Date: Tue, 26 Sep 2006 12:14:18 -0700
From: Scott Frederick <scott451@gmx.net>
Subject: [KCUTS] Great Bear Rainforest Agreements Stalled
Hello Kootenaycuts,
Great Bear Rainforest Agreements Stalled:
When Will Real Change Hit the Ground?
For Immediate
Release
September 22 , 2006
Vancouver, BC - Greenpeace, ForestEthics and Sierra Club of Canada,
BC Chapter, add their voices to the growing concern regarding the
Spirit Bear’s habitat and the future of the Great Bear Rainforest. In
February 2006, the Great Bear Rainforest Agreement was announced to
the world by B.C. Premier Gordon Campbell. The agreement had two
cornerstones: a protected areas package and a commitment to bold new
logging practices, known as Ecosystem-based Management.
“We stood on the stage and announced to the world a new conservation
approach for the Great Bear Rainforest,” stated Merran Smith,
Director, BC Coastal Program, ForestEthics. “These agreements are now
at risk because a cornerstone of the agreement, Ecosystem-based
Management, is faltering. We are tired of big talk with no action.”
“Collaborative, credible science got us all to the Agreement in
February and is still what is needed to secure the future of the
Great Bear Rainforest,” said Lisa Matthaus, Coast Campaign Coordinator
for the Sierra Club of Canada, BC Chapter. “We agreed to a scientific
oversight group for implementation. Without this up and running,
logging decisions are being made on a piecemeal basis.”
“We have a global model for the Great Bear Rainforest; now it is time
for change on the ground,” said Amanda Carr, Greenpeace Forest
Campaigner. “Today, logging threatens the future of ecologically
important areas creating uncertainty in the Great Bear Rainforest –
it is time to get down to work and act on our agreements.”
A new system of logging, to be phased in between now and 2009, was
agreed to by the logging industry, environmental organizations,
communities, labour unions, First Nations and the B.C. government.
These lighter touch practices would see more areas off limits to
logging to protect old growth, wildlife habitat, sensitive watersheds
and salmon streams.
Stalled commitments of the Great Bear Rainforest Agreement:
· The first phase of legal objectives for new logging practices
will not be in place by Sept 30;
· The scientific oversight group for the agreements, the EBM
working group, has not yet been formed or adequately funded, and;
· Some forest companies still have not begun EBM practices, agreed
to in December 2003.
Sierra Club of Canada-BC Chapter, Greenpeace and ForestEthics call on
the B.C. government and First Nations to take immediate action to
make the commitments of the Great Bear Rainforest Agreements real on
the ground.
-30-
For more information, please contact :
Amanda Carr, Greenpeace (604-839-8760)
Lisa Matthaus, Sierra Club of Canada, BC Chapter (250-888-6267)
Merran Smith, ForestEthics (604-816-5636)
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Only 964 organising days until the next BC provincial election.
Best regards,
Scott mailto:scott451@gmx.net
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