An expert panel called for the end of salvage logging, the practice of logging areas after a fire or insect outbreak, earlier in the month.
The panel, hosted virtually by Conservation North and attended virtually by around 200 people from across western Canada, said salvage logging “usually causes more damage to a forest than the fire itself… reducing biodiversity, contributing to climate change, increasing the vulnerability of the forest to further fires, and often causes soil degradation and erosion.”
Michelle Connolly, the Director of Conservation North, said 200 attendees from across BC tuned in for the discussion held on July 15th.
“The purpose was to inform the public this is happening, and with new streamlined policies enabling more salvage logging to happen faster in our primary forest, there ought to be concerns about that,” she explained.
Connolly noted some BC Government staff tuned in to the panel.
She said the general panel consensus was that “salvage logging has negative impacts on carbon and wildlife population.”
“It is mostly for economic reasons, never for reasons of protecting nature, improving wildlife habitat, or helping the climate somehow.”
You can see the full panel discussion below, Connolly said a follow-up document will also be published at a later date.
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