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e-3408 (Environment)

E-petition
Initiated by Adrian Hough from Nanaimo, British Columbia

Original language of petition: English

Petition to the Government of Canada

Whereas:
  • Indigenous peoples have rights and title to their traditional territories and have been stewards of these lands since time immemorial;
  • The climate crisis require action by all levels of government and industry;
  • Old-growth forests provide immeasurable benefits, including carbon sequestration, biodiversity, culture, recreation, education, food and more;
  • Valley-bottom high productivity old-growth ecosystems in British Columbia are endangered;
  • Of the remaining 2.7% of original high productivity old-growth forests in British Columbia, 75% are still slated to be logged;
  • Only 9% of the original 360,000 hectares of valley-bottom high productivity old-growth on Vancouver Island remain today; only 2.6% of those forests are protected in parks;
  • The last unprotected intact old-growth valley on Southern Vancouver Island, Fairy Creek, is slated for logging, along with the upper Walbran Valley and other remaining pockets of old growth; and
  • Most Canadians support sustainable harvesting of second and third growth forests, but do not support logging old-growth trees or destroying their surrounding ecosystems.
We, the undersigned, citizens of Canada, call upon the Government of Canada to:
1. Work with the provinces and First Nations to immediately halt logging of endangered old-growth ecosystems;
2. Fund the long-term protection of old-growth ecosystems as a priority for Canada’s climate action plan and reconciliation with Indigenous Peoples;
3. Support value-added forestry initiatives in partnership with First Nations to ensure Canada’s forestry industry is sustainable, and based on the harvesting of second and third growth forests;
4. Ban the export of raw logs and maximize resource use for local jobs; and
5. Ban the use of whole trees for wood pellet biofuel production.
Open for signature
May 11, 2021, at 10:22 a.m. (EDT)
Closed for signature
September 8, 2021, at 10:22 a.m. (EDT)
Photo - Paul Manly
Nanaimo—Ladysmith
Green Party Caucus
British Columbia