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COFI issues statement on B.C.’s conservation financing and old-growth plans

BC Council of Forest Industries (COFI) president and CEO Linda Coady released the following statement in response to the announcement by the B.C. Government on the new B.C. conservation financing tool and moving forward on landscape level planning and old-growth:

“The B.C. conservation financing mechanism announced today represents a new and innovative B.C.-based approach to maintaining critical ecosystems and other areas of high biodiversity values in the province.

COFI and our member companies look forward to the five new regional landscape planning processes also announced today which will enable government, First Nations, local communities, industry, and other organizations to work together to achieve new long-term approaches to sustainable forest management and conservation.

These last three years have been challenging for the B.C. forest sector since the November 2021 provincial announcement to defer old-growth logging. While temporary, the uncertainty about the future of the deferral areas impacts forest sector jobs and communities across B.C.

Moving forward, strengthened Indigenous and local leadership on land use planning will help ensure goals for forest health, wildfire resiliency and biodiversity are met while also creating more predictability for workers, communities, and forest-related businesses across B.C.

With increasing pressure from wildfires and climate change, it’s more important than ever to take a broad view of the role that both forest management and conservation can play in ensuring forest health and resilience for generations.”