Western Canada Wilderness Committee

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The Western Canada Wilderness Committee is a conservation organization established in British Columbia in 1980 . The Vancouver- based WCWC has offices in Alberta , Manitoba and Ontario and had over 30,000 members in 2008.

history

Founding director is Paul George, who has also published a history of the organization. After him, the idea to found the company in 1977 on the Queen Charlotte Islands ( Haida Gwaii ) arose . The founding date is August 7, 1980. Together with his neighbor Richard Krieger, George campaigned for the preservation of South Moresby , the southern part of Moresby Island (this is now the Gwaii Haanas National Park ). In order to publish a book on the area that would be called The Galapagos of the North , he turned to a group already active on the islands called the Islands Protection Committee . They also included the Haida Guujaaw (known as Gary Edenshaw) and since 2000 head of the Council of the Haida Nation . Their political opponents were the politicians of the Social Credit Party , who had their backs on Rayonier , the company that owned Tree Farm License 24 and thus almost the entire area of ​​South Moresby.

Members include Adriane Carr, one of the leading figures of the Green Party of British Columbia and the Canadian Green Party , Randy Stoltmann, who produced several publications on the temperate rainforests and played a crucial role in the establishment of the Carmanah Walbran Provincial Park ( 1990 and 1995).

In 1989 a separate department was set up in Victoria . From 1992 to 2000 the organization was led by a team of four, including Adriane Carr, her husband Joy Foy, and Paul George.

Protection of temperate rainforests, especially primeval forests

The WCWC played an essential role in the conflicts over the primeval forests (old growth) of the rainforests of the temperate latitudes at Clayoquot Sound on Vancouver Island from 1990 with a focus on 1993. Since then, the organization has continued to develop its goals and is now committed to preservation of the last remaining virgin forests in all of western Canada. Means of these ventures range from demonstrations and occupations to petitions to gain public support. In recent years, the organization has pursued a course between the preservation of the primeval forests and that of the timber industry, which in the opinion of the association should, however, concentrate on forests that have been reforested after previous felling (second growth) , as well as the interests of the First Nations resident in the affected areas . Therefore it tries to protect Indian jobs in the wood industry and to ban raw wood exports. In the meantime, it has also been argued that the preservation of the primeval forests makes more economic sense. In addition, the educational work is accelerated.

In order to achieve this goal politically, the WCWC initiated a campaign led by Ken Wu, the culmination of which was a joint demonstration by 2,700 environmentalists and forest workers on October 25, 2008.

Protection of marine areas in western Canada

In addition to protecting the temperate rainforests, the WCWC works to protect the marine areas around Vancouver Island as far as the southern border of Alaska . It works with the Living Oceans Society, the David Suzuki Foundation and the Sierra Club of BC. The aim is to establish areas with limited economic use up to areas that cannot be driven on. Instead of the previously 0.01% protected area, 30% should achieve this status by 2012.

Awards

Web links

Remarks

  1. ^ Common Ground: Wilderness warrior celebrates 25 years with the WCWC , September 2006
  2. ↑ See Gwaii Haanas National Park Reserve and Haida Heritage Site .
  3. ↑ He died in 1994. His works are Hiking Guide to the Big Trees of British Columbia (June 1991), Written by the Wind and Hiking the Ancient Forests of British Columbia .
  4. ^ Judith Lavoie: Thousands rally at legislature to protest old-growth logging. Environmentalists and forestry workers unite in plea for sustainable practices ( Memento of the original of October 27, 2008 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. , in: Times-Colonist , October 26, 2008. Film about the demonstration from October 25, 2008 (3 parts) . @1@ 2Template: Webachiv / IABot / www.canada.com
  5. ^ Living Oceans Society: BC Marine Protected Areas and Areas of High Conservation Value .