In a recently-made public\u00a0letter<\/a>\u00a0from March to the minister of water, land and resource stewardship, 88 different organizations urged the province to move forward on implementing a biodiversity and ecosystem health framework and associated laws that would see the protection of vital natural areas in B.C. One of the 88 organizations that\u2019s critical of the province\u2019s lack of action in this area is\u00a0Save Our Forests\u00a0Comox\u00a0Valley<\/a>, a group committed to advocating for old growth and urban forests.\u00a0<\/p>\n Jen Groundwater, a volunteer for Save Our Forests\u00a0Comox\u00a0Valley, told the Discourse she\u2019s been spending time digging through provincial government initiatives going back to the 1990s and has seen little progress on its promises.<\/p>\n \u201cEvery time you turn around, there\u2019s another panel,\u201d she said. \u201cIt\u2019s like, \u2018Let\u2019s get everybody\u2019s input and we\u2019ll do something about it,\u2019 and then nothing happens.\u201d<\/p>\n A maze of documents\u00a0<\/p>\n One of the reports Groundwater dug through was the 2020 Old Growth Strategic Review: \u201cA New Future for Old Forests.\u201d<\/a>\u00a0The review was submitted by two registered professional foresters, Al Gorley and Garry Merkel, who began travelling across the province and undertaking research for the report in 2019.\u00a0<\/p>\n \u201cFacing diminishing available timber supplies, ecosystems at risk of biodiversity loss in several areas and significant public concern, the Government of British Columbia announced that an independent panel (Al Gorley and Garry Merkel) would carry out a province-wide Old Growth Strategic Review to inform the development of new management policies and strategies,\u201d the report says.<\/p>\n It was submitted in April 2020 after the foresters spoke to \u201cnearly 800 people\u201d through surveys, emails and written submissions about the management of old-growth forests in B.C.\u00a0<\/p>\n The review led the two foresters to conclude that, \u201cdespite the good intentions and efforts of many people \u2026 the overall system of forest management has not supported the effective implementation or achievement of the stated and legislated public objectives for old forests.\u201d<\/p>\n In the review, Gorley and Merkel say this has happened because of many different choices made over several decades \u201cwithin an outdated paradigm.\u201d<\/p>\n In 2023, another document came out \u2014\u00a0the Draft Biodiversity and Ecosystem Health Framework<\/a>\u00a0\u2014 from the Ministry of Water, Land and Resource Stewardship. This document was a \u00a0response to recommendation number two from the Old Growth Strategic Review: \u201cprioritizing ecosystem health and resilience.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n The document says, \u201cThe British Columbia Government commits to the conservation and management of ecosystem health and biodiversity as an overarching priority and will formalize this priority through legislation.\u201d<\/p>\n Groundwater told The Discourse the 88 groups that signed the letter in March are demanding action on B.C.\u2019s commitment that was made in the Draft Biodiversity and Ecosystem Health Framework. But the groups say that two years since the framework was released, the province is yet to put the management of ecosystem health and biodiversity into legislation.\u00a0<\/p>\n Groundwater said it\u2019s discouraging to see these promises made without action.\u00a0<\/p>\n \u201cThat\u2019s the reason we were keen to sign [the letter] and get involved with it,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n In 2024, the province published another document titled\u00a0\u201cFrom Review to Action,\u201d<\/a>\u00a0which shared the progress B.C. has made so far since the 2020 Old Growth Strategic Review report came out. Within the 2024 report, the province said it \u201caccepts the review\u2019s 14 recommendations in full,\u201d but added that \u201cachieving the full intent of the review is work that will span generations.\u201d<\/p>\n More harm than good, say critics<\/p>\n Groundwater met with The Discourse at a local cafe on Sept. 22 and was joined by local senior and environmental advocate, Wendy McNiven.<\/p>\n She is part of a group called\u00a0Seniors for Climate<\/a>\u00a0and has been involved in climate advocacy for 50 years. McNiven said she is exhausted with the lack of action from the province.<\/p>\n \u201cI love big trees. I just feel spiritually better when I\u2019m near them. But of course there are so many scientific reasons for us to maintain old growth forests as healthy ecosystems,\u201d she said.\u00a0<\/p>\n \u201cEveryone\u2019s already heard of the scientific reasons, but they are somehow not choosing to prioritize them.\u201d<\/p>\n The province defines old growth trees as typically 250 years old for the wet coastal and interior wet belt regions, and 140 years old for dry interior forests.<\/p>\n In 2021, scientists\u00a0estimated<\/a>\u00a0that B.C. once held about 25 million hectares of old growth forest, of which 11.1 million hectares remains. Of that, 5 million hectares is unprotected and at risk, meaning that it is both valuable and available to forest companies.<\/p>\n However,\u00a0reporting from The Narwhal<\/a>\u00a0shared that ecologists believe less than three per cent of old-growth forests with the largest trees and richest biodiversity are left.<\/p>\n According to a 2022\u00a0scientific review<\/a>\u00a0from the Environmental Chemistry Letters journal, old trees create \u201cmicro climates that can slow global warming,\u201d and their ability to store carbon in the soil is also crucial to keep the climate cool. Old-growth forests are also \u201cirreplaceable habitats\u201d for many endangered species.<\/p>\n In B.C., one example of an important at-risk species that relies on old-growth forests is the\u00a0oldgrowth specklebelly lichen<\/a>, which is listed as a species of special concern under the\u00a0Species At Risk Act<\/a>.\u00a0<\/p>\n In the interior of B.C., the highly endangered mountain caribou often visit and rely on old-growth forests for their\u00a0winter habitat<\/a>, and the endangered\u00a0northern myotis<\/a>\u00a0bat relies on large-diameter trees to roost. They\u00a0raise their pups<\/a>\u00a0underneath the thick bark.<\/p>\n The 2020 Old Growth Strategic Review report says, \u201cIn addition to their intrinsic value, the timber [old-growth forests] provide is important to the provincial economy, and a primary source of income in many communities. These same forests anchor ecosystems that are critical to the wellbeing of many species of plants and animals, including people, now and in the future.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cThe conditions that exist in many of these forests and ecosystems are also simply non-renewable in any reasonable time frame.\u201d<\/p>\n A province-wide issue<\/p>\n Jessica Clogg, executive director and senior counsel at West Coast Environmental Law, is also critical of the province\u2019s lack of action on biodiversity and thinks the province has instead pushed through legislation that may harm biodiversity.<\/p>\n \u201cImplementation of the Biodiversity and Ecosystem Health Framework and law is an essential environmental guardrail needed for good projects to move forward in a way everyone can support,\u201d she said in a Sept. 11\u00a0news release.<\/a>\u00a0<\/p>\n \u201cInstead [of implementing the biodiversity legislation], B.C. rammed through Bills 14 and 15, raising concerns that environmental safeguards will be circumvented to fast-track projects, while their promise to develop a biodiversity and ecosystem health law languishes in the doldrums.\u201d<\/p>\n The bills were\u00a0put in place<\/a>\u00a0in May\u00a0as a response<\/a>\u00a0to the rise of economic uncertainty and tariffs imposed by the U.S.<\/p>\n Bill 14\u00a0expedites renewable energy projects<\/a>\u00a0in the province and puts the BC Energy Regulator \u2014 which oversees oil and gas \u2014 in charge of those projects. It also exempts projects like the $3-billion North Coast Transmission Line and certain wind energy projects from the \u00a0environmental assessment process.<\/p>\n Bill 15,\u00a0which received backlash from First Nations, municipalities and environmental organizations<\/a>, gives the province power to override permitting or environmental assessment requirements to fast-track any major infrastructure project.<\/p>\n In Bill 14, there is only one line about Indigenous consultation, stating regulations and orders under these bills \u201cmay not be made in relation to provisions of an enactment respecting engagement with Indigenous Peoples, as defined in the\u00a0Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples Act.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n Bill 15 contains the same line, plus one more that states the lieutenant governor of B.C. may make regulations \u201cprescribing consensus-seeking opportunities in relation to participating Indigenous nations.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n In a\u00a0news release<\/a>\u00a0from May 6, Grand Chief Stewart Philip, president of the Union of BC Indian Chiefs, said that in the development of the bills, the province did not meaningfully consult or cooperate with First Nations.<\/p>\n \u201cWhile we support the province taking action to counter Trump\u2019s erratic behaviour, such action must be principled, respect First Nations\u2019 basic human rights and be done in consultation and cooperation with First Nations. We are deeply alarmed by the province\u2019s continued backsliding on reconciliation,\u201d Philip said in the news release.<\/p>\n In the more recent Sept. 11 news release, Phillip added that \u201cby fast-tracking resource projects without delivering on its commitment to co-develop a biodiversity and ecosystem health law with First Nations, B.C. is setting the stage for escalating resource conflict and unacceptable impacts on inherent rights and First Nations\u2019 territories.\u201d<\/p>\n Elder Bill Jones, the Pacheedaht Elder who is\u00a0taking his own Nation<\/a>\u00a0to court over its involvement in\u00a0old-growth logging in the Walbran\u00a0Valley<\/a>, noted in the same Sept. 11 news release that little has changed since the province released its Old Growth Strategic Review report five years ago.\u00a0<\/p>\n \u201cThe government talks and talks about protecting forests, but it feels like lip service. Old growth is still being logged, and people like us are left fighting in the courts just to defend what should already be safe. These forests aren\u2019t just trees \u2014 they give us clean water and healthy air,\u201d he said. \u201cInstead of making us battle for the old growth, the government should be stepping up to protect the ecosystems, not propping up industry. We have to start expressing our bitterness in our votes. These forests keep us all safe and well now, and in the future.\u201d<\/p>\n What B.C. has, and hasn\u2019t, done to protect old-growth forests<\/p>\n The province has taken some action since the Old Growth Strategic Review report came out in April 2020. Early this year, the province announced that it\u00a0approved an order<\/a>\u00a0to extend the deferral for temporary protections in the Fairy Creek watershed until 2026.\u00a0<\/p>\n The watershed and forests around it were where the\u00a02021 Fairy Creek blockades<\/a>\u00a0took place. More than 1,100 people were arrested as they defied court orders to remove the blockades and allow logging activity to take place. It was considered the largest act of civil disobedience in Canadian history.<\/p>\n In an email to The Discourse, the B.C. Ministry of Water, Land and Resource Stewardship did not include information about specific legislation regarding biodiversity or ecosystem health, but it stated the province is \u201ccommitting to protect 30 per cent of B.C.\u2019s lands and inland waters by 2030.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n The ministry said it received more than 7,000 responses from the public regarding the Draft Biodiversity and Ecosystem Health Framework.<\/p>\n \u201cMany responses were supportive in principle and also emphasized the complexity of this shift to prioritize biodiversity and ecosystem health over species-specific management. There was also a consistent request for more consultation and engagement, so the draft framework and specific actions are better understood, and the implementation path is clear,\u201d the ministry said.<\/p>\n It also pointed to recent protections in the\u00a0Incomappleux\u00a0Valley<\/a>, the\u00a0Klinse-za Park expansion<\/a>, the\u00a0T\u015dilhqox Qay Naguten Wildlife Management Area<\/a>\u00a0and the\u00a0Kishkosh and Kitkiata inlets Wildlife Management Area<\/a>.<\/p>\n The ministry said it\u00a0invested $100 million<\/a>\u00a0in 2023 to restore watersheds through the province\u2019s Watershed Security Fund and\u00a0invested $150 million<\/a>\u00a0in the BC Conservation fund, which is to be equally matched by the BC Parks Foundation to \u201cprotect diverse ecosystems throughout the province such as old-growth forests, wetlands and rare habitats.\u201d<\/p>\n Funding has also been made available through the\u00a0Silviculture Innovation Program<\/a>\u00a0for projects that support implementing innovative silviculture in B.C., including techniques for maintaining and recruiting old growth characteristics, the province said.\u00a0<\/p>\n In 2024,\u00a0the ministry said<\/a>\u00a0its Old Growth Nature Fund contributed to the protection of more than 300 hectares of land \u201cto conserve old growth.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n The B.C. government, the federal government and seven land trust and conservancy organizations worked together to secure critical old growth and habitat for species at risk at eight different sites, totalling 316 hectares. About $7.9 million from the Old Growth Nature Fund, along with $8.2 million contributed by private donors and organizations, were used to purchase these privately owned lands.<\/p>\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/5d610dc96924a449d4b7212557776e1062556d35f317a47ae8110b9d9e5e47a2-scaled-e1760133130309-1024x577.jpg\")
Jen Groundwater, left, speaks with Wendy McNiven about plans for Save Our Forest Comox Valley\u2019s next steps for old growth advocacy. Photo by Madeline Dunnett\/The Discourse<\/p>\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/9abd8f84b40ae7cbfa6d66b9563f51cb0fb6d96a51be7108b192e84151d0be9e.jpg\")
A sign from a current old-growth forest blockade in the Walbran Valley. Pacheedaht Elder Bill Jones, who is a part of the blockade, said, \u201cthe government should be stepping up to protect these ecosystems, not propping up industry.\u201d Photo Courtesy of Save Our Forests Comox Valley<\/p>\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/e80520f28be9718b65e8fabc9fed6072d0b950dd0e5a0e1383ea40836d6eff03-1.png\")
An old-growth cutblock in the Kootenays. Photo by Madeline Dunnett\/The Discourse<\/p>\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/5c482ba2dd3ac61a8a05b9868ae656f1ef6d9f3596280387a91bf26a8415c14a.jpg\")
A cut block in the Walbran Valley. Photo courtesy of Save Our Forests Comox Valley<\/p>\n