Friends of Clayoquot Sound: Logging

Solutions

Overwhelming evidence suggests that Clayoquot Sound is critical to the biodiversity of all of Vancouver Island due to the occurrence of rare intact forest in Clayoquot, placing a tremendous responsibility on local communities to become leaders in forestry and conservation. Currently, many intact valleys are open for logging, threatening the long-term health of the Salmon Forest ecosystem in Clayoquot Sound and the greater ecological health of the entire Island. The Friends of Clayoquot Sound believe that sustainable forestry is achievable by pursuing:

protection of all intact valleys from logging, mining and other destructive industrial practices
conservation benefits (through funding mechanisms such as conservation financing)
value-added forestry benefits to local communities
tenure reform to better reflect Aboriginal rights and lessen financial pressure to log forests
legislation to ensure the recommendations of the Clayoquot Sound Scientific Panel for Sustainable Forest Practices are made law rather than policy
a transition from industrial logging of old-growth forests to selective eco-forestry in second-growth forests
ongoing monitoring of the impacts of present-day forest practices on wildlife populations, such as indicator species like wide-ranging carnivores and vulnerable or endangered animals
a diverse economy based on conservation and ecologically sensitive development that respects the natural limits to growth.

Alternatives

The main driving force of the ongoing destruction of old-growth and endangered forests is the production and consumption of paper and lumber (building products). Friends of Clayoquot Sound (FOCS) work to address the issue of market demand for endangered forest products in a number of ways, such as: engaging corporate purchasers of building products to show preference for more sustainable forest products (via our Markets Campaigns), and by reducing demand for paper containing virgin fibres (via Markets Initiative).

Contact us!

Friends of Clayoquot Sound
PO Box 489, 331 Neill St., Tofino BC V0R 2Z0
Tel: 250-725-4218 Fax: 250-725-2527
Email: info@focs.ca