Roy L Hales/ Cortes Currents - Yesterday Cortes Currents published a story about local governments asking the BC government to defer logging in old-growth forests until the recommendations of the province’s Old Growth Strategic Review have been implemented. At the bottom of that story there are links to reports from the Comox Valley Regional District and the municipal governments of Courtenay, Cumberland, Lantzville, Metchosin, Nanaimo, Powell River, Port Moody, and Victoria. The Capital Regional District (CRD), which represents 13 municipalities and three electoral areas in Southern Vancouver Island, was going to vote on a similar resolution Wednesday, but the Pacheedaht First Nation said this would be a violation of the sovereignty and wishes of their nation. The CRD has not yet published the minutes of that Board meeting. Locally, Geraldine Kenny, from Sierra Quadra is asking the SRD to support the old Growth Strategic Review. “Be it resolved that the SRD call on the provincial government toimmediately defer logging in all high productivity, rare, old and mostlyintact old-growth forests as recommended by the Old-Growth Strategic Review, pending the implementation of all 14 of the panel’s recommendations,” said Kenny.“We ask that the SRD call on the Government of British Columbia toallocate sufficient funding to enact deferrals in an economically justmanner, and in the full spirit of reconciliation to support the economictransition of affected First Nations communities—and all non-FirstNations communities, too— from unsustainable old-growth logging to the development of long-term sustainable local economies.”“The United Nations[ Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change hasdetermined that we now have less than ten years to do everythingpossible to reduce global emissions and avoid climate catastrophe. Theprotection of primary forests has been identified as one of the bestglobal solutions to address climate change. The BC government and allelected officials must act quickly to protect these globally significantcarbon sinks. It is the government’s responsibility to the people ofBritish Columbia to reduce carbon emissions from deforestation andassociated land-use changes through an immediate ban on old-growth logging.”“Public support for protecting old-growth is evident: 55,000+ people havesigned a petition to end logging in at-risk old-growth forests acrossB.C. Thousands more have sent emails, made phone calls, and reached out on social media. More broadly, the Sierra Club’s recent pollingindicates that over 90% of people living in British Columbia supportaction to protect endangered old-growth forests.”“We demand that our elected officials act as climate leaders andimmediately stop the destruction of the globally essential carbon sinksthat are BC’s remaining old-growth forests. It is encouraging that theResolution to do so has been supported to date by the communities ofCumberland, CVRD, Lantzville, Nanaimo, Port Renfrew, Metchosin, Colwood and Powell River, with more signing on daily.”