By Ronnie Safarov
After nearly two decades of conflict and endless negotiation between environmental activists, First Nations and the forestry industry, the B.C. provincial government announced on Feb. 1 that an agreement to protect Great Bear Rainforest had finally been reached. However, while the agreement aims to protect 85 per cent of the forested area, a rare species of bear that calls this forest its home has been left with no protection at all.
Great Bear Rainforest, which is a part of the planet’s largest temperate rainforest region, is one of the largest remaining unspoiled coastal tracts of temperate rainforest left in the world. The area is home to many unique species of flora and fauna, the most famous of which is the Kermode bear, a subspecies of the American black bear with a unique gene which leads to unusual white or cream-colored coats. As well as being the provincial animal of B.C., Kermode bears hold great significance for First Nations of the Pacific Northwest Coast, who call them “spirit bears” and regard them as sacred creatures.
Since the beginning of the 1990s, Indigenous and environmental activists fought large-scale development plans and clear-cutting of the rainforest, which would undoubtedly cause irreversible damage to the whole ecosystem. A strong concern was also voiced about the future of the bear population, especially grizzlies, whose population size and range is decreasing due to habitat loss and hunting.
The announcement of the agreement was lauded by many media outlets, such as the Globe and Mail and Business in Vancouver, who saw the decision as a long-awaited and peaceful settlement of the dispute. Several environmental organizations, including Greenpeace and Wilderness Committee, also praised the decision to designate 85 per cent of the area as a complete logging-free zone, with the remaining 15 per cent to be logged, according to Canadian Geographic, under the “most stringent commercial logging legal standards in North America.”
The agreement also significantly increases First Nations’ involvement in shared decision-making regarding the future of the region, compared to previous agreements. As a result of the individual agreements signed by the B.C. government, 26 Indigenous nations of the Nanwakolas Council will also receive a greater timber share for their own harvest as well as $15 million in financial assistance from the B.C. government to help them become involved in the region’s economy.
However, the overall euphoric tone of the public response was somewhat dampened by several environmental advocates, such as David Suzuki, ForestEthics and the Rainforest Conservation Foundation, who pointed out that despite what was erroneously announced by B.C. Premier Christy Clark, the controversial and inhumane trophy hunting of black and grizzly bears still remains legal. Kermode bears are protected by earlier decisions, but the hunting of black bears, some of which carry the unique gene, could affect the “spirit bears” population as well. The hunting of grizzly bears, which are listed as a ‘special concern’ species by the federal Committee on the Status of Endangered Wildlife in Canada (COSEWIC), also remains legal.
The killing of bears might threaten the whole population, due to their slow reproduction rate and high mortality rate from habitat loss and damage.
Trophy hunting has a much more humane and profitable alternative -– bear-viewing, which is currently on the rise in the Great Bear Rainforest region, creating jobs and revenue for First Nations’ members. According to the 2014 study done by the Centre for Responsible Tourism, a research institute at Stanford University, “bear-viewing is generating 12 times more in visitor spending than is bear hunting, and over 11 times more in direct revenue for the B.C. province.” According to polls referred to by the National Observer, 90 per cent of B.C. citizens oppose the bear trophy hunt. Moreover, the David Suzuki Foundation emphasized the fact that the Coastal First Nations’ 2012 ban on bear trophy hunting has never been recognized by the B.C. government.
This article first appeared in the Leveller Vol. 8 No. 5 (Feb/March 2016).
