441-02509 (Environment)

Whereas:

• Indigenous peoples have rights and title to their traditional territories and have been stewards of these lands since time immemorial;

• The climate crisis requires 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, and 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 Valle 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.