Good News for Great Bear Rain Forest

Back in November, I wrote a post about the Great Bear Rain Forest and how it was the largest tract of intact coastal temperate rain forest left on Earth.

The Earth Won One This Month

On 4/1/2009, the government of British Columbia announced that it would, indeed, keep its promises regarding the region. The major milestones achieved are:

• 5 million acres, an area half the size of Switzerland, have been legally protected from logging.
  
  
• $120 million is available to First Nation communities to help kick-start a new conservation economy as an alternative to logging throughout the rainforest.
  
  
• A new system of 'lighter touch' logging, based on Ecosystem-based Management (EBM), has been legislated. This system maintains 50 percent of the natural level of old growth forest in the region. This translates to an additional 1.7 million acres of forest set aside from logging.

View a media release with more details: Promise to Protect Great Bear Rainforest Becomes Reality - Five-Year Plan in Place

Tags: great bear rainforest, conservation, british columbia, ecosystem-based management, ,