Who gains from saving nature
Ledger 1 : 33 — For each dollar financing nature-based solutions in 2023, about $33 financed activities harmful to nature. (UNEP)
Cases / Fishing ban · Canada · 2020

British Columbia's 13.2 million hectare old-growth count is challenged

Short record: the main facts, with sources. A full case file has not been prepared.

Nature's voice · report
No measurement of the harm done to me here is on record.
Did nature suffer? Not measured.
Not on record
  • The record does not name which of my species, waters, soils or forests were harmed.
What the record lacks: 5 insufficient · 1 not measured See the gaps

The provincial government counts 23 percent of its forest as old growth. An independent 2020 report said only 3 percent of the province can grow big trees, and The Narwhal reported in 2024 that 2.4 million hectares were temporarily deferred.

What?
British Columbia counts 13.2 million hectares, 23 percent of its forest, as old growth, and independent reports dispute that classification. The Narwhal
Where?
British Columbia, Canada; Drax power plant, United Kingdom The Narwhal
When?
Independent report 2020; deferral update 2024; analysis November 2025; Drax subsidy figure for 2025 The Narwhal
Who?
Gained
  • Drax Group — Ember's July 2026 analysis puts its 2025 UK subsidy at 999 million pounds and 8.72 billion pounds since 2012; Drax burns wood pellets counted as renewable
Lost
None on record
Harmed
None on record
Why?
Not stated in the sources reviewed.
How?
The policy does not separate productive from unproductive old growth, so targets can be met by cutting big trees and leaving stunted ones. The Narwhal
6 of 6 questions answered from the record

What happened

The record, in order.

The Narwhal reported in June 2020 that the government counts 13.2 million hectares, or 23 percent of the forest, as old growth, while an independent report said 3 percent of the province can grow big trees.

The Narwhal reported in May 2024 that 2.4 million hectares were deferred on a temporary basis, and that the old-growth total in the update fell from 25 to 11.1 million hectares.

The Narwhal's November 2025 analysis said logging in deferral areas could be four times higher, and that about 4 percent of old growth had burned.

    In court and with insurers

    Every proceeding and every insurer decision on record.

    Lawsuits and rulings

    No court case on record. No court has ruled on this case.

    Insurers

    No insurer decision on record.

    What we don't know

    Undisclosed, unproven, untried: recorded as data.

    Nature

    • Not measured Harm to nature: The record holds no measurement of harm to nature.

    Record

    • Insufficient Reported but not verified: Pinnacle, a Drax subsidiary, received cutting licences covering areas with old growth (BBC Panorama, October 2022).
    • Insufficient Reported but not verified: Drax takes about 80 percent of British Columbia's pellet output.
    • Insufficient Reported but not verified: Ofgem found Drax misreported 2021 to 2022 Canadian imports and agreed to pay 25 million pounds.
    • Insufficient Reported but not verified: a Drax pellet plant in Mississippi was fined 2.5 million dollars in 2020 and 225,000 dollars in 2024.
    • Insufficient Reported but not verified: a March 2026 CP24 report says the province is failing to protect old growth; only the headline was seen.

    Did the harm stop?

    Not stated in the sources reviewed.

    Who paid?

    Not stated in the sources reviewed.

    Sources

    Voices on record: — Company or project— Government and regulators— Courts✓ Press and investigations— Communities and civil society— Researchers

    Press and investigations

    2. BC old-growth update 2024
      The Narwhal · 2024-05-28
    3. BC forests logging 2025
      The Narwhal · 2025-11-12

    Connected cases

    Related matters, and cases linked to this one through the same organisations, with the role each played in both.
    Terms used on this page

    Science and environment

    Biomass, root-to-shoot ratio, carbon fraction
    Biomass is the dry weight of living plants per hectare. The root-to-shoot ratio adds the weight of roots. The carbon fraction is the share of that weight that is carbon, about 47% in tropical forests.
    Hectare (ha)
    A unit of area equal to 10,000 square metres, about 2.5 acres. 100 hectares make one square kilometre.
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