PROTECTING RAINFOREST PROTECTING THE CLIMATE. Environmental Perspective

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1 Environmental Perspective

2 Environmental Perspective on Sci Pan The Science Panel was a provincial strategy to mitigate the bad press around the Clayoquot Land Use Decision in The reports and recommendations were the most courageous and environmentally far reaching official forestry document of their time.

3 Environmental Perspective on Sci Pan Precautionary principle, ecosystem integrity, PROTECTING adaptive management and THE volume CLIMATE as an output of planning were invoked Profoundly influenced subsequent work of the Coast Information Team in the Great Bear Rainforest. Resulted in improvements to forestry practices in Clayoqout Sound

4 Sci Pan Shortcomings - A Global and Regional perspective

5 - Species Extinction and Extirpation - Global Warming and Carbon Storage - Global responsibility

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8 PROTECTING We have little time left to RAINFOREST reduce emissions

9 PROTECTING and to save speciesrainforest Historic and current species richness/ number of species lost over time for 17 species of mammals that experienced range contractions Andrea S. Laliberte and William J. Ripple. BioScience Vol. 54, No. 2 (Feb., 2004), pp Published by: University of California Press on behalf of the American Institute of Biological Sciences.

10 PROTECTING Global Forest Carbon RAINFOREST Density low high R. Naidoo, A. Balmford, R. Costanza, B. Fisher, R. E. Green, B. Lehner, T. R. Malcolm, and T. H. Ricketts. Global mapping of ecosystem services and conservation priorities. PNAS July 15, 2008 vol. 105 no

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13 PROTECTING Western Oregon RAINFOREST Forests Bureau for Land Management 1 million hectares of forest 149 million tons of carbon lost, mainly from logging 11 million tons are stored in wood products =>13x more carbon emitted than stored

14 PROTECTING Annual sequestration of THE old growth CLIMATE forests Region x y -1 ) Carbon flux (Mg C ha -1 y Carbon flux (Mg ha -1 y -1 ) Boreal 0.2 Temperate 2.0 Tropical 4.0 Source Sink Unpublished meta-analysis of 21 eddy flux studies (9 boreal, 7 temperate, 5 tropical)

15 Priority areas to reduce emissions from forests Increase the area of old forest off-limits to logging Improve logging practices

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18 Environmental Perspective on Sci Pan - cont d PROTECTING RAINFOREST Mandate province gave was too limited to address primary PROTECTING issues environmental THE groups had CLIMATE with the CLUD. Needed, at minimum, a region wide context Hierarchy of questioning should have been: 1. Should Clayoquot Sound s old growth be logged? 2. If so, what portions? 3. In those portions how? (ecologically sustainable /appropriate)

19 Environmental Perspective on Sci Pan - cont d The structure marginalized the ENGO s and enfranchised First Nations, but within the existing CLUD No ENGO representation ToR were pre-set to focus on reforming operational level forest practices

20 New Contexts what to do now? Failure of adaptive management because of politicized atmosphere around monitoring (huge opportunities missed) New information (e.g. climate, Great Bear Rainforest and new opportunities) Conservation Financing Climate mitigation and adaptation strategies Carbon revenues give alternate economic options Is it time to review Sci Pan recommendations for old growth and undeveloped watersheds

21 Protected Areas, Tribal Parks Intact Watersheds (1999 MOU) and Sci Pan Reserves