Forests are our climate allies – defending against climate change. They sequester carbon below and above ground, provide habitat for endangered species, clean water and revive our spirits. The survival of Canada’s remaining old-growth forests is in jeopardy. The logging of old-growth forests in BC has increased this past year despite protests.
In the June 2021 issue of The Walrus, Suzanne Simard, Professor of forest ecology at UBC, provides a startling description of how “trees cooperate, share resources, and communicate through underground fungal – or mycorrhizal – networks . . . “ in British Columbia’s old-growth forests. The giant 250-year-old trees are central in the ecosystem consisting of plants, fungi, rainfall, fires, birds, animals, and humans. These marvelous old-growth forests contribute greatly to the quality of our environment and enjoyment of life. However, they are rapidly disappearing and will never be replaced. Our future will lack giant trees that nurture seedlings, host disappearing species, deter wildfires, protect water systems, absorb carbon dioxide, release oxygen, and feed our spirits.
The May 27 issue of The Globe and Mail contains an article by Justine Hunter, “Understanding the backstory behind the Fairy Creek blockade”. The Teal Jones Group, the largest privately-owned timber harvesting and lumber-product manufacturing company in BC., had obtained a license to harvest a 12.8-hectare block of mainly old-growth forests. On discovering a new logging road to this site last summer, a group of protesters called the “Rainforest Flying Squad” established a series of moving blockades to prevent access. On April 1 this year the BC Supreme Court granted an injunction that authorized the RCMP to remove protesters from blockades in logging roads within Tree Farm License areas.
Hunter’s article states that BC has 57 million hectares of forests and about 200,000 hectares are harvested each year—mostly in replanted second-growth areas “which do not recreate the rich biodiverse ecosystems of an undisturbed forest”. There are about 13 million hectares of old forests in B.C. and 80% of that consists of less productive areas of bogs or high altitude sparsely treed land of low commercial value. Approximately 50,000 hectares of old-growth is harvested annually. Unlike countries, such as New Zealand, old-growth logging is still permitted.
Protests against logging old-growth forests continue despite more than 150 arrests. Protesters are chaining themselves to whatever they can to fight against logging in the Fairy Creek area of B.C. Hundreds of people continue to flood back into old-growth blockade camps cleared by the RCMP to protect what they view as the very limited remaining old-growth forests.
In Canada, we are facing a choice of valuing a lucrative resource that rewards governments and corporations versus protecting a valuable and irreplaceable heritage.
-Sister Patricia McKeon, csj