During the 1990’s, as industrial logging stripped large swathes of forest from B.C.’s Central and North Coast, environmental groups and First Nations attempted to halt the destruction. Protests and blockades drew the world’s attention to the plight of B.C.’s ancient temperate rainforests, while market campaigns alerted consumers to the true cost of buying wood and paper products from this unique ecosystem.

Satellite map shows what's at stake: In 1996, the Sierra Club BC created a satellite map entitled “Canada’s Rainforest”. It showed the extent of rainforest destruction on Vancouver Island, along B.C.’s south coast and its gradual extension northwards up the coast. It also highlighted the extensive intact areas that could still be saved in the Central and North Coast. For the first time, British Columbians could clearly see how much of the rainforest was gone, and what remained.

The parties come to the table: Meanwhile, contract cancellations and consumer pressures generated by the markets campaigns forced major B.C. coastal logging companies to seek a truce with environmental groups and other stakeholders. The first step came in 1999, when the forestry companies agreed to stop logging in nearly 100 large intact valleys while land use talks were underway. In return, environmental groups agreed to suspend marketplace campaigns. In 2000, the environmental groups agreed to join other stakeholders at the provincial government’s land and resource management planning table (LRMP) to develop a sustainable land use plan for the region.

The following year, in 2001, stakeholders reached an interim agreement. The agreement recommended protection of important forest areas, changes to logging practices and support for sustainable economic solutions for coastal communities. All stakeholders decided that the final agreement would be based on independent, world-class science. They also agreed that the intact valleys not yet recommended for protection would remain unlogged while the land use planning process continued.

Aboriginal title and rights acknowledged: At the same time, the province and eight coastal First Nations signed a separate protocol which acknowledged aboriginal title and rights. The protocol also recognized First Nations were not “stakeholders” at the land use planning table, but were a separate level of government. This protocol set the stage for formal land use negotiations between the province and First Nations in the region. These “government-to-government” negotiations, informed by results of the land-use planning process, would eventually have the final say in determining the future of the Great Bear Rainforest.

Parties reach consensus: In 2004, the land-use planning tables for the Central and North Coast arrived at an unprecedented consensus. Recommendations to government included expanding the network of protected areas in the region to two million hectares (about 1/3 of the Great Bear Rainforest), a shift to sustainable logging practices as defined by the independent science team (Ecosystem Based Management) and a focus on innovative, conservation-based economic solutions for coastal communities. These recommendations provided the foundation for subsequent negotiations between the provincial government and First Nations.

Historic land use agreement signed: On February 7, 2006, the B.C. government and First Nations announced to the world the final land use agreement. It included immediate protection of one-third of the Great Bear Rainforest from logging and Ecosystem Based Management in the rest of the forest by March 31, 2009.

The following year, in 2007, conservation donors announced that they had raised $60 million for conservation management by First Nations in the Great Bear Rainforest. The provincial and federal governments later matched these funds with $30 million contributions for economic transformation in those communities. The $120 million conservation financing package was the final piece of the puzzle to preserve the Great Bear Rainforest.

A promise becomes reality: The promise made in 2006 to protect one-third of the Great Bear Rainforest has been fulfilled!  Sierra Club BC played a key role in bringing about the March 31, 2009, final agreement, which lays the foundation for a conservation-based economy in the world's largest intact temperate rainforest.

"The Great Bear Rainforest is now the most protected forest region of British Columbia," said Jens Wieting, coastal forest campaigner for Sierra Club BC. "But we must continue to meet key milestones we've set to achieve our long-term goals of full ecosystem health and thriving local communities." Read the backgrounder.