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432-01158 (Environment)

Paper petition

Original language of petition: English

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.

Presented to the House of Commons
Paul Manly (Nanaimo—Ladysmith)
June 18, 2021 (Petition No. 432-01158)
Photo - Paul Manly
Nanaimo—Ladysmith
Green Party Caucus
British Columbia

Only validated signatures are counted towards the total number of signatures.