Newsletter No. 53 - Serving
Vancouver Island's Environmental Community - September 1996
NOW WE FACE A NEW CRISIS
IN THE FOREST
Just when you thought the War in the Woods was over, the
forests face a terrible ecological threat.
If current plans for forestry on Vancouver Island are
allowed to proceed, we will see all of the old-growth forest outside the 13% protected
areas liquidated, and two-thirds of the Island turned over to industrial forestry,
clearcuts, chemicals and all (with the possible exception of Clayoquot Sound). It has
taken over fifty years for the environmental movement to establish the principle that the
best of the oldgrowth forest should be protected. With the final protection of 13% of the
land-base under CORE, the rest of the Island is now being divided up into high intensity
areas (HIAs) and low intensity areas (LIAs).
The new process is called Vancouver Island Regional
Targets, a behind- closed-doors process which has industry but no environmental
representation. Over 50% of the Island is now listed for 'high intensity forestry', and
just 8% for 'low intensity'. The process is a sell-out of the more sensitive low intensity
areas, where higher standards were supposed to apply. The Sierra Club has produced a map
which shows that the HIAs cover most of the remaining oldgrowth forest, while a quarter of
the LIAs have already been clearcut. With this new process, we have crossed a major
watershed, and face a whole new landscape of problems.
If we, as environmentalists, are content to sit back on
the laurels of the 13% saved (only 8% is forest, the rest is rock, ice and non-forest
habitat), we will condemn future generations to a landscape deprived of the magic, power
and ecological richness of the oldgrowth forest, which is the way nature designed the
temperate rainforest to be, over millions of years.
We may also be doing far worse. With rising global
temperatures combined with harmful UV rays, the worst thing we could be doing is removing
the forest canopy, exposing new growth to the increased heat and UV rays. The most
sensible defensive strategy against climate change would be to remove as little of the
canopy as possible, to maintain the protection that nature herself designed. Whatever the
multinational forest corporations may say, the evidence is in that ecosystem-based forest
management can provide jobs, timber, and ecological security on a permanently sustainable
basis.
The pressing need is to paint a picture of what such a
future could look like, spell out the means by which it could be achieved, and create a
whole campaign around it - one of the Sierra Club's main goals for this fall. (Call
386-5255)
The practical aspects of ecoforestry are well-known. The
big question is how such a vision can be applied to the province as a whole in a
sustainable, participatory way, and enable forestry to be practised as a ecologically
restorative activity for the next few thousand years.
Some of the ingredients are already shaping up in
Clayoquot Sound, where the government has set up a Central Regional Board consisting of
five community representatives and a co-chair appointed by the province, and five members
and a co-chair appointed by the First Nations. It is their task to approve all the logging
plans and to ensure that the recommendations of the Scientific Panel are implemented,
among other things. Because this is a community, not a stakeholder process, the process is
very sympathetic to long term goals.
Standing back and thinking in large terms, the campaign
that we need might contain the following :
- The re-alignment of Regional District boundaries on the
Island so that they are defined by major watersheds. This would involve reducing the size
of the existing regions and creating 3 - 6 new ones, mainly along the west coast.
- Re-aligning forest management boundaries on the same basis,
disentangling the current administrative mess.
- Creating an appointed or elected Watershed Stewardship
Council for each regional district, with First Nations involvement, and giving them
responsibility for approving all forestry plans, and for ensuring that local communities
are involved in the process.
- Steadily upgrading the Forest Practices Code to meet
ecoforestry standards, including the requirement for ecological and cultural inventories
prior to planning.
- Legislation to encourage the transfer of TFLs into
Community Forest Licenses.
- Legislation to encourage the development of local
value-added businesses, so that we no longer have to import IKEA furniture from Sweden, of
all places.
- Legislation to reduce the current level of cut back to a
long-term sustainable level.
Right now, we are in danger of losing the most of the
Island to industrial logging. We urgently need a practical vision of a sustainable forest
future, and a new campaign to build the political will that can make such a future
possible. For everyone's sakes, it has to be done.
- Guy Dauncey
ECONEWS
Published as a monthly service, nourishing
the vision of an Island blessed by the harmony of nature and community, funded by your
donations.
Many thanks to Marianne Livant, Camilla
Turner, Robert Cunliffe, Keith Rogers, Hermine Hicks, Amelita Kucher, Audrey Woodward,
Angela Evans, Gail Richards, Alison Vida, Janet Hawksley, Marianne Raedler, Colin Graham
and Nattayna Hewitt. And thanks also to Amelia Humphries for her donation, which launches
the EcoNews Development Fund. (See below). It's your generosity and goodwill that keeps
the ship sailing !
Donations can be made to EcoNews, 395 Conway Road, Victoria V8X 3X1. If you don't want to receive EcoNews, or are going away, please let
us know - it avoids wasting the postage. To receive EcoNews call (250) 881-1304, or email guydauncey@earthfuture.com
NEWS FROM THE SUMMER
While I have been quietly working away on my new book
about the future, '2015', others have been busy using the summer months to make practical
progress that will benefit everyone, including future generations. With so many reminders
of the coming dangers, it is sometimes hard to believe things are changing. But step by
step, and committee by committee, individual people are quietly making this world a better
place. The next few stories are all the result of vision, persistence and commitment by
individual people, here on the Island.
SOLAR AQUATICS
In Parkesville, Kim Rink's Eco-Tek company has installed
the Island's first Solar Aquatic Sewage Treatment System to treat the wastes from a
trailer park. Solar Aquatics uses a series of tanks inside a greenhouse to treat the
wastes by passing the sewage through plants and algae, which break down the effluent until
it is effectively drinking water quality. The National Research Council is advancing
funding to develop a Bioponics System which will integrate growing fish and plants within
the greenhouse. Interest is growing, now that there are a dozen or so operating solar
aquatic systems in the world. The Chinese government has expressed an interest in Kim's
system; there are plans for a small golf course system in Nanaimo, with a greenhouse
attached to the clubhouse; and the City of Burnaby has set aside $100,000 to build a solar
aquatics demonstration project at the B.C. Institute of Technology. To contact Kim, call
(604) 882-2999.
LIGHT RAPID TRANSIT
With the government's decision to press ahead with studies
for a Regional Light Rail Transit System, following years of campaigning and constant
effort by people like Bill MacDonald, Alistair Craighead, Rob Price and Derek Mallard, an
advisory committee has been meeting and a route has been agreed with a budgeted cost of
$298 million. That's one huge hurdle jumped. The next big issue will be - when ?
SOOKE HILLS
Persisting with the vision of a Sooke Hills Greenbelt from
Goldstream Park to the Sea, the Western Canada Wilderness Committee has been touring local
councils, winning support for the idea that the Water District should set the lands aside
as a permanent park. At the latest Water Board meeting, the decision to trade the Kapoor
lands was defeated, 4 : 4.
GARRY OAK MEADOWS
Over the summer, the Garry Oak Meadow Preservation Society
has been making steady progress in restoring Garry oak meadows by clearing the broom off
Mount Tolmie, protecting the Garry Oak Meadow on the FAMA lands in Central Saanich, Summit
Park and elsewhere, and awakening people to the need to protect our own rare ecosystem.
EcoNews has made a $50 donation, to go towards the purchase of new trees.
URBAN SALMON HABITAT
Healthy ecosystems needs healthy streams, rivers and
watersheds, and the government has kicked in with funding of $680,000 for urban stream
projects through the Urban Salmon Habitat Program. 27 groups on the Island are receiving
funds for projects including a spawning and rearing habitat in the Cowichan River, and
working to protect Ayum Creek at the south end of the Sooke Hills (see Diary). For details
on the program, call Eric Bonham, 356-2353.
FISH FARMS REVIEW
A big danger to wild salmon stocks, the practice of
fish-farming, is finally going through environmental assessment, which is due to wrap up
next March. The fish-farmers think they've got the answer to disappearing wild salmon
stocks, but many people think otherwise, and hear alarm bells ringing. If you want to
follow what's happening, call the Environmental Assessment Office at 356-7491.
CLEAN WATER ACT
During the recent election, Glen Clark unveiled the
Sustainable Environment Charter, including a commitment to a Clean Water Act. This is
scheduled for next spring, and will include a framework for implementing local watershed
planning, and community stewardship programs. Now, can we bring forestry into the
watershed management picture, too ? For details about the Act, call Don Fast at
Environmental Protection, 387-9993. For information on water quality here on the Island,
call Charmane Bernat in Nanaimo, 751-3252.
CABINET CONTACT LIST Legislative
Assembly, Victoria, V8V 1X4
Premier, Youth. Glen Clark 387-1715 Fax 387-0087. Exec
Secretary Gurmeel Sall 356-6370.
Aboriginal Affairs. John Cashore 387-0886. Fax 356-1124.
Ass't Bob Peart
Agriculture, Food & Fisheries. Corky Evans. 387-1023.
Fax 387-1522 Admin Ass't Ann Fraser-Mol
Attorney General, Human Rights, Multiculturalism. Ujjal
Dosanjh. 387-1866. Fax 387-6411. Ass't Joanne Moody
Education, Skills & Training, and Labour. Moe Sihota,
356-6348, Fax 356-6595. Ass't Michele Rempel.
Employment and Investment, & Deputy Premier. Dan
Miller. 356-7020. Fax 356-5587. Ass't Bert Willing.
Environment. Paul Ramsey 387-1187. Fax 387-1356. Ass't Aja
Norgaard
Finance, Corporate Relations, Intergov't Relations. Andrew
Petter. 387-3751. Fax 387-5594. Ass't Linda Brown, Dave Cubberley
Forests. Dave Zirnhelt 387-6240. Fax 387-1040. ass't
Cynthia Carver.
Health, Seniors. Joy MacPhail 387-5394 Fax 387-3696 Ass't
Deborah Nyberg
Municipal Affairs & Housing Dan Miller 387-3602. Fax
387-1334. Ass't Wendy Tworney
Small Business, Tourism & Culture. Penny Priddy.
387-1683. Fax 387-4348. Ass't Christine Coates
Social Services. Dennis Streifel. 387-3180. Fax 387-5720.
Ass't Vanessa Coombes
Transportation & Highways. Lois Boone. 387-1978. Fax
356-2290. Ass't Judy McCallum
Women's Equality. Sue Hammell. 387-1223. Fax 387-4312.
Ass't Christine McLaren.
For a full version of this list, including the Deputy
Ministers and all the various assistants, call 387-1337 (Cabinet Policy and Communications
Secretariat).
THE ECONEWS DEVELOPMENT
FUND
A generous donation of $250 has launched the Development
Fund. Each month, bundles of EcoNews are sent to people who put them in local stores,
making it available to people who may have never seen it before. The first use of the Fund
is to increase this method of distribution. Do you know a whole food store, restaurant or
other suitable place where you might drop off 20 copies every month ? If you do, or if you
have ideas for the Fund, or would like to make a donation, please call me at881-1304 or
email guydauncey@earthfuture.com (Cheques to
EcoNews Development Fund)
GERMANY MOVES TO AN
ECO-CIRCULAR ECONOMY
Germany already leads the world in recycling, with its
requirement that manufacturers take back their packaging, and the system which tells
consumers to put all packaging with a Green Dot in a separate container, where it is
picked up by a recycling consortium paid for by business. Well, under the new Recycling
and Waste Management Act, which comes into effect on October 7th, the government has taken
the first steps to put the whole economy onto a closed-loop, circular basis. The Act lays
down a set of principles which apply to the whole of economic life. Manufacturers are now
responsible for the entire life-cycle of a product, from the moment its materials leave
the ground to the time it is recycled, including energy used for transportation.
The law gives priority to waste avoidance by requiring the
use of low waste product designs, closed-circle approaches to waste management, and
consumer behaviour oriented to the purchase of low-waste and low pollution products. The
recycling of materials is given priority over incineration to recover energy, and
regulations requiring the use of renewable resources (eg energy), though less stringent,
lay the basis for placing the whole economy on a circular flow basis. Having laid down the
new principles, the Act requires federal and local governments to follow up with specific
ordinances, targeting product responsibility, the duty of waste recovery, the duty of
waste disposal, and the duty to provide 'institutional transparency' - ie no secrecy.
No-one knows when these ordinances will appear or what
they will look like, so industry is forced to anticipate the new rules by taking steps to
realize a circular economy in their own particular fields. In 1994, for example, the
German paper industry committed itself to a 60% recovery rate for paper by the year 2000,
and this year, the automotive industry agreed to take back and recycle its cars. BMW has
built an entire plant in Munich to recycle cars, especially the 20 or so plastic
components that are tough to recycle. Co-operation to meet the new regulations and
establish closed-loop materials cycles is happening within industries (eg automotive,
electronics), within sectors (eg paper, glass, metals, plastics), and in regions, which
combine the different flows of individual companies into an overall materials-flow cycle.
Long words, and large changes - and a road that the whole world will soon be following, as
we move from eco-ignorance to eco-wisdom. (Warmer Bulletin, Aug. 1996)
ECOBITS
Western Canada Wilderness Committee's petition to ban all
bear-hunting starts its 90-day process on Sept 9th. If signatures are collected from 10%
of the voters in every constituency, the government will hold a referendum. People are
therefore urgently needed to collect signatures - if we all pull together, we can pull
this one off !To find out more, call WC2, 1-800-661-9453
The deadline for nominations to stand as a Board member
for Pacific Coast Savings Credit Union is September 14th. If you want to help make a
difference in our community, call Kate Colwood, 380-3138. You must have banked with
Pacific Coast for a year.
The National Green Party has elected Wendy Priesnitz as
its new leader. Wendy is a businesswoman, publisher of 'Natural Life' magazine, and a very
live wire. Plans now are for policy development, a budget, finding candidates for 50
constituencies, and choosing 10 constituencies for focussed energy - all by January, for
next year's federal election. To contact Wendy, join the National Green Party or subscribe
to Natural Life, call (519) 448-4001, or write to Natural Life, RR1, St George, ON N0E
1N0.
ACTION OF THE MONTH :
STOLTMANN WILDERNESS
On the Lower Mainland, the government's Regional Public
Advisory Committee (RPAC) has called for the creation of 24 new parks - but sacrificed
many other wilderness areas to be clearcut, including the Lower Mainland's last remaining
wild area, the 260,000 hectare Stoltmann Wilderness, 100km north of Squamish. The RPAC
decision divides the wilderness area into two smaller parks, totaling just 50,300
hectares, scheduling the best wildlife habitat and the best hiking routes for
clearcutting. WC2 is running a desperate campaign to save the whole area. Send your
letters, please, to Paul Ramsey, Minister of Environment, Legislative Assembly, Victoria
V8V 1X4, Fax 387-1356.
RESPONSIBLE TRADE SHOW
NAFTA AND NATURE
Thanks to trade agreements and revolutions in
communications and transport, international corporations now enjoy unprecedented freedom
to trade and invest around the world. Yet the costs of economic globalization have also
become more obvious. Consider these facts :
- The international timber trade is now the top cause of
deforestation, worldwide.
- Since NAFTA took effect, all of the NAFTA countries have
been taking apart their basic environmental protections to increase competitiveness.
Mexico has abandoned environmental impact assessments for new projects, and shrunk the
number of protected areas from 400 to 25. In Alberta, citizens now can't go to court to
challenge the environment minister on timber or mineral sales.
- Chile is the next country to join NAFTA, but NAFTA's side
accords provide no protection for the 90% of Chile's exports that are natural resource
based. Chile is expected to lose all its natural forests within 30 years.
- A $1 trillion industry coalition has used the new World
Trade Organization to launch a sneak attack on ecolabels, whether for ecocertified timber
or for organic food. The industry coalition wants to deny consumers information about
their environmental practices, especially overseas, where they are out of reach of US
laws.
- US Congress adopted a little-known law this spring that
actually requires US agencies to adopt environmental standards set by the
industry-dominated International Standards Organization, which is the vehicle being used
by the timber corporation to oppose the eco-certification process of the Forest
Stewardship Council, which the environmental community supports.
- The US-Mexico border clean-up plan has yet to find a single
project, while ever-more cheap labour polluting industries crowd the border zone.
Since NAFTA took effect in 1994, citizens have been little
involved in trade policy debates; but the Sierra Club has determined that it's time to
act. The Responsible Trade Show (Sept 17th, see Diary) is a 3 hour activists workshop
designed to arm you with the latest facts on how global free trade affects the natural
world, especially the forests and wildlife, and link you to the growing trade activist
network, and build a citizens movement that will win the attention of Washington and
Ottawa policy makers. The Sierra Club Road Show has travelled up from San Diego to
Victoria - I'll see you there !
NOTICE
EcoNews provides this electronic version of
the newsletter free of charge even though it costs time and money to produce. Please feel
free to repost. You can help by making a donation, whether $5 or $100, to:
EcoNews, 395 Conway Road, Victoria, B.C. V8X 3X1, Canada. Thanks !
Click here
for previous issues of EcoNews.
EcoNews, Guy Dauncey
395 Conway Road, Victoria V8X 3X1
Tel/Fax (250) 881-1304
Available free by mail or email
Author of 'After the Crash : The
Emergence of the Rainbow Economy'
(Greenprint, London, 1988. 3rd edition 1997)
EcoNews is printed on Tree-Free paper from Ecosource