British Columbia has the greatest ecological and biological diversity in Canada, from magnificent but highly endangered old-growth temperate rainforests to semi-arid grasslands, from valley-bottom wetlands to high alpine tundra.

The BC NDP government can become a world conservation leader by joining the national and international momentum, including in numerous First Nations communities, to greatly expand its protected areas system – including protecting the grandest, most endangered old-growth forests.

Canada has embraced a 25% protection target by 2025 and has joined over 60 countries to commit to protecting 30% by 2030 of its land and marine waters. Scientists in fact say that about 50% of Earth should be safeguarded in natural areas by 2030 (30% in protected areas, 20% in de facto protected areas), in order to draw-down enough carbon into protected forests, grasslands, and wetlands to enable us to reach our climate targets, and to avert the global mass extinction crisis.

The success of Canada meeting its protected areas commitments is fundamentally determined by the provinces.

However, so far the BC NDP government has not embraced any of these targets.

The BC NDP government also has not committed any major funding to systematically expand new protected areas or for old-growth forest protection across BC. This includes a lack of funding for Indigenous Protected and Conserved Areas – IPCA’s, the key to saving native ecosystems in BC.

This is in stark contrast to the $3.3 billion in federal funding ($2.3 billion for land protection, $1 billion for marine protection) to expand protected areas across Canada, including to create IPCA’s.

The $2.3 billion in new federal protected areas funding for terrestrial ecosystems comes at the most critical time while the BC government is developing major new policies to manage or protect old-growth forests in BC, including designating old-growth forests for logging deferrals and potential protection via consultations with First Nations.

Across much of BC, many First Nations communities have an economic dependency on old-growth timber revenues via revenue-sharing, employment, joint venture and tenure agreements facilitated by successive BC governments, often in the most contentious old-growth forests. To protect old-growth forests on the unceded territories of First Nations (most of BC) will require that the BC and federal governments help provide the critical financing for First Nations old-growth protection initiatives, including for land use planning, Indigenous Protected and Conserved Areas management and stewardship, and the development of conservation-based economies including eco- and cultural tourism, clean energy, sustainable seafood, non-timber forest products (eg. wild mushrooms), and value-added second-growth forestry in First Nations communities. This is the critical path to protecting old-growth forests and establishing protected areas in BC.

With the new federal protected areas funding, the BC NDP government has just been handed the keys to ensure that much of the grandest, most endangered old-growth forests in BC get protected. The $2.3 billion in federal funding dispersed across the country doesn’t go far enough to save all of BC’s old-growth, but it would go a long way to protect a significant part of what remains.

This is a golden opportunity for the BC NDP government to quickly move to end the War in the Woods by embracing that federal funding.

Canada has protected 13% of its land area, while BC has protected 15% of its land area within legislated protected areas. Quebec has already protected 17% of its land area and is the first province to have embraced the international protected areas target of 30% by 2030. Quebec has also allocated $40 million from its provincial budget over 3 years for private land acquisition in the southern part of the province. California has already committed to protect 30% by 2030, as has the USA and Mexico.

It’s time for BC to get on board the protected areas momentum sweeping the world now.

I am calling on the BC NDP government to:

• Adopt the national protected area targets of at least 25% by 2025 and 30% by 2030 at a bare minimum.
• Ensure stringent protected areas standards for what are counted as “protected areas” to meet those targets (eg. conservation regulations like tenuous Old-Growth Management Areas that can be readily and quietly removed by bureaucrats and the Forest Minister for logging should not be counted).
• Dedicate sufficient provincial funding for Indigenous Protected Areas, First Nations land use plans, and the acquisition of private lands for protection.
• Embrace federal protected areas funding to expand protected areas in BC, including to help protect the last high-productivity and most at-risk old-growth forests, allowing several hundreds of millions of dollars into the province for Indigenous Protected and Conserved Areas.
• Commit to the federal policy framework of the 3 land conditions (urban and farm, shared lands, and wild lands) to help drive protected areas policy targets and mechanisms across the province in all landscapes.
• Implement ecosystem-based targets for new protected areas and for the protection of old-growth forests, which must include forest productivity distinctions.
• Support BC communities by providing conservation financing for First Nations’ sustainable economic development linked to new protected areas, enacting incentives and regulations to develop a value-added, second-growth forest industry across BC, and ensure a just transition for BC old-growth forestry workers.
• NOT increase the economic dependency of communities on old-growth logging and old-growth timber revenues.

I am calling on the federal Liberal government to:

• Ensure a significant subset of the $2.3 billion funds for protecting terrestrial ecosystems to go towards protecting at-risk old-growth forests across the country, which largely occur in BC.
• Dedicate greater funding for protected areas, as current funding levels will still fall short of what is needed to reach Canada’s national and international protected areas targets.
• Implement ecosystem-based and more ambitious protection targets across the country, including making forest productivity distinctions.

Sincerely,

YOUR NAME HERE

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