Forest Campaigners:Eduardo Sousa, leftStephanie Goodwin, right
Dear Supporter of the Rainforest,
Thanks to you and thousands of other supporters across the country and around the world, we are pleased to announce success in the Great Bear Rainforest!
Your help encouraging B.C. Premier Gordon Campbell and his government to "Keep the Promise" has been crucial to our success in protecting an area half the size of Switzerland.
On Tuesday, March 31st in Victoria BC, Greenpeace proudly stood on stage with our environmental partners, the B.C. government, First Nations and logging companies to celebrate the remarkable progress made on a promise the B.C. government made to the world three years ago to save this rainforest and to support the communities that live there.
The B.C. government called our achievement the 'most significant environmental announcement in the province's history.' We agree.
Many parts of this bold plan are now being implemented and are a reality. The plan will help to ensure that all human activity in the rainforest, including logging, will happen within the natural limits of healthy ecosystems. It is called Ecosystem-Based Management (EBM) and it includes a combination of protected areas, more restrictive logging practices, support for sustainable economic development in communities, and recognition that First Nations people have the right to make decisions about what happens in their traditional territories.
What is now in place:
- 2.1 million hectares, one-third of the rainforest, is protected from logging
- New 'lighter touch' logging regulations, based on EBM, are now legally required. This system maintains 50 per cent of the natural level of old growth forest of the region. An additional 700,000 hectares of forest set aside from logging under these regulations.
In addition, the plan also sets out support for First Nations communities. This means:
- $120 million is available to First Nation communities to help kick-start a new conservation economy as an alternative to logging throughout the rainforest.
- Formal establishment of a 'government-to-government' relationship with the B.C. government. They now work together as equal decision-makers to decide what will and will not happen in the rainforest.
It has taken three years of hard work to make a paper plan a reality, but the Great Bear Rainforest is now one of the most protected rainforests in the world. We couldn't have done it without the global marketplace and dozens of corporate customers of rainforest logging companies paying close attention. We couldn't have done it without logging road blockades and protests worldwide. We couldn't have done it without Greenpeace campaigners from all over the world working for years on these agreements. We truly couldn't have done it without you, our members, or the hundreds of volunteers who have donated hundreds of hours to the cause.
But our work is not over yet. Although fifty per cent of the forest has been set aside from logging, science says that to achieve the long-term sustainability and well being of the rainforest, seventy per cent of the natural level of old growth forest must be set aside. Everyone agrees this is our goal and the B.C. government has committed to getting there by 2014.
Three years ago, only 7 per cent of the rainforest was protected. Today, more than 50 per cent of the forest is off-limits to logging. This is a victory by any measure. Thank you for caring enough about the Great Bear Rainforest and our planet. You have made a real difference.
In the words of a Greenpeace colleague from Germany, "Stand still for a few seconds, until you feel the beat of the forest within you, and be proud of what we have achieved in the Great Bear Rainforest."
Stephanie Goodwin & Eduardo Sousa
Forest Campaigners