Oh Canada!

Good News for the Future


Can you say "Good news"? It's hard these days, and the bad news continued Tuesday as it does every day. But there was one story that seems very, very good, if it's really, true. Here's the first half of the Independent story on the deal that could be the best news for the future in a very long time:

Canada is to protect a vast swath of intact temperate rainforest along its Pacific coast, under an agreement unveiled yesterday between the British Columbia government, local indigenous peoples, environmental groups and major logging companies.

The unprecedented plan covers some five million acres, or roughly a third, of the Great Bear rainforest, starting about 150 miles north of Vancouver and stretching as far as the Alaska border. The area will be turned into a sanctuary for a host of species, including grizzly and black bears, as well as rare white "spirit" bears, wolves and wolverine, and eagles and other spectacular birds of prey. The glacier-etched fjords and rivers of the region are also spawning ground for 20 per cent of the world's wild salmon.

Under the agreement, the logging companies will be allowed to work the rest of the forest, but under strict rules designed to safeguard the region's ecosystem. Even in this semi-open area, specified tracts - key valleys, animal breeding areas and fish rivers - will be spared from the chainsaw entirely. "First Nation" native groups will have an expanded role in management of land that is part of their history and culture.

The deal comes after a decade of protests at the relentless encroachment by the timber industry, driven by the insatiable international demand for wood and paper products. The fate of Great Bear rainforest became an ecological rallying cry the world over. Under intense pressure from local and environmental groups, more than 80 US, European and Japanese hardware and furniture companies, including giants like Ikea and Home Depot, initiated a boycott of Great Bear products in the late 1990s.

Some are already calling this a template for similiar deals for the Amazon and elsewhere. Part of this template was protest, that went on for well over a decade. The map I saw seems to include Haida Gwai, (Queen Charlottes), which was the focus of environmental protests a generation ago, that energized the Canadian environmental movement.

The participation of First Peoples is especially noteworthy. That's a pattern that needs to be established here in the U.S., where enviros are too often at odds with Native tribes and organizations.

This deal to save a wilderness was announced on the same day as a stunning story concerning a wilderness already protected. In a relatively brief visit to a part of New Guinea apparently not seen by humans perhaps ever, scientists catalogued several new species of plants and animals, and found an abundance of wildlife, including animals and birds unafraid of human presence. Described as a kind of Eden, the reports of a lush and unspoiled natural environment are amazing and heart-rending, because so utterly rare.

This is a protected area, and like the Canadian protected zone, the participation of indigenous peoples is crucial. "The key investment is the local communities. Their knowledge, appreciation and oral traditions are so important. They are the forest stewards who will look after these assets," Dr Bruce Beehler, one of the visiting scientists, told the BBC.

The stakes are high. Together with all the life within them, our remaining forests are crucial to the future. The forests are the lungs of the earth, and perhaps our best insulation against the heating and drying of the Climate Crisis. There were reminders of that, too, on Tuesday, as there are just about every day. On Tuesday it was announced that January was the warmest in U.S. ever recorded and 2005 was the warmest year worldwide.