Simpcw First Nation reaffirmed it will continue to control how old growth is protected within the nation’s territory, as the province begins to implement its recent eight-point plan to protect those forests in B.C.
Simpcw Chief George Lampreau said he is pleased the government’s plan involves Indigenous people through planning tables.However, Simpcw will make the final decisions about protecting and using old-growth in its territory based on Simpcw’s ‘Six Directives’ for sustainable management, he said in a statement on March 6.
“We need B.C. to understand that when it comes to decisions in our territory, Simpcw will make those. We have an excellent working relationship with our local government and forest industry partners in our territory.”
The province’s eight-point plan, announced on Feb. 15, revolves around a $25 million investment to develop new Forest Landscape Planning tables. These tables will consult First Nations to protect trees that are important for ecosystem health, biodiversity, clean water, carbon storage and Indigenous values, the province said.
The plan also invests $2.4 million in the First Nations Forestry Council and expands the BC Manufacturing Jobs Fund.
This plan is partly a result of the province’s Old Growth Strategic review, which it began developing in 2019. The problem with this review is that it came after the government already decided on a plan for how old-growth forests would be used in First Nations territories, Lampreau said.
This order of events contradicts the Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples Act the province ratified in 2019, Lampreau added. Instead of a review, Simpcw and other First Nations should have been involved as the government developed its plan for old-growth in the first place.
Simpcw First Nation plans to participate in upcoming regional forest planning table meetings with the provincial government and communicate its control over old-growth in its territory.