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Old-growth logging: A threat to orca whales?

April 12, 2018/in Conservation and Biodiversity, Featured Story, Forests /by Sierra Club

There’s a new threat to orca whales on BC’s coast, and it’s probably not what you think.

Old-growth logging? But how can that be?

It turns out that BC’s northern resident orcas have a long and important cultural tradition of rubbing themselves on certain beaches on northern Vancouver Island. According to one expert, it’s a fun social activity that is rather like visiting a massage parlour. Amazing, right?

But the beaches that these sensitive, highly intelligent creatures visit to rub themselves are threatened by old-growth logging. BC Timber Sales (BCTS) has plans for old-growth logging and road-building in the Schmidt Creek watershed, which could lead to increasing sediment deliver and even landslides that could be disastrous for these unique rubbing beaches.

Not one watershed on eastern Vancouver Island is fully protected, yet the BC government continues to enable logging of endangered old-growth forests at a rate of three square meters per second. Will the risk of losing unique orca whale rubbing beaches be enough to convince this government to take action for endangered old-growth?

The Schmidt Creek watershed, near Johnstone Straight on northern Vancouver Island, was subject to a logging moratorium from 1992-97 due to concerns about logging practices increasing sediment delivery and impacts on the adjacent orca rubbing beaches, most likely affecting the condition of the gravels that the orcas are drawn to. A provincial report from 2003 about the rubbing beaches stated “given the nearly unique use of the beach by killer whales, management of the area should be cautious.”

Dr. Paul Spong from Orcalab is concerned about the proposed logging operations:

“These orca rubbing beaches are a vitally important cultural tradition unique to this community of whales,” said Dr. Spong. “We’ve been concerned about declining quality of rubbing beaches in this area for a number of years, and feel the risks involved in logging of the Schmidt Creek watershed are simply too great to allow the logging to proceed. If a landslide occurs, it could be disastrous for the rubbing beaches.”

Whales only use beaches with specific characteristics for rubbing and impacts on the watershed, such as increased sediment load as a result of logging or road construction, would likely lead to the loss of these characteristics.

Rubbing beaches location map

As Dr. Paul Spong says, “the rubbing beaches are vitally important to the orcas because their use reflects a very long tradition of the orcas of the Northern Resident Community. It’s a cultural tradition that is many generations long and is unique to this community. They are one of the attractions that draw the orcas back to the Johnstone Strait year after year (the others are fish and company). Quite often when the orcas come into Johnstone Strait, they make a beeline for the rubbing beaches. The beaches were included in the Robson Bight (Michael Bigg) Ecological Reserve when it was created in 1982 as a recognition of their importance to the orcas.”

He has witnessed this over 30 years that he’s been observing the orca whales. “The orcas’ use of the beaches is very much a social activity,” says Dr. Spong. “Rubbing usually happens in groups, and in past years when there were more groups coming into Johnstone Strait, they used to line up taking turns to rub, kind of like aircrcraft lining up on a runway. We think rubbing is a lot of fun for them, a bit like visiting a massage parlour, and it is quite often accompanied by unusual vocalisations.”

Sierra Club BC is calling on the BC government to direct government-owned BC Timber Sales (BCTS) to hold off plans for old-growth logging and road-building in the Schmidt Creek watershed because of very high conservation values, including proximity to these unique rubbing beaches.

The BC Timber Sales plan shows a string of five blocks to be advertised for sale in 2018, amounting to 221 hectares of old-growth. The majority of the roadbuilding and logging in Schmidt Creek is planned on steep slopes and will result in risk of landslides, a danger made worse by increasingly severe extreme weather due to climate change.

A September 2017 Forest Practices Board (FPB) report ‘Resource Road Construction in Steep Terrain’ (special investigation) investigated operational issues on steep slopes that lead to erosion and landslides. The report found only 38 percent (10 of 26) road segments examined “met all the criteria for a safe and environmentally sound road and overall resulted in good practices.”

Sierra Club BC’s State of Old-Growth on BC’s Southern Coast map

Sierra Club BC mapping shows that together with the adjacent Lower Tsitika River Provincial Park, this watershed forms one of the few remaining relatively intact old-growth areas on Vancouver Island.

Logging Schmidt Creek would put at risk not just the orca whales, but also one of the few remaining relatively intact old-growth areas providing habitat for old-growth dependent species such as marbled murrelets and northern goshawk that are at very high risk of extirpation across large parts of the island. The province announced increased habitat protection for these two species in February, however, with a timeline of 5 -7 years, these steps would come too late to set aside not yet identified habitat in Schmidt Creek.

The BC government promised to take action for old-growth. Yet while we wait for a sign that they intend to keep their promise, we are losing endangered old-growth rainforest at a rate of two soccer fields per hour.

The Schmidt Creek logging proposal is a dramatic example of the need for the BC government to modernize land-use plans for Vancouver Island working with First Nations to determine long-term, science-based protection options, and interim protection for endangered rainforest hotspots in the meantime; and to use government control of BC Timber Sales (BCTS) to quickly phase out issuing timber sales in endangered old-growth forests.

Sierra Club BC shared these concerns with the Nanwakolas Council in early March and welcomes their initiative to send conservation stewards to take a closer look at the risk for the beaches in April.

Video footage of orca rubbing, courtesy of Orcalab:

Orca Rubbing Footage 1

Orca Rubbing Footage 2

Feature image: Orcalab

“White Rhino” map shows Vancouver Island’s most endangered old-growth rainforests

March 6, 2018/in Conservation and Biodiversity, Featured Story, Forests /by Sierra Club

March 2018

People who support protection of old-growth forests on Vancouver Island now have a new tool for taking action in their communities.

Sierra Club BC’s new State of Vancouver Island’s Coastal Temperate Rainforest map shows with in-depth detail the scarce remaining endangered old-growth rainforest ecosystems and recent old-growth destruction on Vancouver Island. The map is available for download or in print to support local and First Nation governments and concerned citizens engaging with the provincial government and industry to protect what little old-growth is left on the Island.

You can download a high-resolution version of the map here or contact jens@sierraclub.bc.ca to request a hard copy.

Taking a look at this map and the ecological hit this island has taken, you would be forgiven for thinking this is Madagascar or Sumatra or another part of the world known for rapid destruction of biological richness. These endangered old-growth stands are becoming as rare as white rhinos.

Sierra Club BC has shared maps, data and recommendations with the new BC government but has not yet seen meaningful funding tied to protecting old-growth in the 2018 budget. In the absence of leadership by the provincial government, it is up to local and Indigenous governments, businesses and concerned citizens to step up and insist the most endangered old-growth rainforest stands are spared from the chainsaws.

Photo: Jens Wieting

BC’s temperate rainforests represent the largest remaining tracts of a globally rare ecosystem covering just 0.5 percent of the planet’s landmass. Yet the current rate of old-growth logging on Vancouver Island is more than 3 square meters a second, more than 10,000 hectares per year.

Our mapping show immediate steps are needed to protect the most endangered old-growth forest, combined with support for Indigenous-led land use planning and long term jobs in second-growth forestry.

It’s time to move beyond this mindset of short term profit that leaves communities with scarred landscapes, lost species, a damaged environment and reduced opportunities for diverse economic activities such as tourism and recreation.

Send a letter to help defend old-growth forests

The Sierra Club BC map shows that the remaining 218,000 hectares of the most endangered low-elevation old-growth rainforest with the biggest trees and highest carbon storage per hectare (good and medium productivity forest) now only cover 6.4 percent of the Island. When including poorer productivity old-growth (ecosystems with smaller trees), about one quarter of the island remains covered by old-growth forest. The map also shows the 88,000 hectares of old-growth rainforest logged between 2006 – 2016 (2.6 percent of the island, equivalent to 220 Stanley Parks, an area larger than Greater Victoria) as well as the 132,000 hectares of second-growth logged in the same period (3.9 percent of the Island).

The loss of primary forests largely undisturbed by human activity is threatening biodiversity, carbon storage and environmental services. Species that depend on old-growth forests will not survive as increasingly the majority of the Island is covered by young, even aged forests that are clearcut in short rotation forestry.

The mandate letter for Minister of Forests Doug Donaldson calls for sustainable management of BC’s old-growth forests, but it remains unclear what steps the province is planning to take to protect endangered coastal and inland old-growth ecosystems.

Sierra Club BC is calling for immediate action by the provincial government to protect and restore endangered coastal rainforest ecosystems, before intensifying climate impacts like drought, wildfires and storms coupled with destructive logging practices further exacerbate pressure on ecosystems.

Find out more about the state of coastal rainforests by downloading the new Sierra Club BC map State of Vancouver Island’s Coastal Temperate Rainforest now.

Take action to defend old-growth forests

Feature image: Travis McLachlan

“White Rhino” map shows most endangered old-growth rainforest now covers less than 7 per cent of Vancouver Island

March 6, 2018/in Conservation and Biodiversity, Featured Story, Forests, Media Centre, Press Releases /by Sierra Club

New Sierra Club BC map enables residents to take informed action to defend old-growth rainforest

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE:

March 6, 2018

A new Sierra Club BC map released today entitled State of Vancouver Island’s Coastal Temperate Rainforest shows with in-depth detail the scarce remaining endangered old-growth rainforest ecosystems and recent old-growth destruction on Vancouver Island.

The map is available for download and in print to support local and First Nation governments and concerned citizens engaging with the provincial government and industry to protect what little old-growth is left on the island.

“We have shared our maps, data and recommendations with the new BC government but have not seen meaningful funding tied to protecting old-growth in the 2018 budget. In the absence of leadership by the provincial government, it’s up to local and Indigenous governments, businesses and concerned citizens to step up and insist that the most endangered old-growth rainforest stands are spared from the chainsaws,” said Jens Wieting, senior forest and climate campaigner. “Our new map gives them the information they need.”

BC’s temperate rainforests represent the largest remaining tracts of a globally rare ecosystem covering just 0.5 per cent of the planet’s landmass. Yet the current rate of old-growth logging on Vancouver Island is more than 3 square metres per second, more than 10,000 hectares per year.

“The science and our mapping show immediate steps are needed to protect the most endangered old-growth forest, combined with support for Indigenous-led land-use planning and long-term forestry jobs in second-growth,” said Wieting. “It’s time to move beyond this mindset of short-term profit that leaves communities with scarred landscapes, lost species, a damaged environment and reduced opportunities for diverse economic activities such as tourism and recreation.”

The map also shows the 88,000 hectares of old-growth rainforest logged between 2006 – 2016 (2.6 percent of the island, equivalent to 220 Stanley Parks, an area larger than Greater Victoria) as well as the 132,000 hectares of second-growth logged in the same period (3.9 per cent of the island).

“Taking a closer look at this map and the ecological hit this island has taken, you would be forgiven for thinking this is Madagascar or Sumatra or another part of the world known for rapid destruction of biological richness,” said Wieting. “These endangered old-growth stands are becoming as rare as white rhinos.”

The loss of primary forests largely undisturbed by human activity is threatening biodiversity, carbon storage and environmental services. Species that depend on old-growth forests will not survive as the majority of the island is increasingly covered by young, even-aged forests that are clearcut in short rotation forestry.

The mandate letter for the Minister of Forests, Lands, Natural Resource Operations and Rural Development, Doug Donaldson, calls for sustainable management of BC’s old-growth forests, but it remains unclear what steps the province is planning to take to protect endangered coastal and inland old-growth ecosystems.

Last week the provincial government announced increased protection for northern goshawk and marbled murrelet, bird species threatened by the loss of old-growth rainforest. The proposal is a step in the right direction, but implementation of the plan will take too long unless interim measures are put in place, and will not be sufficient to halt the ecological degradation of coastal old-growth rainforest ecosystems on Vancouver Island and the south coast.

Sierra Club BC map: State of Vancouver Island’s Coastal Temperate Rainforest

Data: Vancouver Island Map Data Table

Background information: www.rainforestisland.ca

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Contact:
Jens Wieting
Forest and Climate Campaigner
Sierra Club BC
C: (604)354-5312

Sierra Club BC welcomes increased protection for northern goshawk and marbled murrelet habitat

February 28, 2018/in Conservation and Biodiversity, Featured Story, Forests, Media Centre, Press Releases /by Sierra Club

More action needed for old-growth rainforest ecosystems and species in race against time

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE:

February 28, 2018

Sierra Club BC welcomes increased protection for the northern goshawk and marbled murrelet announced by the B.C. government yesterday. But implementation of the conservation steps for these old-growth dependent species will take too long and will not be sufficient to halt the ecological degradation of coastal old-growth rainforest ecosystems on Vancouver Island and the south coast.

According to the government press release, the proposed implementation plans will set aside about 70,000 hectares of habitat suitable for the marbled murrelet and more than 30,000 hectares of breeding areas for goshawk in the next five to seven years along the B.C. coast.

“Marbled murrelets are remarkable seabirds that nest only on the branches of old-growth trees,” said Jens Wieting, senior forest and climate campaigner with Sierra Club BC. “We welcome the BC government’s announcement of increased protection, however we are concerned that the proposed process will result in ‘talk and log.’ Without interim protection for critical hotspot areas, suitable habitat will be logged and it will be harder for these iconic birds to find sufficient nesting areas.”

Sierra Club BC data shows 88,000 hectares of old-growth and 238,000 hectares of second-growth were logged between 2006 and 2016 on public and private lands on Vancouver Island alone. This included a very significant portion of old-growth and older second-growth forest that would have been considered suitable habitat for the two bird species.

A 2016 Sierra Club BC analysis revealed that almost half of the landscape units on Vancouver Island and the South Coast now have less than 30 per cent of productive old-growth remaining. Experts consider 30 per cent by landscape unit the threshold for ‘high ecological risk’ of loss of species. Landscape units are areas of land used for long-term forest planning, usually 50,000 to 100,000 hectares.

“The science and our mapping reveals that these threatened birds are losing their nesting habitat at a shocking rate,” said Wieting. “The BC government has made an important step in the right direction, but still needs to identify interim protection measures for critical habitat in remaining intact old-growth areas before further fragmentation occurs.”

With climate change exerting additional pressure, species dependent on old-growth are experiencing compounding stresses and are threatened with extirpation or extinction.

In some areas such as Eastern Vancouver Island the remaining percentage of habitat is now reduced to a level where even setting aside all of the remaining habitat in the area is unlikely to allow recovery of healthy populations. Thus in addition to old-growth protection, species recovery also depends on restoring old-growth characteristics in older second-growth forests.

The federal government’s 2018 budget included $1.3 billion for increased protection of terrestrial and marine ecosystem for the next three years. This represents a generational opportunity to seek partnerships between provincial, federal and Indigenous governments to increase protection for B.C.’s endangered coastal and inland old-growth ecosystems and the species that depend on them. This can be done in a way that respects Indigenous governance and supports local communities, such as the Indigenous-led land use planning in Clayoquot Sound.

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Contact:
Jens Wieting
Forest and Climate Campaigner
Sierra Club BC
C: (604)354-5312

Rainforest Island?

January 31, 2018/in Featured Story, Forests, Jens Wieting /by Sierra Club

By Jens Wieting, Forest and Climate Campaigner

This article appeared in the January 2018 issue of The Watershed Sentinel.

Time is running out for Vancouver Island’s globally rare endangered old-growth rainforest. The new BC government must act quickly for the rainforest, communities and the climate, before it’s too late.

Tolkien Giant in the Walbran Valley. Photo by TJ Watt.

For millennia most of Vancouver Island was covered by old-growth trees, many more than 1,000 years old. Indigenous peoples lived with and used the rainforest without destroying it. Now, after a century of large scale logging, the majority of these old-growth rainforest ecosystems and more than 90 per cent of the biggest trees have been logged.

Instead of phasing out old-growth logging, right now the pace of destruction is speeding up. This was revealed recently in a Sierra Club BC review of government data and satellite images of the logging of remaining old-growth rainforest on public and private lands on Vancouver Island.

The average annual amount of old-growth logged between 2005–2015 was close to 9,000 hectares (equivalent to about 22 Stanley Parks). However, this annual amount jumped in 2016 to 10,700 hectares (equivalent to more than 26 Stanley Parks). This number is more than 10 per cent higher than the annual average in the 10-year period 2005–2015.

The destruction of coastal old-growth is even more concerning in light of the fact that forests in other parts of the province are increasingly hit by wildfires driven by human-caused climate change. In British Columbia alone over one million hectares of forests burned in 2017—the highest number since records started. This resulted in skyrocketing provincial greenhouse gas emissions compared to average years in the past.

One of the most important recommendations of climate scientists is that the vast majority of fossil fuel reserves must be left untouched as ‘unburnable’ carbon. This is the only way to stay within our carbon pollution budget needed to limit our planet’s warming.

The same must apply to carbon-rich forest and other natural ecosystems. There is now no remaining pathway to saving our climate without swift, strategic action to reduce carbon emissions related to land use. This means that just like we have to set aside large fossil fuel reserves as ‘unburnable’ carbon, we have to map and protect the world’s remaining carbon-rich old-growth forests—such as the globally rare temperate rainforest ecosystems in the Pacific Northwest—as ‘unharvestable’ carbon.

Here’s why this is so important: so far, these forests have been relatively resilient to climate impacts like fires and pests. They’ve been a much safer carbon sink compared to other forests. BC’s old-growth coastal rainforests can store 1,000 tonnes of carbon per hectare, one of the highest rates on earth. They’re like a carbon bank, accumulating carbon in soil, trees and organic matter over millennia. Reducing emissions by avoiding logging of this old-growth has immediate benefits for the climate.

Shockingly, about half of the carbon stored in these ecosystems gets released in clearcut logging. Carbon is released from large amounts of waste wood left behind and exposed soils. This is often combined with slash burning, an egregious practice that releases millions of tonnes of greenhouse gases annually and must be phased out quickly. It can take centuries until the biomass reaches previous levels. This is time we don’t have.

Contrary to industry claims, more and more research shows that old trees store more carbon per year than young trees. A recent study found that the older a tree is, the better it absorbs carbon from the atmosphere, with almost 70 per cent of the carbon stored in trees accumulated in the last half of their lives. The new findings suggest that old trees store more carbon in proportion to their size.

And yet the destruction of Vancouver Island’s original old-growth rainforest is occurring three times faster than primary forest loss in tropical rainforests. According to the FAO, tropical countries lost 10 percent of their primary forests between 1990-2015. On Vancouver Island, old-growth forest declined by 30 per cent over the same time period.

Clearcut logging in East Creek, Vancouver Island. Photo by Mark Worthing.

Sierra Club BC has estimated the impact of one year’s worth of old-growth logging on our climate. In our 2013 report ‘Carbon at Risk’, we found that one year of old-growth logging on Vancouver Island alone essentially eliminated BC’s progress in reducing carbon emissions that year, releasing approximately 3 million tonnes of carbon dioxide into the atmosphere and nullifying the province’s progress in reducing annual emissions by the same amount.

BC’s endangered old-growth forests are one of our best tools for fighting climate change. It makes no sense to cut them if we’re trying to meet our climate goals. We need to save the last of these forests now.

The Great Bear Rainforest Agreements show that solutions are possible. The agreements met science-based conservation levels, strengthened First Nations’ rights, enabled conservation financing and forest carbon credit projects, and gave forestry companies certainty for logging under stringent standards. The reduced rate of logging is resulting in 600,000 tonnes of carbon emissions reductions annually, benefitting the region’s First Nations with revenue from carbon.

New protected areas and conservation measures for Vancouver Island must respect First Nations’ rights and interests, enable a transition to sustainable second-growth forestry, reduce carbon emissions and support diverse economic activities such as tourism. The Ahousaht Nation in Clayoquot Sound is leading the way in demonstrating alternatives to old-growth logging. Their land use vision includes an end to industrial logging in their territory.

Sierra Club BC stands ready to work with the new BC government, First Nations, the forestry sector and other environmental organizations to increase protection of endangered old-growth rainforest as a key part of our response to global warming. This summer’s wildfire’s and hurricanes are a stark reminder that the time to act is now—not tomorrow.

Please visit www.rainforestisland.ca and join our call for action.

Feature image by Rachel Grigg.

Event: Save BC’s Endangered Old-Growth Forest!

December 15, 2017/in Events, Featured Story, Forests /by Sierra Club

January 11, 2017

7:00-9:00 pm

Patagonia Vancouver

1994 W. 4th Ave

Most of BC’s old-growth forests and rural communities are in crisis. Raw log exports are at a record high and mills are closing. Climate change and massive forest fires are here to stay. But we are still clearcutting our most resilient and carbon-rich ancient rainforests at an alarming rate: 3 square metres per second on Vancouver Island!

Our new provincial government promised to take action for BC’s old-growth rainforest, work with First Nations and support forestry. Now it’s time for action—before it’s too late.

Come hear from Tyson Atleo, member of the Ahousaht First Nation and program lead for The Nature Conservancy about First Nation-led land use planning in Ahousaht territory, Clayoquot Sound. Take part in a conversation about the state of the forest, the solutions that are possible and how you can help save BC’s endangered rainforest, with speakers from Sierra Club BC, Ancient Forest Alliance and Wilderness Committee.

Free event. Beer will be for sale with proceeds supporting the protection of old-growth forests in BC.

This event will take place on the unceded territories of the Skwxwú7mesh (Squamish), xʷməθkʷəy̓əm (Musqueam), and mi ce:p kʷətxʷiləm (Tsleil-Waututh) Nations.

RSVP and invite your friends on Facebook

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