Transcript Things that really bother environmentalists

An Environmentalists Perspective
What are the problems and
how are we going to solve
them?
Things that really bother environmentalists:
Indicators for forest and species health show clear declines due
to habitat destruction and climate change (e.g. forestry and oil
and gas extraction)
Policy supports conventional industrial economy 90+% of the
time
Climate change is our most urgent challenge but forest
conservation is not seriously considered as a large scale
emissions reduction strategy (or even counted as an official
carbon emission under Kyoto Protocol)
Oversight ministries have been gutted so the fox is guarding
the chicken coop
BC has one of the lowest jobs/cubic metres cut ratios
Ontario
Quebec
BC
4.87 jobs/1000m3
3.35 jobs/1000m3
0.84 jobs/1000m3
We do not have environmental problems. We have
problems managing ourselves within the environment.
Social Choices:
1. Conserve much more forest and, through policy
increase jobs per cubic metre cut as a requirement
of tenure/cut allowances.
2. Continue unsustainable cut rate to sustain
decreasing jobs and business outputs until the
fall-down hits and deplete provincial natural capital
including species, carbon, and water.
Photo © Garth Lenz
Industrial devastation spurred a grassroots rebellion in the 1980’s and
1990’s. Garth Lenz’s photo of the Escalante, (technically just outside of
Clayoquot Sound) was the ‘poster child’ of the movement against
clearcutting.
Clayoquot Rainforest Coalition
Clayoquot Sound
Scientific Panel for
Sustainable Forestry
Practices
Recommendations
Established as
Policy in 1995
A portion became
Land Use Objectives
in 2008
The Ecological Case for Sustainability
World Resources Institute
How Much is Enough?
State of the World’s Forests
illustrates historic and current species richness and number of species lost
over time for 17 species that experienced range contractions over more
than 20% of their historic range.
I Andrea S. Laliberte and William J. Ripple.
Great Bear
Rainforest
Market Mechanisms
for Forest Conservation
…in the absence of strong
policy and legislation…
BIG BOX
OFFICE
SUPPLIES
BIG BOX
LUMBER
DIY
NAME BRAND
PAPER BUYER
“Nobody wants to buy a 2X4 with a
protestor attached to the end of it.”
Bill Dumont, Chief Forester Western Forest Products 2001
Creative Conflict a problem that needs to be solved
Certification
FSC: Currently, the only mark
of responsible forest
management
Minimizes plantations
Restricts size of clearcuts
Prohibits GMOs
Requires much higher planning
for locating reserves
Account for high conservation
value forests
Address First Nations issues
Bans certain chemicals,
minimizes overall use.
Great Bear Rainforest Agreements
From Conflict to Collaboration
Elements of a Solution:
 Coast Information Team (Credible
Science)
 Ecosystem Based Management
 Social Well Being: Conservation
Financing & Government to Government
Great Bear Outcomes 2006 - 2013
 2.1 million ha (one-third of the region
protected) in 130+ Conservancies
 Ecosystem-Based Management (EBM) - in
progress & 50% of rainforest off-limits
 New governance model:
Government-to-Government
 $120 million Conservation Financing
Photo: Jens Weiting
What saving forests actually looks like!
Goal for the GBR:
Concurrently achieve ecological integrity
& high degrees of human well being
Ecological Integrity is defined as managing
forests at Low Risk to ecological integrity by
maintaining 70% RONV (63% of total forested
land base) as old forests.
Human Well Being continues to be defined as a
combination of initiatives that improve
community economics and capacity and
political engagement in decision making over
their lands and lives.
How much is enough?
Estimates of Ecological Risk
Figure 3.3
RONV, low risk targets
and high risk thresholds.
High Risk Threshold
LowRisk
RiskTarget
Target
Low
70%Protection
Protection
70%
30% Protection
Alternate Licence Fees
for Gov’t
Gov’t stumpage
Revenue & jobs
Electorate Support for
GBR Logging
Gov’t support for
GBR logging
Rate of cut
Industry influence
Degree of change in
Logging practices
(EBM)
First Nations support
For logging
Company viability
Jobs in Logging
Jobs in NonTimber Sector
Market Support
Brand Risk
Economic Diversification
High Value Low Volume
Model Supported by Markets
Conservation Financing