and less responsibility to forest-dependent communities. Among the perverse outcomes of these trends were a halving of royalties from stumpage in the past ten years, and the cutting of at least 1,000 Ministry of Forestry jobs. The reduction in royalties has been partly a consequence of the private sector negotiating reducing factors in formulae for offsets because of more difficult logging conditions. Smaller operators and holders of community tenures have not had the political clout or inside knowledge to secure such large benefits. The progress achieved by multiple stakeholders in the Great Bear Rainforest (GBR) contrasted with this negative picture. The commitment of CAN $120 million by environmental NGOs and government have permitted adherence to 2 key conditions: firstly, the agreement to use the best available science to determine the AAC, and to protect representative GBR ecosystems; secondly, the safeguarding of the wellbeing of the First Nations and other communities that reside within the GBR. Other participants opined that impressive though the gains were within the 3.2 million hectares (Mha) of the GBR, it – the Great Bear Rainforest - was only a small part of the 22 Mha classified as the Timber Harvesting Land Base out of 57 Mha of Crown forest land in BC. Francois Dufresne, President & CEO of the Forest Stewardship Council (FSC) in Canada, outlined the ways in which that voluntary, independent, third party forest certification scheme worked and its emphasis on due diligence and risk assessment. Proposals suggested towards a vision for BC’s coastal temperate rainforests: John Innes suggested that the goal should be a grand vision for BC’s coastal forests rather than piecemeal visions. Arnie Bercov advocated that mills be helped to re-capitalize, thereby expanding equitable conditions for employment in forest-based communities. Keith Atkinson flagged that the capacity of FNs should be improved so that ‘we can proac-
tively participate in economic opportunities’. Several panellists urged the maximizing of economic opportunities while ensuring social stability and ecological functionality within the ecosystem-based management of BC’s forest resources. While some panellists maintained that log exports were too high, Doug Konkin, former Deputy Minister of Forests, Lands and Natural Resource Operations held that forestry in BC had to be viewed within a global context, as global demand-pull determines local outcomes. Rick Jeffery described the use of nanotechnologies for improved use of fibres. He decried the continuing practice of salt-water logging and rafting which led to problems in salt-clogged boilers in pulp mills. Jeffrey advocated use of trucks and barges instead. Gary Bull asked about leverage for change, and Valerie Langer noted that it was important for stakeholders to see where the power to make decisions about the BC coastal forests was located. She urged more consideration of value propositions and of underlying moral and ethical issues in developing a vision. An important outcome of the panel discussion was a renewed commitment by the panellists to continue to seek common ground. After the event, a number of students said that Valerie Langer’s closing remarks had rung true for them: “here, in BC, we’ve conditioned ourselves to use the AAC as the only measure of forestry. We need to recall the precautionary principle and regulate for all ecosystem values in fulfilment of the social contract between concession awardees (tenure holders) and the provincial government as administrators of the Crown forests on behalf of the people”. There is clearly a long way to go to merge these disparate views into a coherent vision. There must surely be a role for UBC’s Faculty of Forestry in this process. If you would like to know more about the panel and future plans, please email Janette Bulkan, Assistant Professor of Indigenous Forestry, janette.bulkan@ubc.ca.
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