Nanoose Bay Forest

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The Nanoose Bay Forest , also known as DL33 , is a 60- acre forest area in the southeast of Vancouver Island , the largest island off the west coast of Canada . It was last partially cut down around 1920 and was released for felling from 2009, although it is a rare biotope. Numerous organizations and communities resisted, including the neighboring Nanaimo . However, logging began in mid-November 2011.

Monotropa uniflora , also called Indian pipe, a plant without chlorophyll

The forest area is representative of an extremely rare ecosystem that only exists in the Georgia Basin (also known as the Georgia Depression ) and on the San Juan Islands , i.e. in the coastal areas of British Columbia and in the neighboring state of Washington to the south . The rare plants include Monotropa uniflora , a plant without chlorophyll , which is also called Indian pipe . In addition, Douglas firs can be found here , almost all of which have been felled on Vancouver Island - they only exist on around 1100 hectares of undisturbed forest (from around 220,000 hectares previously).

The Nanoose Streamkeepers Society has been trying to protect the area for a long time and has tried to preserve the spawning grounds of the salmon there . The company was able to prove that around 400 insect species are dependent on the crowns of the Douglas firs alone. In addition, the Nanoose Creek and the surrounding wetlands (Coastal Douglas-fir Moist Maritime wetland) represent an important prerequisite for the ground and drinking water supply of the surrounding places.

The Nanoose Bay Forest is on Crownland and is owned by the Province of British Columbia. In contrast, the surrounding land is privately owned and the trees have been felled for a long time. In 2005, the Conservation Data Center found that 20 plant communities were threatened with extinction; in 2007 there were 29 and in 2010 it was already 35. These include the Douglas fir , which has almost disappeared as a coastal inhabitant on the island. In November 2009 the responsible Ministry of Forests and Range nevertheless allowed the deforestation of the area. A harvesting license has already been granted. However, the Ministry of the Environment considered the area to be extremely worthy of protection, which studies in 1997 and 2004 confirmed.

The logging license should go to one of the First Nations , the Snaw-Naw-As First Nation called by the Department of Indian Affairs and Northern Development Nanoose . Accordingly, environmentalists and associations such as the Western Canada Wilderness Committee feared that their interests should be played off against the ecological ones.

The Association of Vancouver Island and Coastal Communities , which brought together the 51 parishes and regional districts of the southern half of the island, and which met in Powell River in early April 2010 , submitted an urgent resolution. The Regional District of Nanaimo has called for the last Douglas fir stocks to be protected and is demanding a moratorium . In July 2010, Minister Pat Bell protected some areas (40% of the province's holdings, around 9% of the total stocks on Vancouver Island, but only 6%) with Douglas fir stocks, but the nanoose forest was included left out. According to the member of the provincial parliament for the district of Parksville-Qualicum Ron Cantelon, about a quarter of the forest area is up for grabs.

On December 22, 2010, the Snaw-Naw-As First Nation received permission to cut a third of the trees, a permit for a period of four years. The Western Canada Wilderness Committee and some MPs want to continue negotiating with First Nation officials. 17 of the approximately 100

The first large trees were felled in mid-November 2011; Whether the promise of the Snaw-Naw-As to leave the old trees (old growth) untouched will be kept, and whether this will ensure their continued existence, is controversial. On April 1, 2012 the machines were withdrawn again. In 2018, 980.4 hectares of forest areas were again placed under protection in the region, including in Nanoose Bay south of the highway near Bonell Creek. A total of 11,000 hectares of Douglas fir forest were thus protected.

Web links

Remarks

  1. ↑ Stephen Hume: Teetering on the brink of extinction. The coastal Douglas fir is endangered, raising questions about why a small stand is soon to be logged , in: Vancouver Sun, March 19, 2010.
  2. ↑ Controversial forest facing harvest , in: Parksville Qualicum Beach News, April 12, 2010 ( Memento of May 23, 2010 in the Internet Archive ), archive.org, May 23, 2010.
  3. ↑ Lack of protection angers MLA , in: Parksville Qualicum News, August 9, 2010 ( Memento of August 15, 2010 in the Internet Archive ), archive.org, August 15, 2010.
  4. ↑ Save Nanoose Bay Forest! , Short film, November 12, 2011.
  5. ^ Province announces new protection for coastal Douglas fir forests in Yellow Point and Nanoose , Nanaimo News Bulletin, July 20, 2018.

Coordinates: 49 ° 16 '10 "  N , 124 ° 10' 50"  W.