Climate change has brought many promises to plant more trees. It has even influenced candidates in the October 21, 2019 Canadian election. Justin Trudeau, Liberal Party Prime Minister of Canada, plans to decorate the oil pipeline he bought with trees, showing how economy and environment go hand in hand. More realistically, Green Member of Parliament, Elizabeth May promises 10 billion trees planted over 30 years. The other parties don’t mention trees, seem unaware of the issues.
But it doesn’t require government to recognize the value of trees and plant them. TreeSisters, based in England, works to plant tropical trees all over the world. Ethiopia and India are just two of several countries recognized for their tree-planting efforts. YOU can even be an armchair tree planter by using the search engine Ecosia https://www.ecosia.org/?c=en.
Many of us are shocked at the fires in the Amazon rainforest. Less publicized are the Indonesian fires. For many of us, that seems far away. But here, in the temperate rainforests of Super Natural British Columbia Canada, temperate rainforest, and the animals that live in it, are also being destroyed intentionally at an alarming rate. It matters globally because (according to Google) BC rainforest makes up almost a quarter of the world’s temperate rainforest.
Doug Donaldson is the minister of British Columbia Forests, Lands & Natural Resources. He is responsible for the following:
1) Limiting protection for dwindling caribou herds while permitting extensive additional clearcut logging in their critical habitats and not restricting the snowmobile and heli-skiing that also displace the caribou. https://thenarwhal.ca/deliberate-extinction-extensive-clear-cuts-gas-pipeline-approved-endangered-caribou-habitat/?fbclid=IwAR2of9lRNgQbwnlc57lR_ZpO2Kz59NvKnh8ParTGiYVuqkQGNevBdBB-BrE;
https://www.vws.org/wp-content/uploads/2019/10/Caribou-joint-ltr-to-govt.pdf.
His reluctance to adhere to the Species at Risk Act has led to the federal government announcing it is prepared to administer an emergency protection order https://www.theglobeandmail.com/canada/british-columbia/article-ottawa-ready-if-first-nations-bc-cant-produce-caribou-conservation/?fbclid=IwAR3jT4Wd8REvs4heSLKAr3JL6z3V0VfuRHDwz_QqaMhw5OoIYnrXmeg1TbY;
2) Using the excuse of dwindling caribou to cull more than 80% of wolves in parts of BC https://vancouversun.com/news/local-news/b-c-predator-cull-would-target-80-per-cent-of-wolves-in-caribou-recovery-areas, also some cougar removal based on mere suspicion that they “have begun to focus on caribou as a prey-source”;
3) Frantic logging of scarce, remaining old-growth forests https://www.goldstreamgazette.com/opinion/column-clearcutting-b-c-s-last-old-growth-leaves-all-of-us-poorer-forever/
4) Glyphosate (pesticide linked to cancer) spraying to limit tree growth of lesser commercial value, but which reduces wildlife food & habitat, contributes to persistent amphibian and aquatic toxicity, reduces ecosystem resilience & forest fire resistance http://stopthespraybc.com/;
5) Logging community watersheds such as Peachland and Trepanier https://thenarwhal.ca/muddied-waters-how-clearcut-logging-is-driving-a-water-crisis-in-b-c-s-interior/;
6) Logging an archaeological area of Haida Gwaii, disregarding the 2009 protocol requiring consent. https://www.haidagwaiiobserver.com/news/logging-moves-forward-as-court-rules-against-haida-gwaii-protesters/.
Not surprising. The Archaeology Branch is part of Donaldson’s ministry and appears to be largely disregarded by the BC government. An example is the neglected but required archaelogical assessment of the Unist’ot’en land where an LNG pipeline is being forced through http://www.kelownadailycourier.ca/prairies/bc/article_ddebd465-6998-557c-acfe-3eff8f2202fe.htMl.
Ironically, the province’s blatant disregard of First Nations’ ancestral sites, follows Premier Horgan’s promise that the province would implement the United Nations Declaration of the Rights of Indigenous People (UNDRIP). https://www.cbc.ca/news/indigenous/b-c-commits-to-being-1st-province-in-canada-to-put-undrip-into-legislation-1.5018447
British Columbia is called Super Natural because much of it is magnificent wilderness that brings tourists from all over the world. It would be a shame for the whole world to lose this treasure because of a short-sighted government. The BC Travel Information site suggests that “Science has proven that time in nature can make us happier, more creative, and less stressed. We call that the British Columbia Effect.” https://www.hellobc.com/
Yet this NDP (New Destruction Party, in my view) government is busy destroying that same “British Columbia Effect” that the province advertises as a panacea for happiness. Go figure.
Contact information for Doug Donaldson is here: https://bit.ly/2LjWfqa
More information about British Columbia logging may be found at https://4earthindex.catladymori.com/