Common themes at symposium | Friends of Clayoquot Sound

Letter: Common themes at symposium

Westerly News March 10, 2011
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Dear Editor,

Many thanks to Tla-o-qui-aht and Ahousaht First Nations and Ecotrust for the science panel symposium last weekend.

It brought together a lot of people who care passionately about Clayoquot Sound, to reflect on the past 15 years and discuss ways to move forward together.

Several themes came up repeatedly over the weekend: the need to settle the First Nations land question and provide for human well-being was made abundantly clear by Clifford Atleo Sr. in Ahousat.

The need to settle the land-use question, particularly as it pertains to the large tracts of globally rare ancient rainforest in Clayoquot Sound, was mentioned repeatedly by many people.

There is a need to reinstate something like the Central Region Board to facilitate communication and consensus-building amongst First Nations and other local communities.

There is a need to integrate terrestrial and marine ecosystem management -- science panel recommendations only talk about forestry and do not regulate other industries such as fish farming and tourism, let alone open-pit mining.

It was clear the science panel does not go far enough for many people, both natives and settlers.

The fact that many people care about the future of our planet, particularly as it manifests locally in the Clayoquot Sound UNESCO Biosphere Reserve was obvious, and the fact that there is a huge amount of human intelligence and energy being applied to resolve these issues was both hopeful and inspiring.

We only caught a brief glimpse of Derek Drake (operations manager of Iisaak Forest Resources) in Ahousat, but he was notably absent the rest of the weekend. This is curious, given that he has on-the-ground responsibility for implementing the science panel standards on the landscape.

Dan Lewis,
Friends of Clayoquot Sound

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