“It’s now or never to protect these areas because the best of them will be gone in a very few years. We probably don’t know half the number of species that reside in the temperate rainforest and yet we’re destroying them before we know what we’re losing.”

—Dr. Bristol Foster, Ecologist

Stop Buying Ancient Forest Destruction / Canada - Victory

British Columbia’s mid-coast is a breathtakingly beautiful and largely undisturbed tract of wilderness - one quarter of the world’s remaining coastal temperate rainforests. Tragically, almost every intact watershed on the B.C. coast is slated for road building or clearcut logging within the next 10 years.

In the steep and irregular landscape, clearcutting results in loss of habitat for many species, erosion of valuable nutrients and soil from slopes, and irreparable damage to fish-bearing streams.

B.C.’s ancient rainforests are home to 70 percent of Canada’s species diversity - but one in 10 species in the province is endangered or threatened with extinction. The B.C. Ministry of Environment says the greatest threat to species survival is loss of habitat - and it’s going very fast: one acre of ancient forest is clearcut every 66 seconds. Over 90 percent of logging in the province is clearcutting. (Source: B.C. Ministry of Forests)

Who can stop the destruction of this magnificent rainforest?

• The B.C. provincial government could permanently protect the remaining intact valleys. Global Response youth members are making banners that will be presented to the B.C. government in October as part of this campaign;

• the logging companies could follow the example of logging giant MacMillan Bloedel and agree not to enter any pristine valleys;

• lumber retailers in the US that purchase wood and wood products from companies that are logging in ancient rainforests could cancel contracts with those companies.

For the health of our planet and future generations, the few remaining ancient forests must be preserved. The Coastal Rainforest Coalition (150 organizations including Greenpeace, Natural Resources Defense Council and Rainforest Action Network) asks Global Response members to urge The Home Depot to make a commitment to stop purchasing ancient forest products.

Home Depot is the largest do-it-yourself lumber retailer in the world and the largest retailer of timber in the U.S. The company projects an image as a leader in social and environmental issues - its leadership is desperately needed now to stop the destruction of ancient forests.

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