Online summit for saving old growth in BC

An invitation to be part of necessary changes to our relationship with forests.

THERE IS A GROWING GRASSROOTS MOVEMENT IN BC to resist the logging of old-growth forests. BC residents are coming together in a virtual summit, BC Forests: The Peoples Convergence, to discuss the future of forest management and old-growth protection. Communities are uniting to create a new forest framework that respects nature and Indigenous systems and gives power back to communities on the front lines of logging.

Speakers in the summit include Indigenous and non-Indigenous scientists, activists, eco-foresters, educators, union members, forestry workers, and youth, as well as former Minister of Forests, Bob Williams. Webinars will be shared on social media and Youtube from September 10 – 15, 2020.

I am the lead organizer of the summit, a flood evacuee from the interior Boundary region. Community groups across the province are uniting to push for changes to forest management. Industrial logging is destroying our old growth forests, wildlife habitat, and water. Legislation gives private corporations authority over public land. Communities have no power. We are losing local jobs. This must change.

Summit presenter, Registered Professional Forester and forest ecologist, Herb Hammond explains, “As a result of industrial forestry… hundreds of species of plants and animals have been locally extirpated and many face extinction, like the iconic woodland caribou, and timber exploitation has turned forests into our largest source of greenhouse gases. Over the past 10 years, British Columbians have subsidized timber company profits at the rate of $365 million per year.”

Goals of the summit:

To unite and empower BC communities located on the front lines of forestry by creating a network of engaged resistance plus solidarity for nature-based management of BC forests.
To establish a movement of lobbyists for BC legislative reform which represents community views, promotes nature-based forestry, and ensures more local forestry jobs.
To tell the BC government citizens expect forestry legislation to ensure:
- Ecosystem health is a top priority (including protecting old growth).
- Formal involvement of front line communities in the management of public land.
- Prohibition of private corporations from having any level of authority over public land.