carchar Gogledd Cymru

Ongoing UK
Every Tuesday 6pm-8pm, Yorkshire: Demo/vigil at NSA/NRO Menwith Hill US Spy Base More info: CAAB.

Every Tuesday, UK & worldwide: Counter Terror Tuesdays. Call the US Embassy nearest to you to protest Obama's Terror Tuesdays. More info here

Every day, London: Vigil for Julian Assange outside Ecuadorian Embassy

Parliament Sq Protest: see topic page
Ongoing Global
Rossport, Ireland: see topic page
Israel-Palestine: Israel Indymedia | Palestine Indymedia
Oaxaca: Chiapas Indymedia
Regions
All Regions
Birmingham
Cambridge
Liverpool
London
Oxford
Sheffield
South Coast
Wales
World
Other Local IMCs
Bristol/South West
Nottingham
Scotland
Social Media
You can follow @ukindymedia on indy.im and Twitter. We are working on a Twitter policy. We do not use Facebook, and advise you not to either.
Support Us
We need help paying the bills for hosting this site, please consider supporting us financially.
Other Media Projects
Schnews
Dissident Island Radio
Corporate Watch
Media Lens
VisionOnTV
Earth First! Action Update
Earth First! Action Reports
Topics
All Topics
Afghanistan
Analysis
Animal Liberation
Anti-Nuclear
Anti-militarism
Anti-racism
Bio-technology
Climate Chaos
Culture
Ecology
Education
Energy Crisis
Fracking
Free Spaces
Gender
Globalisation
Health
History
Indymedia
Iraq
Migration
Ocean Defence
Other Press
Palestine
Policing
Public sector cuts
Repression
Social Struggles
Technology
Terror War
Workers' Movements
Zapatista
Major Reports
NATO 2014
G8 2013
Workfare
2011 Census Resistance
Occupy Everywhere
August Riots
Dale Farm
J30 Strike
Flotilla to Gaza
Mayday 2010
Tar Sands
G20 London Summit
University Occupations for Gaza
Guantanamo
Indymedia Server Seizure
COP15 Climate Summit 2009
Carmel Agrexco
G8 Japan 2008
SHAC
Stop Sequani
Stop RWB
Climate Camp 2008
Oaxaca Uprising
Rossport Solidarity
Smash EDO
SOCPA
Past Major Reports
Encrypted Page
You are viewing this page using an encrypted connection. If you bookmark this page or send its address in an email you might want to use the un-encrypted address of this page.
If you recieved a warning about an untrusted root certificate please install the CAcert root certificate, for more information see the security page.

Global IMC Network


www.indymedia.org

Projects
print
radio
satellite tv
video

Africa

Europe
antwerpen
armenia
athens
austria
barcelona
belarus
belgium
belgrade
brussels
bulgaria
calabria
croatia
cyprus
emilia-romagna
estrecho / madiaq
galiza
germany
grenoble
hungary
ireland
istanbul
italy
la plana
liege
liguria
lille
linksunten
lombardia
madrid
malta
marseille
nantes
napoli
netherlands
northern england
nottingham imc
paris/île-de-france
patras
piemonte
poland
portugal
roma
romania
russia
sardegna
scotland
sverige
switzerland
torun
toscana
ukraine
united kingdom
valencia

Latin America
argentina
bolivia
chiapas
chile
chile sur
cmi brasil
cmi sucre
colombia
ecuador
mexico
peru
puerto rico
qollasuyu
rosario
santiago
tijuana
uruguay
valparaiso
venezuela

Oceania
aotearoa
brisbane
burma
darwin
jakarta
manila
melbourne
perth
qc
sydney

South Asia
india


United States
arizona
arkansas
asheville
atlanta
Austin
binghamton
boston
buffalo
chicago
cleveland
colorado
columbus
dc
hawaii
houston
hudson mohawk
kansas city
la
madison
maine
miami
michigan
milwaukee
minneapolis/st. paul
new hampshire
new jersey
new mexico
new orleans
north carolina
north texas
nyc
oklahoma
philadelphia
pittsburgh
portland
richmond
rochester
rogue valley
saint louis
san diego
san francisco
san francisco bay area
santa barbara
santa cruz, ca
sarasota
seattle
tampa bay
united states
urbana-champaign
vermont
western mass
worcester

West Asia
Armenia
Beirut
Israel
Palestine

Topics
biotech

Process
fbi/legal updates
mailing lists
process & imc docs
tech