Interfor bowed to pressure in early July and publicly declared that the company will not be logging in the pristine Sydney and Pretty Girl Valleys for at least 5 years. These neighbouring wilderness areas are two of the most critical in Clayoquot Sound, forming a significant portion of the largest intact forest remaining on Vancouver Island. However, other virgin rainforests in Clayoquot Sound are still being logged by Interfor.
Friends of Clayoquot Sound (FOCS) are celebrating a small and temporary victory after winning a 5-year moratorium on logging in the Sydney and Pretty Girl Valleys. Just days after Tofino Council called upon the province to protect all pristine areas in Clayoquot Sound, Interfor released a Declaration on the Pristine Valleys stating that it will not be logging in the two watersheds from June 2004 to June 2009 "to allow time for the Provincial Government and First Nations to provide direction on the future use of these areas."
FOCS are grateful to supportive citizens, Interfor customers, Tofino Chamber of Commerce, local tourism operators, and most recently, Tofino Town Council, all of whom expressed concerns about logging of these valleys.
However, much work remains to be done if permanent protection for the Sydney and Pretty Girl Valleys, as well as other critical areas, is to be established. Two-thirds of Clayoquot Sound is still open to logging. Currently, Interfor's approved logging plan calls for cutting in several other pristine valleys, such as in Sulphur Pass and Satchie Creek.
Your help is still needed! But let's do a little celebrating first. Here's to the next five years of keeping Sydney and Pretty Girl Valleys wild!
Click here to view Interfor's Declaration in full.
Click here to view FOCS Press Release July 8, 2004.
Click here to view Tofino Council's letter to Minister Abbott.
While Interfor's latest Declaration on the Pristine Valleys is a positive step forward, it falls short by specifying only two of many pristine areas that fall within the company's Tree Farm License (the area in which Interfor has license to log). Sulphur Pass and Satchie Creek for example, contain pristine watersheds that have never been logged but are approved for harvest.
FOCS have for years been advocating for the protection of all pristine watersheds remaining in Clayoquot Sound, due to the industry-driven scarcity of virgin rainforest watersheds on Vancouver Island. Tofino Town Council assumed a similar position in a recent letter to George Abbott, Minister of Sustainable Resource Management, stating that if the province moves forward with its pro-logging Working Forest Initiative then: "pristine valleys such as the Pretty Girl and Sydney could be at risk in the future... we would request that these valleys be protected first."
Further calls for conservation of all Clayoquot pristine valleys came from the World Conservation Union (IUCN) -- the international authority on protected areas and endangered species. In 1996, the IUCN passed a resolution that called for the "increased protection of pristine areas as core areas for protecting biodiversity and create new opportunities for sustainable development." No new protection has since been established anywhere in Clayoquot Sound, where 45 vulnerable or endangered animal species cling to survival.
The recent Interfor Declaration does not provide any form of protection, but provides a window of opportunity for formal protection to be established in the Pretty Girl and Sydney Valleys.
Want to help? Write to one of Interfor's major Japanese customers, Itochu Corporation, and ask them to cease purchasing ancient rainforest products from Interfor:
S. Suzuki,
Department of Global Environment,
Itochu Corporation,
5-1, Kita-Aoyama 2-chome,
Minato-ku, Tokyo, 107-8077, Japan
Or email him at: suzuki-sho@itochu.co.jp
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
News Releases
dating back to 2001
Newsletters
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Newsletters:
Fall 2009/Winter 2010 (4 Mb, PDF)
Summer 2009 (600k, PDF)
Maps:
Reports:
Overview of Logging in Clayoquot Sound 2000-2009 (download page)
Clayoquot Green Economic Opportunities Project, Vol. 1 (PDF, 1.3 MB)
Clayoquot Green Economic Opportunities Project Vol. 2 (PDF, 3.7 MB)