VICTORIA, B.C. – On this third anniversary of the BC NDP’s pledge to implement all 14 recommendations from the 2020 Old Growth Strategic Review (OGSR), Adam Olsen, MLA for Saanich North and the Islands and member of Tsartlip First Nation, has issued the following statement:
“During the 2020 election, the BC NDP promised to implement all 14 OGSR recommendations within three years. That timeline has come and passed without a single recommendation being completed. The BC Green Caucus, the only party consistently championing the protection of old growth in the legislature, demands accountability, transparency, and accelerated action from the province.
“Despite the promises and the rhetoric, big, ancient trees continue to fall across the province. A key recommendation of the Old Growth Strategic Review was immediate action to protect at-risk old growth. It took the province months to define ‘at-risk old growth’. That is not the pace or scale of action we need from this government.
“The BC NDP continues to leave opportunities untapped - and landscapes and biodiversity at risk. The provincial government has failed to deliver conservation financing mechanisms, despite the federal government's offer to match funding. It’s past time to support Indigenous-owned sustainable businesses that support the protection of old-growth. Financial support to enable logging deferrals is also desperately needed.
“The province continues to prioritize timber value over ecosystem health. We're seeing our province burn as a result of this. This government needs to shift its focus from short-term economic gains to long-term ecological sustainability.
“It’s time to see the writing on the wall - forestry management in the province isn’t serving anyone, other than industry. We need to move quickly towards a new paradigm of forestry in the province, one that respects ecosystem health and biodiversity, our communities, and our future.”
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Media contact
JoJo Beattie
Press Secretary
B.C. Green Caucus
+1 250-882-6187 | [email protected]