Feature story - January 20, 2007
$120 million dollars will be invested in conservation initiatives in the Great Bear Rainforest of coastal British Columbia - a major step in moving the economy of this majestic area in a more sustainable direction.
Great Bear Rainforest, British Columbia. The largest intact temperate rainforest in the world.
Greenpeace has been working along with other environmental
groups to protect the ecological integrity of the Great Bear
Rainforest for over a decade, and this commitment by the federal
and provincial governments is a major vote of confidence in the
process.
Greenpeace and other environmental groups have had a major role
in bringing about what's being called one of the largest
investments in conservation in North American history. Half the
money comes from the governments of Canada and British Columbia,
which are pledging to invest $30 million each in sustainable
businesses - ecotourism and non-timber forest products - managed
by First Nations communities on the coast of British Columbia. The
other half of the money - to be devoted to conservation and
scientific initiatives in First Nations communities - comes from
private donors.
This funding will help preserve the ecological integrity of the
Great Bear Rainforest, while also helping to meet the needs of BC
coastal communities for a sustainable economy. The Great Bear is
the largest tract of unprotected coastal temperate rainforest left
on Earth - 8 million hectares, or two-thirds the size of England -
and supports tremendous biodiversity, including grizzly and black
bears, unique wolf populations and over three thousand genetically
distinct salmon stocks.