432-01103 Environment
Elizabeth May
Environmental protection,Forest policy,Indigenous policy
PETITION TO THE GOVERNMENT OF CANADA
  
    Whereas:
    
      
        Indigenous peoples have rights and title to their traditional territories and have been stewards of these lands since time immemorial;
        the climate crisis requires action by all levels of government and industry;
         old-growth forests provide immeasurable benefits, including carbon sequestration, biodiversity, culture, recreation, education, food and more;
        valley-bottom high productivity old-growth ecosystems in British Columbia are endangered;
        of the remaining 2.7% of original high productivity old-growth forests in British Columbia, 75% are still slated to be logged;
        only 9% of the original 360,000 hectares of valley-bottom high productivity old-growth on Vancouver Island remain today; only 2.6% of those forests are protected in parks;
        the last unprotected intact old-growth valley on Southern Vancouver Island, Fairy Creek, is slated for logging, along with the upper Walbran Valley and other remaining pockets of old growth;
        most Canadians support sustainable harvesting of second and third growth forests, but do not support logging old-growth trees or destroying their surrounding ecosystems.
      
    
    We, the undersigned citizens and residents of Canada call upon the Government of Canada to:
    1. Work with the provinces and First Nations to immediately halt logging of endangered old-growth ecosystems;
    2. Fund the long-term protection of old-growth ecosystems as a priority for Canada's climate action plan and reconciliation with Indigenous Peoples;
    3. Support value-added forestry initiatives in partnership with First Nations to ensure Canada's forestry industry is sustainable, and based on the harvesting of second and third growth forests;
    4. Ban the export of raw logs and maximize resource use for local jobs;
    5. Ban the use of whole trees for wood pellet biofuel production.