Where is the Great Bear Rainforest?
The Great Bear Rainforest is located on the coast of British Columbia between the northern tip of Vancouver Island and the Alaska panhandle.
See map
What is in the Great Bear Rainforest agreement passed by the
British Columbia government on February 7, 2006?
The Great Bear Agreement means:
- Two million hectares protected from logging (almost the size of Prince Edward Island);
- The application of better, lighter touch forestry by March 2009, called ecosystem- based management
- Comprehensive First Nations involvement in management over their entire traditional territory
- The diversification of the economy based on conservation
Read more
I thought the GBR was saved: why is Greenpeace still working on this?
Over the last five years, agreements have been reached on protected areas and sustainable logging methods in the Great Bear Rainforest. However these agreements have not been implemented. Status quo unsustainable logging continues in the Great Bear, and protected areas are not yet legislated. Greenpeace agrees with the independent science that concludes that current plans for protection will not be sufficient to protect the Great Bear Rainforest and logging practices must change
Read about the latest developments
Where does the name come from?
The Great Bear Rainforest gets its name from the grizzly, black and the rare Kermode, or spirit, bears of the temperate rainforest.
Is unsustainable logging still taking place in the Great Bear Rainforest?
Logging practices in the Great Bear are still unsustainable, and will continue to be until the logging industry and the government of British Columbia fully embraces ecosystem-based management in the area. For more detailed information on the extent of clearcutting in the Great Bear, visit
http://www.canadianrainforests.org/report_findings/clearcutting
If we don't cut down as many trees, won't we lose jobs?
Sustainable forestry practices do not necessarily mean a loss of jobs. In fact, recent research shows that there will be more jobs if we keep the trees.
Read more (Report, 'Jobs and Trees' 48 K, PDF)
How is Greenpeace helping to find economic solutions for communities in the rainforest?
Greenpeace, along with other environmental groups, are hoping to use the global spotlight focused on this region to support economic diversification and sustainable management in the Great Bear Rainforest. Read more
For more information on how protecting areas and shifting to sustainable practices will help the economy of communities in the Great Bear Rainforest, download this report: "Revitalizing British Columbia's Coastal Economy" (285K, PDF)
Are you opposed to all logging?
No, Greenpeace is not opposed to all logging. Greenpeace is opposed to unsustainable logging practices that harm our environment, such as logging right up to salmon streams. Greenpeace would like to replace current logging practices in the Great Bear Rainforest with an integrated approach called ecosystem- based management.
Read more
Greenpeace also supports logging certified by the Forest Stewardship Council.
Read more
What is ecosystem-based management?
Ecosystem-based management is a method of planning
for how resources will be used based on stability and long-term
sustainability of ecosystems. The central idea behind EBM is that
each element of an ecosystem is vital, as is the relationship
between these elements. Ecosystem-based management may allow higher
risk activities in a specific cutblock only if low risk management
is applied to the Great Bear Rainforest overall.
Download the EBM Handbook (PDF)
Don't companies replant the forests they cut?
Companies are legally obligated to replant the
forests they cut down, but even the most successful replanting
effort does not restore the diversity or original health of these
ancient rainforests. Replanting small seedlings simply can't
replace an ecosystem that took 15,000 years to evolve.
Read more on
the ecology of the Great Bear Rainforest
What is the role of B.C.'s First Nations in the GBR?
The Great Bear Rainforest is the unceded
traditional territory of First Nations, meaning that no agreements
regarding the land have ever been signed with the Queen or any
federal or provincial governments.
In April of 2001, eight First Nations of British Columbia's
central and north coast signed an agreement on land use planning
with the provincial government. Although this agreement clearly
does not deal with the issues of rights and title, it does mean
that the people who live on B.C.'s coast will gain more control and
derive more benefits from the forests.
How many parks have been created in the Great Bear Rainforest?
Despite agreements to protect large areas of the
Great Bear Rainforest, to date no new parks have been formally
legislated.
Why are grizzly bear biologists concerned about the way in which the government of British Columbia is managing the species?
The blue-ribbon independent science team supported
by all stakeholders in the Great Bear Rainforest recommended that
44-60 per cent of the rainforest be protected at a minimum. This
threshold was not met in current plans for protected areas, and
many conservation biologists are concerned. Changing forest
practices so that retention level are higher and high value
watersheds are managed with little risk will be key to securing the
future of the Great Bear Rainforest. In addition management plans
for specific species must be in place. Recent scientific studies
suggest that species such as the grizzly bear are being mismanaged
in British Columbia.
Click here to download a report on how grizzly bear
management needs to change (PDF)
Click
here to see how logging practices need to change
Would offshore oil drilling on B.C.’s coast threaten the Great Bear Rainforest?
Oil exploration and drilling have been banned off
the coast of British Columbia for over 30 years in order to protect
the shores of the Great Bear Rainforest and the north Pacific
ecosystem from environmental devastation. Now both the federal and
provincial governments are reconsidering their moratoriums on
fossil fuel extraction off the coast. The links between the marine
ecosystem and the Great Bear Rainforest are numerous. One key
example is the importance of salmon and the protein and nutrients
they bring to the forest and wildlife when they return to spawn.
Greenpeace is trying to prevent this fragile ecosystem from
being destroyed by working to ensure there is a permanent federal
government ban on exploration and drilling in this fragile,
earthquake prone region
More information on offshore oil and gas development from the
Greenpeace
Climate and Energy campaign
More information on the importance of salmon to the
coastal rainforest click here (Report, PDF)
Where can I get more information?
Greenpeace is working with a number of like-minded
organizations to ensure the protection of the Great Bear Rainforest
while minimizing the impact of the people who depend on the forest
for their livelihood. The Rainforest Solutions Project is a joint
initiative of ForestEthics, Greenpeace Canada, the Sierra Club of
Canada, BC Chapter, and the Rainforest Action Network.
The
Rainforest Solutions Project website
(www.savethegreatbear.org)
With 33 per cent of the rainforest protected from the chainsaw and ecosystem- based management planned for the other two-thirds of the rainforest, is Greenpeace's work done?
The Great Bear Rainforest Agreement announced in February 2006
represents the biggest step forward yet for securing the future of
the rainforest although it is currently limited to agreements on
paper. The agreement is significant because it is signed by First
Nations, and the provincial government and endorsed by all
stakeholders. It represents the largest rainforest protection
package in Canadian history. However, the agreements commit to
implementing these monumental changes over the next three years so
while 33 per cent of the rainforest is protected from logging, the
overall health of the rainforest is not secure.
There is a seat for Greenpeace at the newly forming EBM Working
Group that is responsible for guiding the implementation of
ecosystem-based management and ensuring that it is based on the
best available science. The next step is for the provincial
government to legislate the first phase of new logging practices
called ecosystem-based management, which it has committed to do by
October 2006. At this point, the logging industry does not have a
plan for how it will implement the agreement and in some cases it
continues to be 'business as usual' logging.
It is vitally important that Greenpeace continues to pressure
the logging industry and the government to make good on their
promises. The true measure of success is on-the-ground change and
healthy ecosystems in perpetuity.