BC Business
From conflict to collaboration The 20-year fight to conserve the North Coast’s Great Bear Rainforest came to a close on Monday with a landmark agreement to preserve an area of 6.4 million hectares, roughly the size of Nova Scotia, that stretches from the Alaska border to Vancouver Island.
Around half of that territory, or 3.1 million hectares will be permanently off limits to industrial logging, as part of an agreement that is, in the words of environmental campaigner Valerie Langer: “one of the most visionary forest conservation plans on Earth. “
Premier Christy Clark was on hand Monday at the Museum of Anthropology in Vancouver to announce the accord, which brought together 26 First Nations, environmental groups, the province, and forestry companies Interfor, Catalyst Paper, and Western Forest Products, to decide on how the remaining forests in the region would be managed.
As part of the deal, 85 per cent of the region’s old-growth forest will be protected, and First Nations will be given a greater share of timber rights and $15 million from the province to support economic development.
The agreement protecting the old growth forest of the North Coast, made famous by its ghostly white spirit bears, is the culmination of 15 years of negotiations, and a decade of conflict between industry on one side and environmentalists and First Nations on the other. It was a victory for Coastal First Nations, the umbrella group that represents many of the coastal people, in particular.
“The Great Bear Rainforest – a global ecological treasure – has been home to our communities on the Central and North Coast and Haida Gwaii for more than 10,000 years,” said Chief Marilyn Slett, president of Coastal First Nations in a statement. “If we use our traditional knowledge to take care of our lands, waters and resources, they will take care of us.”
Bon voyage A surprising number of tourists chose to visit B.C. during the grey and gloom of November, according to new figures from the ministry of Jobs, Tourism and Skills Training. Visits were up 11.1 per cent over the same month in 2014, with the biggest increase coming from France. Also notable, the number of visitors from China, while increasing, slowed dramatically from years prior. Here’s a rundown of some of the big differences:
France up 27.1 per centIndia up 20.8 per centJapan up 18.2 per cent U.S. up 12.5 per cent South Korea up 9.2 per cent China up 1.8 per cent
Happy and we know it We might not be Quebec, but we’re still very happy. According to a new Angus Reid survey, British Columbians are the second happiest lot in the country, with 20 per cent stating that they are “very happy.” Quebeckers come in with 22 per cent saying that they are “very happy.” An interesting corollary? The economy plays a role, at least in the case of Alberta, where the number who reported being happy was a paltry 12 per cent.