Coast Forest Conservation Initiative

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In December 2003, Central Coast Landand Resource Management Planning(CCLRMP) participants reached a historicconsensus. The agreement recommendsthat one third of the region (1.5 millionhectares) including large expanses ofrainforest remain off limits to logging.Throughout the remainder of the region,ecosystem-based management (EBM) willguide future resource development andconservation efforts.

The 110 conservation areas include large ecological complexes and specialfeatures such as key habitats, ecologicalrepresentations, cultural values and areasimportant for tourism and recreation.These watersheds, estuaries, fjords andislands provide a web of conservationwhere vast old forests and habitats for the

region’s diverse wildlife will be maintainedin their natural condition. The landbetween the conservation areas, provides a landscape where commercial forestry can occur consistent with ecosystem-basedmanagement and planning.

These negotiated outcomes meansignificant changes for the companies whohold tenures in the Central Coast area.They will also spell a new way of workingfor loggers, who have relied on the regionfor long-term jobs. IWA 2171 memberDarol Smith has been deeply involved inthe Central Coast LRMP and has spent 25 years working in the River’s Inlet area.Smith believes that recommended changeswill take a good deal of explaining, to helpaffected communities understand thebenefits made possible through EBM.

Landmark ConsensusReached on Central CoastNext step: Government, First Nations Review

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The Central Coast Agreement: More than sixyears in the making.

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Milestones2000• Companies extended logging deferrals and

environmental groups suspend their marketscampaign targeting the customers of coastalforestry companies

• Companies and environmental groups agreeto work together to develop an ecosystembased management plan for the CentralCoast. The initiative becomes known as theJoint Solutions Project

2001• BC government announces an historic agree-

ment with First Nations and an interim landuse plan for the Central Coast that proposedprotection of an additional 441,000 hectares

• BC government announces a CoastalSustainability Strategy that takes acollaborative approach to developing landuse plans in the Central and North Coasts

2002• Interim designation of Central Coast

protection areas

• Establishment of a $35-million SustainabilityTrust to address workers, contractors andcommunities affected by protection areasand harvesting deferrals

• Establishment of an independent scienceteam (Coast Information Team) jointlyfunded by government, forest companiesand environmental groups ($3.2 million)

• Establishment of a working group onConservation Investment and Incentives,with a further $1 million funded byconservation groups and the BC government

• Talks underway between the BC governmentand First Nations on economic measures andFirst Nations land use planning

2003• Haida Gwaii/Queen Charlotte Islands Land

and Resource Management Planning begins

• Consensus agreement reached by CentralCoast LRMP.

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“When folks in the community hear us talk about the concepts, includingsustainability in the industry and supportfor local economies, they get suspicious,”says Smith. “That’s because they’re still notwell enough informed about what EBM is– it’s complicated and difficult to under-stand. But as a participant in the process, Itake a great degree of comfort from the factthat in our recommendations we’ve agreedto no net job losses – or better – as a result

of the plan being implemented. To do that,it’s meant a fundamental shift in thinking.It’s a shift that has allowed conservationand other stakeholders to reach consensuson the principle which holds that peopleare as important as the environment.”

In those landscapes where logging will occur, EBM requires that forestmanagement sustain ecological processeswhile providing economic benefits. As aresult, conservation areas will be linked by

Landmark Consensus Continued from Page 1

a matrix of low impact development. The Central Coast Agreement recognizes

that making the transition to EBM willtake place over time. A five-year process isenvisioned in which the various elements ofEBM will be introduced in a step-by-stepfashion to ensure job impacts are mini-mized. Highlights of the agreement call for establishment of an EBM Council tooversee implementation of ecosystem-basedplanning and management and adaptive

management programs. To facilitatethis process the CFCI has appointedan EBM Implementation Managerwho will work with forest companiesoperating in the region to assist them in the transition. RegisteredProfessional Forester Shannon Janzen, who was appointed to theImplementation position this spring,found several compelling reasons tobecome involved in the EBMphasing-in process.

“Despite the diversity of interestswhich were involved within theCentral Coast land use planningprocess, an agreement on generaldirection had been reached,” notesJanzen. “I am intrigued by thewillingness and ability of stakeholdersto work together to develop commongoals. My personal belief that botheconomic and ecological integrity can be supported through innovativethought, sound science and contin-ued collaboration is fully supportedby EBM and its principles,” she says.“It is this belief which compelled meto take on the role.”

The transition to EBM, coupledwith the conservation areas, equatesto a dramatic change for the CentralCoast. In the next few months theProvince and First Nations will have completed their deliberationsand finalized the Central CoastAgreement. In the meantime, coastalforest companies are beginning theprocess of implementing ecosystem-based management guided by theEBM Framework and Handbookprovided by the Coast InformationTeam.

CCLRMP Land Use Recommendation

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In 1997 the British Columbia govern-ment invited environmental groups, forestcompanies, coastal communities and First Nations to help design land use andresource management plans for the region.The 46,000 square kilometer Central Coast was the focus of the first multi partyplanning process in the region. Five coastalforest product companies (Canfor, Interfor,NorskeCanada, Western Forest Products,Weyerhaeuser) and four environmentalgroups (ForestEthics, Greenpeace,Rainforest Action Network, Sierra Club of Canada – BC Chapter) worked toward resolution of coastal conflict; their negotiation led to a standstill in thecampaign targeting the companies and anagreement not to log or build roads in anumber of key areas.

This unique initiative – the JointSolutions Project (JSP) – has allowed forest companies and environmental groups to resolve issues and jointly providerecommendations to the coastal land useplanning processes. For Catherine Stewart,a JSP team member and member ofGreenpeace, the negotiation processmarked a fundamental difference inresource management struggles. “There had never been anything like this”, notesStewart. “A negotiated moratorium in thekey areas under question made it practicalto discuss future possibilities.”

Timber harvested in the Kimsquit Valley being towed for storage in Dean Channel.

The coastal temperate rainforests of BritishColumbia are found at lower elevationsbetween Vancouver and Alaska. Thisglobally important ecosystem extends over110,000 square kilometers and includessome of the oldest and largest trees foundanywhere in the world. The region provideshabitat for grizzly bears, the white coatKermode bear, wolves, mountain goats and black-tailed deer. Some 350 species of birds can be found along the coast andfive species of Pacific salmon spawn in the region’s rivers and streams.

Long ago the richness of BritishColumbia’s coastal ecosystems gave rise toone the world’s most diverse and enduringhuman cultures. For thousands of years,coastal First Nations have made this placetheir home. In modern times, the wealth ofmarine and forest resources attracted new-comers who came to log the vast tracts oftimber and fish the abundant salmon runs.Throughout much of the last century pulpmills, sawmills, logging camps, canneriesand mines sustained coastal communities.But this era of growth drew to an end andby the decade of the 1990s the focusshifted from resource exploitation tosustainable development.

A decade ago environmental groupsbegan to refer to the region encompassingthe Central Coast, North Coast and HaidaGwaii/Queen Charlotte Islands as the“Great Bear Rainforest” and campaigned toraise awareness of the areas conservationvalues. These campaigns quickly evolvedinto a conflict that engaged not only theforest companies but their customers aswell. Lyn Brown, Director of CorporateAffairs and Social Responsibility forNorskeCanada, notes the rising tensions on the west coast had global repercussions.“As a company that doesn’t own tenure but is dependent on reliable forest productssupply, our fortunes were tied to the largerissues being fought,” says Brown. “If wecan’t fulfill commitments to our customersaround the world, they are in turn forcedto find new places to do business. Whenthat happens, communities that are caughtup in the conflict are left without viableeconomic alternatives.”

The Road toConsensus

Over the past decade British Columbia hasused a system of multi party land use planningto provide recommendations to governmenton the use and management of land andresources. Known as Land and ResourceManagement Planning (LRMP), this approachuses a combination of technical informationand stakeholder negotiation to come up withstrategic plans to guide future developmentand conservation efforts. For furtherinformation please visit the BC Ministry ofSustainable Resource Management website at

http://srmwww.gov.bc.ca/rmd/.

LRMPs for the Central Coast, North Coastand Haida Gwaii/Queen Charlotte Islands arepart of the Province’s Coast SustainabilityStrategy, which is intended to help revitalizethe economy of coastal communities. A keyelement of the strategy is a commitment bythe Province to collaborate with coastal FirstNations to finalize and implement land useplans. This step in finalizing coastal plansreflects a unique relationship between theProvince and the governments of coastal First Nations. For further information pleasevisit the BC Ministry of Sustainable ResourceManagement website at

http://srmwww.gov.bc.ca/rmd/coaststrategy/index.htm.

What is Land UsePlanning?

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The challenge facing those charged withcharting a new course for coastal planningwas how to strike equilibrium betweenconservation and development. Looking to the future, how could those with a stake in the region avoid simply makingtradeoffs between the economy and theenvironment? How could they movebeyond an outcome that left in its wake a patchwork of compromises that set thestage for future conflict?

In April of 2001 a decision was made to set coastal planning on a new course.While a significant amount of work hadbeen completed to that point, Ministry ofSustainable Resource Management DeputyMinister Jon O’Riordan stressed the needfor additional scientific data and inclusionof new planning strategies which werebeing completed. “Earlier reports served asstepping stones, providing useful assistanceto later planning documents,” saysO’Riordan. “But there was a need toacknowledge that a number of otherinitiatives were being achieved concurrentlywith earlier plans being submitted for

government review. For instance, severalcoastal First Nations were completing theirown land use plans, providing informationwhich would fundamentally impactdecision-making. In addition, an increasingamount of science-based data was begin-ning to be forwarded for consideration.”

Thus a new model of sustainability wascalled for, leading coastal stakeholders, FirstNations and the Province to a commitmentto ecosystem-based management. Thepurpose of ecosystem-based management(EBM) is to achieve healthy ecosystems and healthy human communities.Ecosystem-based management calls for anongoing process of design and redesign toachieve the twin goals of ecosystem andhuman well-being across an entire land-scape or region. Unlike more traditionalapproaches to resource management, EBMis not static nor does it assume that people,their economies and their cultures are notpart of the ecosystem.

To provide a starting point for EBM and a foundation for coastal land use plans,an independent group of scientists was

convened in late 2001. The CoastInformation Team (CIT) completed itswork in March 2004. Jointly funded by the Province, the Government of Canada (through Western EconomicDiversification Canada), the RainforestSolutions Project member environmentalgroups and CFCI companies, CIT special-ists compiled ecological and socioeconomicanalyses, developed a Framework forecosystem-based management, a Handbookto guide the implementation of EBM anddesigned a variety of other support tools.

Implementing EBM requires a highdegree of collaboration among local communities, First Nations, the Province,specialists and resource users. For resource users in particular, the degree of cooperation required for effective EBMimplementation will perhaps be the greatestdeparture from the past competitive, tenure-based system of land use. “EBMplans are based on large scale areas – withmulti-licensees and multi stakeholders all working within the same area,” saysDiane Medves, Environmental Forester forWeyerhaeuser B.C. Coastal Group. “So ourchallenge will be to implement EBM plansin a way that’s amenable to each of theresource users in any given area.” Medvesnotes that while the new system will present challenges, “we already have some progress. Through the JSP and other initiatives, industry stakeholders have become much more collaborative in terms of information sharing.”

To succeed, EBM requires the continualapplication of knowledge and experiencethrough a process known as adaptivemanagement. By continually improvingoutcomes through ‘learning by doing’, it isanticipated that ecosystem well-being can bemaintained through time and that culturesand economies will thrive. This will be thetest – the challenge – of EBM. If the qualityof ecosystems improve and if communitywell-being and that of businesses whichprovide jobs and economic development for the coastal region increases, then EBMhas achieved its key objectives.

A New Model of Sustainability

A mature male grizzly bear crossing theKimsquit River.

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Coast Information Team The Coast Information Team (CIT) wasestablished to provide independent informationand analysis to support the development ofecosystem-based management planning for the Central Coast, North Coast and HaidaGwaii/Queen Charlotte Islands. The work of the CIT informs the land use planning processesand provides guidance for implementingecosystem-based management in the region.

The CIT was guided through two years ofwork by the BC government, First Nations,coastal communities, forest companies andenvironmental groups. The governments of BCand Canada and the JSP invested $3.2 million in the initiative.

http://www.citbc.org/index.html

Shannon Janzen, a graduate of theUniversity of Northern British Columbia’sinaugural professional forestry degree pro-gram and the new EBM ImplementationManager for the Central Coast, has onlybeen part of the EBM process for the pastfew months. Even so, Janzen has alreadybeen impressed by what she feels could be a world class system of land planning andmanagement. “The ecosystem-basedmanagement approach is well suited to theecological and socio-economic conditionswithin the plan area,” says Janzen. “Theconcept of EBM was adapted to reflectlocal values, scientific principles, and theneed for a successful economy. This focuswill ultimately lead to the success of EBM.So I believe the system of land manage-ment we are putting in place provides aworld class example of how local stake-holder involvement can simultaneouslymaintain or even enhance social, economic and ecological systems.”

With this kind of fundamental shift inplanning methodology about to take place,

Janzen notes that she and others involvedin the process are highly likely to feel somebumps along the road to implementation.“There certainly will be challenges, becauseall change is challenging to a greater orlesser degree,” she says. “ImplementingEBM in an efficient and effective wayrequires a shift in operational thinking.Operational staff, applying EBM principleson the ground, will have to adjust veryquickly to the new requirements and willhave to integrate evolving EBM conceptswith changing legislative imperatives andforest certification initiatives.” However,says Janzen, the recommended manage-ment system has anticipated some of theseissues. “The structure established throughthe LRMP process will work to overcomeimplementation issues,” she says. “Oncefunctional, the EBM Council and associat-ed technical working groups and scienceteams will help to guide the operationalimplementation of EBM and provideclarity and direction to operational staff.”

Late spring atIngram Lake nearBella Bella.

An Interview with Shannon Janzen,EBM Implementation Manager

“The system ofland managementwe are putting inplace provides a world classexample,” ShannonJanzen EBMImplementationManager.

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Place, People and Community

The Central Coast encompasses 46,000square kilometers, about half of which istemperate rainforest. Fewer than 5,000people live in the eight communities found in the Central Coast, but the region’sforestry, marine and tourism resources alsoprovide jobs and business opportunities for

people living in coastal communitiesoutside the area.

There are 17 First Nations that havecultural and traditional ties to the CentralCoast where aboriginal people have livedfor thousands of years. More than half ofregion’s residents are aboriginal people.

The regional economy is based on marine and forestry resources with forestry,commercial and sports fishing, tourism andaquaculture underpinning the economy.

Central Coast CommunitiesGilford Island KingcomeOweekeno HagensborgBella Coola Bella BellaOcean Falls Klemtu

Communities on northern VancouverIsland are closely associated with theCentral Coast region, and some, more than others, have suffered the effects ofchanges to coastal resource sectors. It is notsurprising then that while there is a highdegree of hope for the success of an EBM-based strategy, there is an equal degree ofskepticism. Mayor Gerry Furney of PortMcNeill feels that success will depend oncommunities like his seeing positive results.

“People who live on the coast year round live here because they like the greatoutdoors. They are all environmentalistswhether First Nations or non-FirstNations,” insists Furney. As such, he notes,“they will accept EBM as long as they canassess and observe its benefits. If the effectof EBM is to further reduce jobs bymaking resource harvesting impractical or uneconomical, then a negative reaction is to be expected.” On the other hand,Furney says “if it provides positive,measurable results – for example, more jobs – and our resource industries areprofitable, then people will be willing towork within it.”

B.C. Central Coast Land Management Region

Commercial forestry is critical to the social and economic health of the Central Coast,accounting for 15% of the jobs found in the region.

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To achieve the goal of ecosystem well-being throughout the coastal rainforest, a combination of conservation areas andecosystem-based management is called for.But making the transition to EBM willtake time. The Central Coast LRMP hasrecommended a five-year phase-in periodto allow for the adaptation of new practicesand planning methods, collection ofadditional data and establishment ofmechanisms to oversee implementation.Ministry of Sustainable ResourceManagement Director, Coast Completion,Wally Eamer points out that whileresolutions from the Joint Solutions Project will provide a sound basis, final decisionsaround EBM will be guided by a numberof yet-to-be-developed systems. “EBM is arecommendation for a new adaptive systemof land and resource management in thearea,” says Eamer. “But before this canhappen, a number of other criteria for implementation will have to be set,

The Cost of ChangeThe Central Coast land use plan andimplementation of EBM come with a price tag attached. Commercial forestry, the largestprovider of jobs, economic development andrevenue in the region, is not permitted in theconservation areas. And the practice of EBMplaces significant constraints on the amount oftimber that can be harvested. A final analysis of the impact on timber supply has not beencompleted, but it has been estimated thattimber harvest levels will likely fall by onequarter.

Constraints on economic development posedby the Central Coast recommendations willhave to be addressed through a combinationof new investment, business innovation andnew business opportunities. Among theinnovative measures being pursued to securecommunity well-being are the Bella CoolaCommunity Forest and the ConservationInvestment and Incentives Initiative.

including provincially mandated legalobjectives, which will involve partnershipswith many groups.” He notes that the finalstep prior to EBM implementation, theProvincial to First Nation deliberations(referred to as government to governmentnegotiations) will also significantly impactthe management structure for the Northand Central coasts.

As first steps in the process, forestcompanies operating in the Central Coast are implementing seven key elements found in the EBM Handbook.The Handbook guides the design andimplementation of EBM through acombination of planning guidelines andconservation targets. The seven key EBMelements are intended to protect importantconservation values within managed forestareas. As a result there will be increasedprotection given to streams and wetlands,wildlife habitat features and old growth forest.

Implementing EBM Princess Royal Channel: Every year over amillion cruise ship passengers travel thesheltered waters of the Central Coast.

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The community of Bella Coola and theNuxalk First Nation are collaborating onthe creation of a community forest that willsee logging rights transferred to the localcommunity. The community forest willsupport long-term local jobs andopportunities for local businesses.

Patricia McKim, a non-First Nationsrepresentative of northern Central Coastcommunities and a participant in LRMPprocesses for over a dozen years, believesthat the positive economic impacts frominitiatives like the Bella Coola CommunityForest could be felt far into the future.

“In the longer term – and I mean from a generational perspective – this kind of model could achieve two criticalobjectives,” says McKim, “environmentalsustainability and community economicstability. The third thing that the projectcould be viewed as is a prototype initiativethat other coastal communities couldfollow, allowing them to control their own destiny.” McKim notes that while theproject forms a promising start, she believescertain criteria will have to be met in orderto best ensure positive outcomes. “I say thisproject could be a positive prototype

The Coast Investment and IncentivesInitiative (CIII) is a project that seeks toattract private and public investment insupport of the significant conservationgains being made in the coastal rainforest.The CIII proposes $120 million in directfunding to support economic developmentin coastal First Nations communities and $60 million in socially responsibleinvestment (SRI) funds to underwrite newbusiness ventures in coastal communities.

The underlying premise of the CIII isthat conservation and economic develop-ment can and should go hand-in-hand.IWA member Darol Smith believes thatthis type of investing avoids the mistakes

Bella Coola Community Forest

Coast Forest Conservation Initiative

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For more information on the CoastForest Conservation Initiative, pleasecontact the CFCI at:www.coastforestconservationinitiative.com

To reach CFCI key contact bytelephone:

• Diane MedvesWeyerhaeuserBC Coastal Group250-755-3573

• Kerry McGourlickWestern Forest Products250-286-3767

• Mike BradleyCanadian Forest Products604-661-5264

• Gerry FraserInternational Forest Products604-689-6870

• Stu ClugstonNorskeCanada604-654-4463

Coast Investment and Incentives Initiativeof earlier job loss strategies and is a much more positive funding and supportmechanism. “The CIII is a precedentsetting strategy where forest companies andprovincial taxpayers avoid funding costlysupport packages in a no-win mitigationstrategy of compensating workers forforestry job losses,” says Smith. “Under theCIII model, the opposite is the case. WithSRI funding we are seeking to add 40 to60 value-added based jobs in the NorthIsland area, which would be an investmentin the community, workers and theirfamilies.” The initiative is attracting invest-ment from philanthropic organizations,SRI funds, individuals and government.

Canoona River Valley is part of the 89,000hectare Kitasoo Spirit Bear conservation area.

initiative because in order for a model ofthis kind to be successful in the long term,permanent area based tenures must be ofsufficient size and breadth. This aspect iscritical. Of course, now we are only takingour first steps in this process.”