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Rally for Wilderness! Sierra Club of BC adds the voices of thousands to Protect B.C.'s Coastal Rainforests
VICTORIA, BC - The Sierra Club of BC will be dropping off another two thousand postcards asking for protection of the Great Bear Rainforests on Wednesday, March 14, 12:30 pm at the 'Rally for Wilderness'.
These will add to the thirty five thousand postcards the Sierra Club of BC has already delivered demanding conservation for B.C.'s Great Bear Rainforest. There are a further seven thousand that will be delivered over the coming weeks, making a grand total of over forty thousand signatures asking for the protection of BC's coastal rainforest. The Legislature will be the site of a demonstration for protection of wilderness in British Columbia. A number of environmental organizations are participating including the Sierra Club of BC.
"British Columbia has a globally significant rainforest area on our Central and North Coast known as the Great Bear Rainforest. This government has an opportunity to create a Rainforest Conservation Legacy for British Columbians to be proud of," stated Merran Smith, Senior Forest Campaigner.
"Today, logging continues to take place on the Central and North coasts with large volumes of raw log exports, little revenue being returned to British Columbians, and little employment and benefits to local residents." Said Lisa Matthaus, Forest Policy Analyst for Sierra Club of BC, "British Columbians can do better than that and we will continue to give the Premier the message from thousands of people who want to save our coastal legacy and globally significant heritage, the Great Bear Rainforest."
Our "Spirit Bear" representatives will be at the podium along with Lisa Matthaus. Our Spirit Bear volunteers will also be handing out free Happy Planet juices to attendees at the Rally. This socially conscious B.C. business has placed a call to action on their bottle tops for the Premier to "Stop the Chop" and save the Great Bear Rainforest.
Other Rally events include a noon kickoff in Centennial Square with a parade down to the Legislature. Speeches will be held in front of the Legislature beginning at 12:30. There will be a giant life-sized logging truck replica and a 30 foot long inflatable grizzly as a reminder of the creatures that depend on these forest ecosystems.
"The "Stop the Chop" Action Caps have really juiced consumers and we are thrilled to have Happy Planet's support at the Rally," said Smith. "In these final days before the election we expect the Premier to make a decision to protect valuable wilderness areas on the North and Central Coasts, including the Spirit Bear Area, and about a new approach to ecological forest management. The people of B.C. have demanded it."
The Sierra Club of BC is working to see a decision on the Central and North coast that includes:
1. Protected areas in the central coast and deferral of logging in key ecological areas until informed decisions can be made; 2. An Independent Science and Economic Team to make recommendations on best conservation practices and support for regional, diversified, economic development; 3. A New Approach to Forestry - An Ecosystem Based Forestry approach to planning on the entire coast; 4. A Managing Change program for economic development, transition and mitigation; and 5. Government to Government protocols with First Nations on interim measures and land use planning.
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These will add to the thirty five thousand postcards the Sierra Club of BC has already delivered demanding conservation for B.C.'s Great Bear Rainforest. There are a further seven thousand that will be delivered over the coming weeks, making a grand total of over forty thousand signatures asking for the protection of BC's coastal rainforest. The Legislature will be the site of a demonstration for protection of wilderness in British Columbia. A number of environmental organizations are participating including the Sierra Club of BC.
"British Columbia has a globally significant rainforest area on our Central and North Coast known as the Great Bear Rainforest. This government has an opportunity to create a Rainforest Conservation Legacy for British Columbians to be proud of," stated Merran Smith, Senior Forest Campaigner.
"Today, logging continues to take place on the Central and North coasts with large volumes of raw log exports, little revenue being returned to British Columbians, and little employment and benefits to local residents." Said Lisa Matthaus, Forest Policy Analyst for Sierra Club of BC, "British Columbians can do better than that and we will continue to give the Premier the message from thousands of people who want to save our coastal legacy and globally significant heritage, the Great Bear Rainforest."
Our "Spirit Bear" representatives will be at the podium along with Lisa Matthaus. Our Spirit Bear volunteers will also be handing out free Happy Planet juices to attendees at the Rally. This socially conscious B.C. business has placed a call to action on their bottle tops for the Premier to "Stop the Chop" and save the Great Bear Rainforest.
Other Rally events include a noon kickoff in Centennial Square with a parade down to the Legislature. Speeches will be held in front of the Legislature beginning at 12:30. There will be a giant life-sized logging truck replica and a 30 foot long inflatable grizzly as a reminder of the creatures that depend on these forest ecosystems.
"The "Stop the Chop" Action Caps have really juiced consumers and we are thrilled to have Happy Planet's support at the Rally," said Smith. "In these final days before the election we expect the Premier to make a decision to protect valuable wilderness areas on the North and Central Coasts, including the Spirit Bear Area, and about a new approach to ecological forest management. The people of B.C. have demanded it."
The Sierra Club of BC is working to see a decision on the Central and North coast that includes:
1. Protected areas in the central coast and deferral of logging in key ecological areas until informed decisions can be made; 2. An Independent Science and Economic Team to make recommendations on best conservation practices and support for regional, diversified, economic development; 3. A New Approach to Forestry - An Ecosystem Based Forestry approach to planning on the entire coast; 4. A Managing Change program for economic development, transition and mitigation; and 5. Government to Government protocols with First Nations on interim measures and land use planning.
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