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The Honourable Glen Clark
Premier of British Columbia
Parliament Buildings Room 156 Victoria, B.C. V8V 1X4
Premier@gov.bc.ca
Letter regarding the future of the temperate rainforest of British
Columbia
Globally, temperate rainforests are a rare and endangered forest type,
originally covering less than 0.2 per cent of the earth's land surface
area. Over half of the world's temperate rainforests have been degraded
or
destroyed, primarily by industrial logging during this century. One
quarter
of the remaining temperate rainforests are in British Columbia, Canada,
where they are rapidly being clearcut and replaced by biologically simple
tree farms, endangering the rich biological heritage they contain.
British Columbia makes up less than 10 per cent of Canada's land mass
but is
home to 74 per cent of Canadian mammals and 70 per cent of its breeding
birds. The majority of these species can be found in or associated with
the
temperate rainforest. Yet only now are basic ecological studies and
biological inventories of the temperate rainforest being conducted.
The State of the Environment Reporting office of British Columbia reported
in 1996 that one in ten plant and animal species in B.C. is facing
extinction. Logging is cited as one of the major causes of species decline.
Recent satellite data reveals that over half of B.C.'s rainforests have
already been destroyed or degraded. Less than six per cent of B.C.'s
coastal
rainforest has been protected.
Coastal British Columbia originally had over 350 rainforest watersheds
over
5,000 hectares. Today, less than 70 (20 per cent) of these valleys remain
intact, yet few are protected. Half of the remaining intact, unprotected
valleys are slated for clearcut logging and roading in the next five
years.
In recognition of the ecological importance of the rainforest of British
Columbia, and the fact that current management is ignoring and sacrificing
a
wide range of present and future values and uses, I am calling on you
as
Premier of the province of British Columbia to take a precautionary
approach
to the management of the temperate rainforest, and apply a moratorium
on
industrial logging and development in the remaining intact rainforest
valleys and key ecological areas of British Columbia.
Sincerely,
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