Conservationists press B.C. government on old-growth logging ahead of COP26 climate summit
Global News
The Sierra Club BC says B.C.s old-growth forests are a natural carbon capture system unlike anything else in the world, and protecting them is key to fighting climate change.
Conservationists are ratcheting up pressure on the B.C. government over old-growth logging ahead of the upcoming COP26 climate summit in Glasgow.
The Siera Club B.C. recently delivered a petition to the provincial government signed by more than 250,000 people calling for the province to curb old-growth logging, arguing ancient forests are a key buffer against climate change.
“This is a reminder that the world is watching what is happening in B.C., people are aware that these are among the most endangered old-growth forests on the planet, they store record high amounts of carbon per hectare, they’re home to species that don’t exist anywhere else,” Sierra Club organizer Jens Wieting told Global News.
British Columbia’s coastal forests are temperate rainforests, which are capable of generating more biomass than any other type of forest in the world.
Conservationists like Wieting argue that makes them unique in their ability to capture and store carbon as the world seeks to find ways to ward off the worst effects of climate change.
“Big trees have more leaves, more needles, they can do more photosynthesis than small, newly planted trees which means they can sequester more,” he said.
“But more importantly they have accumulated so much carbon. So this is the best possible combination, huge carbon amounts accumulated over time, ongoing sequestration — that’s like money in the bank with a decent interest rate, we have to preserve that.”
Advocates for the province’s forestry industry aren’t convinced.
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