Great Bear Rainforest agreement (Canada)
- Press and investigations The Narwhal: On Gilford Island, 3% of the original old-growth forest remained as old growth. The Narwhal
- Company or project Interfor: Said that less than 1% of the 15% logging area was cut each year. The Narwhal
- Researchers PNAS study (as reported by Global News / Canadian Press): Of about 570 km² logged around Bella Bella between 1860 and 2016, 87% was in old-growth forest after 1970, with the most profitable valley bottoms taken first. Global News / Canadian Press
- Press and investigations The Narwhal: Reported criticism that the agreement left a gap through which companies could log large old trees. The Narwhal
- Government and regulators Christy Clark, then premier of British Columbia: Announced the agreement as a turning point.
A February 2016 agreement set 85% of the Great Bear Rainforest on the British Columbia coast aside as protected and left a 550,000-hectare zone open to logging. Reporting since has disputed how much old forest remains in the logging zone.
As reported by AP on the agreement signed 1 February 2016; logging zone 550,000 ha.
Status As of October 2026: the allowable cut of 2.5 million m³ a year runs to 31 December 2026; the sources reviewed record a dispute over old-growth logging in the logging zone.
- Logging companies such as Interfor, which continued to log in the zone — Continued access to the logging zone The Narwhal
- A Kwikwasut'inuxw Haxwa'mis chief said his territory had been over-logged — Reported over-logging of territory
- Old-growth forest in the logging zone — 3% of the original old growth remained on Gilford Island The Narwhal
What happened
On 1 February 2016 the final Great Bear Rainforest agreement was announced on the British Columbia coast. AP reported that it provided for 85% of the forest to be protected, with a logging zone of 550,000 hectares and an annual allowable cut of 2.5 million cubic metres until 2026.
In November 2019 The Narwhal reported that on Gilford Island, where the forest company Interfor logged, 3% of the original old-growth forest remained as old growth. Interfor said that less than 1% of the 15% logging area was cut each year.
A study published in PNAS in 2022 covered 8,550 square kilometres around Bella Bella. It found that about 570 square kilometres were logged between 1860 and 2016, that 87% of this was in old-growth forest after 1970, and that industry took the most profitable valley-bottom forest first.
Critics described the agreement as leaving a large gap through which companies could log large old trees while the protection targets were met on paper. A Kwikwasut'inuxw Haxwa'mis chief, Rick Johnson, was reported as saying that his territory had been over-logged.
- 2016Final agreement announced 1 February: 85% protected, 550,000 ha logging zone, annual allowable cut of 2.5 million m³ until 2026
- 2019The Narwhal reports that 3% of the original old-growth forest remained on Gilford Island
- 2022PNAS study of Bella Bella area logging history reported (3 October)
What was said
Where accounts differ
Each party's account, side by side, with its source. The record does not settle these points; it shows them.
On Gilford Island, 3% of the original old-growth forest remained as old growth.
The NarwhalSaid that less than 1% of the 15% logging area was cut each year.
The NarwhalOf about 570 km² logged around Bella Bella between 1860 and 2016, 87% was in old-growth forest after 1970, with the most profitable valley bottoms taken first.
Global News / Canadian PressReported criticism that the agreement left a gap through which companies could log large old trees.
The NarwhalAnnounced the agreement as a turning point.
How it looked
Shown
- The agreement was reported as protecting a huge swath of the British Columbia coast from logging.Juneau Empire / AP, headline · Juneau Empire / AP
- Christy Clark, then premier of British Columbia, announced the agreement at a ceremony at the UBC Museum of Anthropology and called it a turning point.Reported by the sources reviewed; paraphrase
Recorded
- 85% protected; 550,000 ha logging zone; annual allowable cut of 2.5 million m³ until 31 December 2026.
- On Gilford Island, 3% of the original old-growth forest remained as old growth.
- About 570 km² logged in an 8,550 km² area around Bella Bella, 1860–2016; 87% of it in old-growth forest after 1970.
Who gained
Reached nature or the ground
Gained elsewhere
Responses on record
- interfor (2019): Said that less than 1% of the 15% logging area was cut each year. · The Narwhal
In court and with insurers
Lawsuits and rulings
Insurers
What nature saw
Nature's report opens this page. Below: further outcomes measured on the ground.
What we don't know
Nature
- Not measured Harm to nature: No independent ecological evaluation is on record.
- Disputed How much old-growth forest remains in the logging zone?
- Disputed Does the agreement allow old-growth logging while protection targets are met on paper?
Record
- Insufficient Reported but not independently verified: a first agreement was signed in 2006, and the parties to the 2016 agreement included 26 First Nations, environmental groups and forest companies.
- Insufficient Reported but not independently verified: in 2007 the federal and provincial governments set up a joint fund for First Nations-led conservation and development.
- Insufficient Reported but not independently verified: in 2023 Interfor logged 27 hectares on Gilford Island that had been proposed for deferral.
- Insufficient Reported but not independently verified: Pacific Wild's Ian McAllister said the 15% open to logging holds the largest and best low-elevation old forest.
- Not measured The sources reviewed give no independent ecological evaluation of the logging zone since 2016.
Did the harm stop?
The protected 85% is recorded as large; the sources reviewed report that old-growth logging continued inside the 15% logging zone.
Who paid?
The sources reviewed do not quantify who bore costs; a Kwikwasut'inuxw Haxwa'mis chief was reported as saying his territory had been over-logged.
Sources
Press and investigations
- Deal protects huge swath of B.C. coast from loggingJuneau Empire / AP · 2016-02-01
- The Great Bear loophole: why old-growth is still logged in B.C.'s iconic protected rainforestThe Narwhal · 2019-11-29
- B.C. study links policy changes and logging patterns, shows targeting of old growthGlobal News / Canadian Press · 2022-10-03