BC’s Old Growth Forest: A Last Stand for Biodiversity

This report was published in April 2020

Authors: Karen Price , PhD.,  Rachel F. Holt, PhD., R.P.Bio and Dave Daust R.P.F., M.Sc.

See the full pdf of the report here: bcs-old-growth-forest-report-web

Conclusions

Productive old forest has almost vanished across BC.

Low productivity inaccessible old forest remains in some forest types.

Forest policy in BC does not maintain the natural range of ecosystem diversity, thus posing high risk to biodiversity and long-term carbon storage.

Current old forest targets provide an ecologically risky low bar, and implementation succeeds in going below this bar due to loopholes, gaming, arithmetic errors and simple lack of monitoring.

Many existing OGMAs do not contain old forest.

Priority actions to increase effective retention of representative old forest must be taken immediately to reduce risk.

In many areas, mature forest must be recruited to bolster the dwindling ranks of old forest and to allow for ecological recovery over time.

Funding, commitment and management authority is required from the provincial government to ensure that staff are available to implement effective old forest conservation.