Tag Archives: Sierra Club BC

Forests, Indigenous Nations

First Nations leader celebrates evolution of stewardship in Great Bear Rainforest

Canada’s National Observer, Local Journalism Initiative Reporter

There are new measures to better protect bear and fish habitat in the globe’s largest remaining coastal temperate rainforest, thanks to First Nations’ increasing role in stewarding the Great Bear Rainforest (GBR).

The new protections resulted from the latest five-year review of an agreement between the B.C. Ministry of Forests and two First Nations alliances — Coastal First Nations and Nanwakolas Council — which represent 11 of the 26 Nations with territory in the rainforest.

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Forests

‘A public relations strategy’: Critics slam B.C’s recent effort to boost transparency on logging

Canada’s National Observer, Local Journalism Initiative Reporter

The B.C. government has announced changes to improve transparency around logging operations, but critics have more questions than answers. 

Due to recent changes to the Forest and Range Practices Act, forestry companies will be required to create a map of proposed logging operations available for public review as of April 1, 2024, according to B.C.’s Ministry of Forests. And the public will be able to offer input on what environmental values should be considered for future logging plans. 

In addition, the province is developing an online mapping system that companies can choose to use to display their map and get public feedback. The system will be fully launched sometime in 2024. 

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Energy

Proposed B.C. coal mine gets axed over ‘significant’ environmental effects

By Natasha Bulowski, Canada’s National Observer, Local Journalism Initiative Reporter

The federal and British Columbia governments have rejected a proposed open-pit coal mine over its environmental impacts.

The Sukunka open-pit coal mine near Tumbler Ridge, B.C., would have produced three million tons of coal per year to sell to steel manufacturers overseas, according to Glencore, the company behind the project. The federal government announced the rejection — based on B.C.’s environmental assessment process — on Dec. 21. 

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Animals

Saving B.C.’s at-risk species is pivotal to Canada’s biodiversity promises at COP15

Canada’s National Observer, Local Journalism Initiative Reporter

British Columbia represents the country’s greatest opportunity to be a world leader when Canada hosts the landmark global UN Biodiversity Conference in Montreal next month. 

Prime Minister Justin Trudeau has committed to the 30×30 pledge — to protect 30 per cent of Canada’s land and waters by 2030 — and is urging other world leaders to follow suit. The goal won’t be met without gains in B.C., which boasts the greatest biological diversity of any province or territory in the country but also has the greatest number of species at risk.

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Animals

Government protection of Species at Risk ineffective, report says

A new report commissioned by the Wilderness Committee and Sierra Club BC found that Federal and Provincial government policy gaps have rendered their protection of Species at Risk ineffective. 

“Our study looked at terrestrial and freshwater vertebrate species in BC We needed to refine the scope a little bit just because there are so many Species at Risk in BC. In order to do this analysis, we had to narrow in on a few representative species. In total, we chose 64 species. Of the 64 species, only two of them have had their critical habitat mapped by the deadlines. The remaining 97% have experienced critical habitat mapping delays anywhere from 2 to 18 years. Then there’s 16 of the 64 species that still don’t even have their critical habitat mapped,” explained Charlotte Dawe of the Wilderness Committee.

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