Here's my official input on the draft BC Biodiversity & Ecosystems Health Framework - to be finalized in Spring 2024. If you care about saving BC's (fast-dwindling, due to clearcut logging & overdevelopment) wildlife habitats -- & who doesn't -- please write to the BC Govt to let them know your views (though the deadline has passed, it wasn't well publicized). I've included the Ministry's reply below it)
To: biodiversity.ecosystemhealth
Ministry of Water, Land & Resource Stewardship (Ministry of WLRS)
Re: DRAFT B.C. BIODIVERSITY AND ECOSYSTEM HEALTH FRAMEWORK
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Please include this letter as my input on your well-intentioned Biodiversity (BEHF) framework currently before us.
I had a whole lengthy, carefully researched & well-worded essay -- on which I'd spent hours compiling, duly including points as recommended by the hard-working eco-orgs of which I am a member & remembering to commend your Govt's upstanding efforts in drafting the BEHF.
But I've deleted it, recognizing my optimism felt entirely false -- & my well-considered arguments were mostly repeats of other heartfelt letters I've directed to your offices 'ad infinitum', ever since your BC-NDP Govt was elected in 2017 on promises of Climate action & --yes-- protection of our invaluable ecosystems against Big-Industry extractive pipelines & projects that your leader(s) vehemently denounced & vowed to oppose "using all the tools available"... or some such pre-election hype from your party's promo toolbox..
And it's been one giant disappointment after another observing the reality of your Govt's non-progress on aLL its avowed plans/ promises on Climate action -- ESP. your constant scathing & very vocal derision of the newly-hated Clark-led Liberals, amid non-stop claims that the BC-NDP were different & would overturn the Libs' reckless pro-pollution policies & champion publicly-clamored Climate action instead, like heroes!
How wrong we've been to keep hoping for a sign that our love of, & pride in, "Super, Natural" BC's clean waters, iconic wildlife habitats & globally-rare ancient forests was shared (& protected) by our new Govt!
Instead, despite overwhelming growing public support for fresh new nature-restoring -- desperately-needed -- paradigms of Climate-balancing/ forest-protecting/ wildlife-conserving laws & policies that brought hope for a better, more sustainable future (bolstered by many letters of encouragement to 'do the right thing') your Govt has squandered each & every opportunity to make good on your promised intentions for ecosystems.
Even as evidence of -- & public demos/ protests/ opposition to -- irreversible harms of your pro-BigIndustry stance compounded (which you are finally -- belatedly -- addressing in this BEHF) your party has violated its own newly-adopted UNDRIP laws by fast-tracking clearcut logging (=decimation of our most beneficial & biodiverse primary forests) & fragmented threatened wildlife habitats.
Your Govt is also to blame for -- but won't admit -- extinction of our last rare Spotted Owls by permitting logging of habitat that should have been protected at all costs. You've also backed RCMP-led armed raids against indigenous land-defenders' rightful opposition to CGL & TMX violations of their hereditary rights & title.. to the extreme point of violently arresting them & overturning previously-hard-won legal recognition of their hereditary land rights..
More recently, your Govt had the gall to stand by & do nothing for the Fairy Creek forest protectors who were -- shockingly -- criminalized by a judge for their non-violent & publicly-backed defence of an important & beloved old-growth watershed from being unlawfully wiped off the map: a crime against these Climate-balancing C02-sinking eco-heroes, the best of which still stand unprotected against loggers, thanks to your inaction..
Notably, one of those selfless Fairy Creek defenders is a member of the upstanding Green party (an admirable org. whose generosity & leadership aided your party's political ambitions by legitimising election promises to save old-growth in 2020).
If these caring, committed eco-activists & FN land defenders continue to be shamed for their lawful pro-Nature activism, we'll know for sure just how fraudulent your Govt's BEHF intentions are..
Meanwhile, delaying any beneficial Climate/ eco-measures (& publicly claiming otherwise -- in pricey TV ads touting NON-EXISTENT 'CLIMATE CAPTURE' TECH no less!) has pushed BC's biodiversity/ natural habitats to the very brink of Climate disaster.. & many of your already-approved extractive nightmares have yet to be built! If/ when they're up & running, if your govt continues allowing these reckless new monuments to rising emissions -- eg. Site 'C' dam, LNG (fracked-gas) development, clearcut logging/ old-growth destruction, Ingerbelle expansion, Blackwater Gold mine, to name but a few -- the colossal damage to biodiversity & ecosystems will be locked in & unmitigated -- ALL ON YOUR WATCH.
So you see, as an informed citizen -- & a Vegan -- I cannot find it in me to commend yet another of your Govt's claims of Climate action/ intentions, since from the start you have repeatedly dismissed/ ignored public calls to action & instead made decisions that:
(A.) SERVE the interests of extractive & polluting corporations, not citizens;
(B.) DEFY our right to clean air/ water & (govt-pledgd) Climate action;
(C.) FAIL to meet our Climate goals;
(D.) ADD TO ever-climbing GHGs;
(E.) DRIVE erosion, flooding, wildfires+++;
(F.) SABOTAGE communities' resilience.
Biologists, ecologists, experts & locals agree: BC's iconic wildlife is extirpating at alarming rates due to worsening fires/ habitat loss from cont'd clearcut logging & overdevelopment.. as well as the lack of a (promised) proper 'Species At Risk' laws. Science-advised transformative changes are long overdue, yet your Govt's inaction -- while siding with polluters -- is V worrying.
I am hoping against hope that this new 'Framework' WILL result in actual, permanent protection of our most at-risk & invaluable old-growth ecosystems with the most threatened wildlife. But I find it hard to trust a Govt that operates so dishonestly & fails its duties to those who pay your salaries. That resembles dereliction of your sworn duties, which I cannot pretend to respect/support
* * * *
One pending disaster in the works I feel duty-bound to mention is the Zincton Resort, proposed for the heart of BC's Inland Temperate Rainforest. At stake, for starters, is the survival of at least 185 known species at risk in BC’s under-protected Inland Rainforest.
The whole area is prime grizzly bear & mountain goat habitat, which this massive unsustainable development would forever fragment & disable by its sprawling size alone.
At this critical point, ONLY clean-energy/ habitat-restoring/ low-footprint/ off-grid/ renewably-run/ sustainable/ zero-waste projects should even be considered now. Zincton Resort is none of the above -- its proposal outlines a high-traffic, heavy-footprint, high-profit all-season outfit (1,200+ guests daily!) with NO PLANS to benefit/ enhance/ honor local biodiversity/ ecology/ wildlife: NOT GOOD ENOUGH!!
The Zincton area is one of BC's few wildlife havens left, home to grizzly bears, cariboo, mountain goats & other native species that NEED large tracts of intact wilderness to survive -- & keep away from communities, to prevent more "nuisance bears" from being killed. Noone wants that.
I -- & almost everyone I know -- vote for the bears++ to stay -- & projects like Zincton Resort to die before they drive more wildlife to extinction & add more GHGs to our ever-rising emissions (= the very last thing we need now!)
TXA wildlife impact assessment by registered professional biologist & grizzly bear expert Wayne McCrory has found that the project will significantly diminish, and could eventually wipe out, three provincially blue-listed species: grizzly bears, mountain goats & wolverines. Western toads would also suffer increased mortalities. This is wholly unacceptable in today's changing climate: we can, & must, do better!
* * * *
Wolves are another imperiled & unfairly maligned wild species, thanks to misguided (& harmful) 'culling' (= killing) programs implemented by your Govt. Yet wolves are an important keystone species that help balance ecosystems & biodiversity. Please watch the documentary 'Return of the Wolves' (2005) which details the reintroduction of wolves to Yellowstone Park, a landmark conservation project in the 1990s aimed at restoring natural balance in the park's ecosystem. The film explores the ecological significance of wolves as apex predators & how their presence has benefitted many species & the landscape itself. As most conservationists agree, CULLING IS NEVER THE ANSWER. I'd add, it's an embarrassment to your Govt's declared biodiversity goals to continue such cruel & unnecessary barbarism -- not to mention hypocrisy.
* * * *
CLEARCUTTING has turned vast areas of BC into dried-out fire accelerant, incL our globally rare primary forests -- which instead of being protected as they should, continue to be logged & exported to provide PELLETS FOR BURNING FUEL OVERSEAS!! (For example) This unsustainable industry violates all eco-laws & undermines our every effort to save irreplaceable ecosystems, & must end ASAP.
Unknown to most, your Govt continues to issue permits & allow proposals for industrial extraction projects deemed (by ecosystem/ wildlife experts, scientists etc.) to worsen the size/ spread of wildfires & further degrade wildlife habitats. That the threatened Spotted Owl habitat in Spuzzum was logged instead of protected at all costs, is just one example of extreme malfeasance re. Biodiversity's shrinking habitats driving extinction -- proof that both fed & prov Govts have been derelict in their duties to uphold their duties as stewards. In the end, the onus is on honest Govt leadership to enact the proper expert-advised measures -- without polluting corps' vested lobbying input -- that will preserve & restore our globally-rare natural ecosystems for generations to come. The alternatives -- worsened degradation, drought & extirpation of our most valuable natural sustainers -- are unthinkable. And unnecessary. We can do this -- but only with your genuine commitment to renewed gd stewardship.
* * * *
One more crucial point: as a result of BC's increasingly disastrous, record fires -- eg. last summer (2023) -- long-burning & widespread due to clearcut logging/ spraying cutblocks with toxic glyphosate/ replanting monoculture conifers solely for harvest (& largely preventable by policies akin to what this BEHF draft purports to address) -- there exist across BC MASSES OF NOW-BURNT TIMBER in degraded ecosystems. New enforceable laws under this plan should require logging co's to prioritize harvest of these burnt stands before any more intact forests are cut. AND such operations must be carried out within 2 years of those fires to have any effect. THIS of course falls under the revive/restore (urgently needed) part of this new BEHF initiative.
* * * *
To end this input on a (somewhat) optimistic note for the future of BC's biodiversity/ ecosystems, I'll draw your attention to the ironic ease, efficiency & speed with which legislation banning plastic straws was implemented -- the widespread success of which surely proves: our efforts as individuals on the Climate/ extinction crisis are only effective if bolstered by an accountable & transparent Govt that is not afraid to take charge & make the changes needed to dispel corruption & bring about the better future we ALL deserve & desire!?
The alternatives -- incl. Honing same-old backward last-decade concepts/ dinosaurs -- degrading, ecocidal, extractive, perpetual-growth & wasteful economies -- will only bring more destruction, hopelessness & misery. Please do the right thing & (finally) PUT THIS PLAN IN ACTION, BEFORE IT'S TOO LATE TO SAVE OUR BELOVED NATURAL ECOSYSTEMS & THE BIODIVERSITY WHOSE SURVIVAL IMPLICITLY DEPENDS ON OUR STEWARDSHIP NOW: let's not let them down! (Please?)
Thank you very much,
Sarah M. Chesterman
AND here's the emailed response I received:
| Feb 2, 2024, 12:50 PM (8 days ago) |  Reply | ||
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Hi Sarah,
Thank you for your email and for taking the time to provide input on the draft B.C. Biodiversity and Ecosystem Health Framework (‘Framework’). The input received will support the work to finalize the draft Framework and inform planning for implementation. Once the Framework is finalized, it will be released publicly along with an implementation plan.
Kind Regards,
Biodiversity and Ecosystems Branch
Ministry of Water, Land and Resource Stewardship