9/05/2014

Canada #1 In Ancient Forest Destruction

Industrial liquidation clear cut on Vancouver Island.
Photo: Garth Lenz

Move over Brazil, Canada leads world in forest decline says a new report. The world’s virgin forests are being lost at an increasing rate and the largest portion of the degradation is in Canada, according to the report.

No longer is Brazil the main villain in the struggle to stop forest destruction. We are the global leaders when it comes to driving entire forest ecosystems to extinction, such as the Douglas fir ecozone. That primal forest, which once produced some of the largest trees on the planet, has been reduced to a fraction of 1% remaining. 

And the cutting of ancient trees continues unabated.


“Canada is the number one in the world for the total area of the loss of intact forest landscapes since 2000,” Peter Lee, of Forest Watch Canada, said in an interview.


“There is no political will at federal or provincial levels for conserving primary forests,” he said. “Most logging done in Canada is still to this day done in virgin forests.”

This is not news to those that have witnessed first hand the last grand old forests of Vancouver Island be liquidated for short term profit. But it is not just here that forests are being degraded and destroyed - it is everywhere in Canada where there are trees to be exploited by the greedy grabbers.

It is way past time to stop the destruction wreaked on our forests by callous and calculating pinheads in government and business that just don't know when to stop. The forest can not defend itself against the onslaught - that task is up to us.


“Business as usual will lead to the destruction of most remaining intact forests this century.” 

- Dr. Nigel Sizer, World Resources Institute