More old-growth oversight needed on B.C. island: forests watchdog

Conservationists are sounding the alarm over dwindling old-growth forests on an island off British Columbia's South Coast and a new report backs up their concerns.

B.C.'s Forest Practices Board says without improvements to how forests on Quadra Island are managed, the remaining old growth there may not survive.

The board's investigation started after the Discovery Islands Forest Conservation Project filed a complaint in April, worried that old growth trees over 250 years old were at risk of being logged on Quadra, which lies about 180 kilometres northwest of Vancouver.

The report found that TimberWest Forest Corp., the only company with a tree farm licence on the island, lacks an effective strategy to preserve and nurture old-growth forests.

While there is no evidence of recent old-growth logging, the board criticized TimberWest and two smaller operators, Okisollo Resources Ltd. and Younger Brothers Holdings, for insufficient forest protection efforts.

Only 1% of forest is old growth

Board chair Keith Atkinson says only one per cent of the island's forest is classified as old growth.

Quadra Island has a long history of both human and natural disturbances, including wildfires that burned across much of the island in the mid-1920s.

But there's hope that large areas of 80- to 120-year-old trees, if left untouched, could grow into old-growth stands, Atkinson said.

"We need a plan to let these younger forests stay in place and mature into old growth," he told CBC News.

However, TimberWest, in particular, was found to have no effective strategy for recruiting younger trees to mature into old growth.

The report says the corporation failedto meet its target of protecting 8.49 square kilometres of old growth with just 4.71 square kilometres currently safeguarded.

TimberWest's Forest Stewardship Plan strategy was approved by the province with a commitment to ensure the old forest target is satisfied for retention and recruitment.

"They could show us they weren't harvesting old growth but couldn't show us in their strategic plan that they had protected enough old growth for the goals set out by the province," said Atkinson.

He says the board has recommended TimberWest to come back with a new strategic plan that will allow mature forests the opportunity to become old growth.

Mosaic Forest Management, which manages TimberWest's operations, told CBC News in a statement that it's "committed to sustainable forest stewardship."

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There is a rare old growth forest in southeast B.C. thats also home to endangered mountain caribou, and saving it might help keep the herd alive. But as the CBC's Camille Vernet found out, finding a balance between logging and preservation of the forest is not easy.

The company claims it hasn't harvested old forest on Quadra Island for decades but said the establishment of old-growth management areas cannot be finalized without continued collaboration with First Nations and the provincial government.

CBC News reached out to the area's First Nations for comment but has yet to hear back.

Okisollo and Younger Brothers were flagged in the report for some operational non-compliance but Atkinson confirmed "there was no old growth harvested in their work."

The two licensees hold woodlots, which are much smaller areas, and the provincial requirements to conserve old forests do not apply for them.

Ministry to review the board's report

The Forest Practices Board says it's up to the provincial government to understand what's at stake for Quadra Island's forests and ensure companies have clear, verifiable plans to manage them.

B.C.'s Ministry of Forests says it is taking the board's findings seriously and will review the report to determine what actions can be taken.

"In the face of devastating wildfires, climate change and timber supply challenges, we are taking urgent action to better care for our forests," said a ministry spokesperson.