The double impact of industrial logging and climate change means that intact forests, and the abundant biodiversity that depends on these ecosystems, are shrinking faster. Simultaneously, the recovery of damaged forests becomes even harder as clearcuts and young trees cannot withstand severe heat, drought and disease.  

As heat waves and other climate risks become more common, protecting the remaining intact old-growth forests and restoring those degraded from industrial logging is also the best way to combat climate change and keep communities safe. Yet year after year industrial clearcutting chips away more of these at-risk forests.  

B.C.’s Old Growth Strategic Review (OGSR) was a leap forward in our thinking about forests. The OGSR science panel produced 14 recommendations that, together, will shift the paradigm of forest management from clear-cut logging for short-term profit to protection and stewardship for long-term benefit to communities. In the fall of 2020, the B.C. government committed to implementing all 14 of the recommendations in the panel’s three-year framework 

We see important outcomes of the OGSR process: First Nations have worked with the provincial government to defer logging some of the most at-risk old growth; a Biodiversity and Ecosystem Health legal framework is under development; B.C. has committed to protecting 30% of the land by 2030; and a new conservation financing mechanism is in place. The groundwork is being laid. The pathway to achieving meaningful protection and a true paradigm shift is clear and Sierra Club is dedicated to doing just that. 

We continue to prioritize working with Indigenous Nations and government to achieve deferrals, and to ensure long-term conservation financing meets ecosystem goals and supports new economic models for logging-dependent communities. We know that B.C. can sustain communities and protect the last remaining old growth forests.