Thread by @TorranceCoste

Today marks exactly two years since the BC government released the results of its Old-Growth Strategic Review.

This review outlined a clear process to safeguard old-growth + implement a paradigm shift in forests in BC.

Unfortunately, the @bcndp is far behind.

A VERY long 🧵:

The OGSR, undertaken in 2019 and early 2020 by two veteran foresters, was the largest review of forest policy and practices in BC history.

The result was a groundbreaking report, completed in April 2020 and released to the public Sept11th:
www2.gov.bc.ca/assets/gov/far… #bcpoli
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The report explicitly acknowledged the problems in the BC forest industry. It classified the status quo as unsustainable, and highlighted the huge lack of public trust due to poor transparency from the provincial government.
#bcpoli #oldgrowth #bcforestry
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It called for a ‘paradigm shift,’ away from the prioritization of timber and toward the prioritization of ecosystem health.

To accomplish this, the OGSR report made fourteen concrete recommendations.
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The recommendations range from immediate action in the most at-risk old-growth to improved in transparency and public info to development of transition plans for forest communities.

The report lays out a 3 year timeline in which to complete or begin these recommendations.
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Two thirds of the way through this mandate, the @bcndp hasn’t completed any of the fourteen recommendations —some it hasn’t even begun.

Let’s look at the one that is most fussed over:

Recommendation 6 —Immediate Response to Ecosystems at Very High Risk
#bcpoli
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This recommendation is very clear: the focus is on targeting ecologically at-risk forests that are being targetted for logging, and stopping the logging there, compensating impacted parties (First Nations and in some cases companies).

Read the recommendation yourself here:
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The mechanism the OGSR panel recommended to accomplish this is deferrals: a temporary hold on logging.

When I presented to the panel in December 2019, they told me they were looking at deferrals as a possible tool.

When they said this, I think I visibly cringed.
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The movement I serve and feel accountable to hasn’t been fighting since before I was born for a temporary pause in the destruction of old-growth forests.

It’s been fighting to protect these life-giving and magical ecosystems forever.

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When I raised this with the panel, they agreed permanent protection was the ultimate goal, but that that won’t happen quickly, as protected areas can’t (and shouldn’t be!) implemented without Indigenous consent.

This process will take years, in some areas decades.
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This meeting was almost three years ago, but I remember the next thing they said to me like it was yesterday.

“Torrance, you know full well that many old-growth ecosystems don’t have years or decades. For this to be possible at all, we need an interim tool.”
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Gary Merkel and Al Gorley, the OGSR panelists, basically sold me on old-growth deferrals right then in that moment: no, they aren’t a permanent solution, but a temporary measure needed to make a permanent solution *even possible* at all.
#bcpoli
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When the OGSR panel described old-growth deferrals to me, I understood they aren’t an ideal measure, but an absolutely necessary one. Not a cure, but a tourniquet.

And just like a tourniquet, the deferrals are only really effective if applied right away.
#bcpoli
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This sense of urgency is reflected in the OGSR report —recommendation 6 calls for the deferrals within six months.

Six months from when they gave the report to government was October 30, 2020 (a week after Premier Horgan’s snap pandemic snap election). #bcpoli
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When the government released the OGSR report two years ago, they clumsily responded to recommendation 6 by announcing 350,000 hectares of “protected old-growth” at the same time, giving themselves heaps of credit for the move.
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Upon a deeper look though, it became clear that less than 200k of this was actually defined as old-growth (the rest was 2nd growth or non-forest), and of that, only a few thousand hectares could be called “at-risk,” and huge parts of the area were already in parks.
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Of the new area, even referring to it as “protected” was inaccurate —these were just temporary deferrals after all.

Not only did the government exaggerate the quality of the forests it was taking an action in, it also inflated the action itself.
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The very first move the @bcndp made in response to a report that called for more transparency was an incredibly dishonest and misleading announcement.

One that was widely criticized in following months:
thenarwhal.ca/bc-forests-log… #bcpoli #oldgrowth
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Fast forward to late June 2021, and the conflict over BC forest policy is garnering worldwide attention with the images of the (often violent) arrests of hundreds of people at Fairy Creek and surrounding areas going viral almost daily.
#cdnpoli #FairyCreek #oldgrowth
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This conflict was 100% of the @bcndp’s making: the previous fall, during the provincial election campaign, it had promised to protect old-growth forests, and here was an iconic and beautiful old-growth forest about to be logged.

What did they expect would happen?

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Suddenly, forest minister @KatrineConroy announced the formation of a second panel, the Technical Advisory Panel (TAP) to determine where the most threat old-growth was:
cheknews.ca/b-c-forms-inde…
#bcpoli #oldgrowth
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So, well over a year after the OGSR panel recommended action on the most at-risk old-growth within six months, the @bcndp announced it would figure out where the at-risk old-growth is.

Meanwhile, old-growth logging had continued virtually unabated:
cbc.ca/news/canada/br…
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Another four months pass, and on November 2, 2021, the @bcndp released the results of the TAP’s analysis, including mapping of the 2.6 million hectares of the most threatened old-growth forest —about 4.6% of all forest in BC.
news.gov.bc.ca/releases/2021F… #bcpoli
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But, despite the title of the press release, they weren’t actually taking action, just stating a vague “intention.”

In 2020, the OGSR had recommended deferrals and compensation to alleviate any impacts (see tweet 7 in this thread). #bcpoli
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Instead, the @bcndp said it had identified areas it “intends” to defer, a move that only further stoked anger.

thenarwhal.ca/bc-old-growth-… #bcpoli #oldgrowth
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See, the problem with identifying at-risk old-growth and saying you want to defer logging there is that if you don’t actually implement the deferrals, logging will continue.

Everyone knows what they say about good intentions what’s paved with them.

#bcpoli #oldgrowth
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The rationale the @bcndp gave for this was that it couldn’t do logging pauses without agreement from First Nations.

This is a good standard, but it’s a double standard, as logging hasn’t historically and still doesn’t always require agreement.

ricochet.media/en/3769/double…
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This consent-for-conservation-but-not-for-logging approach has been heavily criticized, and the whole way the deferral process has been done, especially the severe lack of funding, has received fierce pushback from Indigenous leaders + communities:
ubcic.bc.ca/first_nations_…
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As Squamish Nation leader @Khelsilem puts it in the release above:

“The @bcndp is giving a terrible choice by only offering consent for temporary deferrals but not requiring consent for logging.”

If consent is required, and it should be, it should be required always.
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The most recent declaration on old-growth issued by the @UBCIC echoes what the OGSR recommended two years ago: immediate deferral of at-risk old-growth, with compensation for First Nations where necessary.

This is a clear call to action, one the @bcndp continues to ignore.
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In April 2022, the @bcndp announced it had confirmed deferrals in just over 1 million of the 2.6 million hectares it had targeted. But it won’t say where, meaning the public has no way to know which forests are at stake, and which ones have temporary reprieve.
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What’s more, they won’t outline whether they have a plan to defer new areas to make up for ones lost, or how they’ll facilitate the move from temporary deferrals to permanent protection.

What will the new forest industry look like? Does the @bcndp have any plan?

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The key funding that’s needed to make deferral and protection possible for First Nations and other rural communities continues to be withheld. The ludicrous assumption that a ‘paradigm shift’ can happen without public investment is still clung too by this government.
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The concern that tens of thousands of hectares of old-growth within the intended deferral area are being destroyed if the deferrals are not implemented is being proven, both through site visits on the land and satellite analysis by folks like those at @standearth.
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This excellent investigation, released by @standearth just a few weeks ago, shows the extent of logging within the intended deferral areas across BC.

This summer I visited a small selection of these places, and it is truly heartbreaking.

stand.earth/latest/forest-…
#bcpoli
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And still the @bcndp drags it’s feet, insisting this is the best they can do, avoiding the uncomfortable truth that with each day that passes, their promise to do better on old-growth is being broken.

This is said a lot, but we simply don’t have more time to waste on this.
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The logging companies and lobbyists continue to rail against the changes recommended by the OGSR, and double down on the incorrect and unfair argument that conservation is to blame for the problems in their industry:

cbc.ca/news/opinion/o…
#bcpoli #bcforestry
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And the @bcndp does nothing to counter this, nothing to point out that ecological sustainability can be achieved without sacrificing good jobs and stable communities. This is the challenge of social democratic parties in the 21st century, and the NDP isn’t rising to it.
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Others continue to put their bodies on the line, blocking roads and bridges, and sometimes logging roads.

The desperation that motivates action like this wouldn’t continue to grow in a place where the government was making an honest effort to rebuild public trust.
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And meanwhile, First Nations communities continue to lose out, put in the middle of conflict by the NDP’s half-measured approach, or forced into expensive litigation if they choose not to go along with corporate/government logging plans on their territory.
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A case of the latter is the Nuchatlaht, a west coast Nation whose Indigenous title the @bcndp government (whose lawyers have been under the direction of @Dave_Eby for the past five years) is actively denying in the Supreme Court:

indiginews.com/vancouver-isla…
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And of course, while all this talk an dl conflict plays out, irreplaceable old-growth forests continue to fall.

The photos below were all taken this August by @wildernews comms lead Alex Tsui in forests identified for deferral on Vancouver Island.
#bcpoli
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Something’s gotta give here.

The @bcndp has to find it’s soul. It has to find a bit of courage to keep its promises on old-growth.

40+ tweets into a thread, this is obviously a big issue, but it’s also a simple one: we shouldn’t destroy irreplaceable forests anymore.

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The @BCNDPCaucus may be remembered as the politicians that oversaw the destruction of the last best old-growth. That’s the legacy they’ll have to live with all their lives, and I honestly pity them for it.
#bcpoli #oldgrowth
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It’s late in the day here, but it’s not too late.

We can make this change. We can leave the last best remnants of these ecosystems alone, and create a just and sustainable forest industry into the future.

It’s a beautiful possibility, and we should never let it go.

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If you’re still here, thank you so much for reading, I appreciate it.

I hope this helped put a big, contentious issue into some context or provided new clarity for you. I’m always open to feedback or questions, so drop em if you’ve got em.

Lots of love ❤️ 🌲
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