B.C.’s Old Growth Scandal

As part of its Old Growth Strategic Review, the BC government has committed to temporarily halt logging in the most rare, at-risk old growth forests, while longer-term protections are put in place. These temporary measures are called deferrals.

2.6M ha of ‘candidate’ deferrals were announced by the province on Nov. 2, 2021, with an est. 50,000 ha overlapping with logging permits approved before the announcement.

This map shows those 50,000 ha at immediate risk from the logging industry, plus the old growth at risk from oil and gas and other sectors. We estimate that anywhere from 15,000 – 20,000 ha is already lost.

These forests are the most meaningful deferrals, since they are in immediate threat of logging. Yet the province is letting industry log them, and then misleading the public about the government’s track record on old growth protection.