Course:FRST270/Wiki Projects/Community forestry in Clayoquot Sound

Community forestry Clayoquot Sound

Map of Vancouver Island, included an inset of the Clayoquot Sound region.

Clayoquot Sound is in the mid-western region of the Vancouver Island in British Columbia. This is home to the Nuu-chah-nulth First Nations, meaning “people along the mountains” . In the late 1800s, this area, especially Tofino, was home to miners and fur traders and eventually becoming a trading town . Tofino is also the official western terminal point of the Trans-Canada highway, often making it an ideal tourism spot. In 1993, Clayoquot Sound was known worldwide after 865 activists were arrested after protesting for the practice of clear cut logging at a lake south of Tofino. This was the largest mass arrest in Canadian history until 900 people were arrested in Toronto during the G20 Summit in June 2010. The UN also recognized Clayoquot Sound as a UNESCO Biosphere Reserve in January 2000 for their natural and cultural riches. They launched a multi-year program called “Clayoquot Forest Communities Program (CFCP)” in 2007 to focus on “economic diversification, innovation, building strong local institutions, and developing an ecosystem-based management approach to resource use” in the region. Multiple communities and municipalities within the region are part of this program as well. This program has five major themes: effective and efficient program management, demographic change in the forest-based community economy, diversification of the local economy, strong regional institutions and collaborative partnerships, and innovative ecosystem-based management approach .

Aerial shot of Clayoquot Sound

Description

Clayoquot sound is on the west coast of the Vancouver Island in British Columbia, Canada. The area making up this region is approximately 2715.75 km², including the nearby water. Most of the population resides in nearby towns such as Tofino and Ucluelet, with the former primarily for fishing, tourism and recreation activities. Most smaller, native communities are only accessible by air or water.

A picture of a Nuu-chah-nulth (Nootka) Woman drawn in pencil by John Webber in 1778.

Nuu-cha-nulth (Nootka) groups have occupied this area for over 2000 years, with the largest being the Tla-o-qui-aht (Clayoquot) nation. The first Europeans that came to this area were with the sea otter trader James Hanna in 1787.

All of the region’s forests were licensed by MacMillan Bloedel and British Columbia Forest Products in 1955 to 2 forest companies and 1/4th of the timber has been logged since. Ucluelet village acts as the logging centre for the south of the sound, while contractors move around in the northern sound. The logs are then transported by ground or water to Port Alberni and then elsewhere.

In January 2000, Clayoquot Sound was designated as part of the UNESCO Biosphere reserve for its natural and cultural riches .

Tenure arrangements

From the 1950s, MacMillan Bloedel and British Columbia Forest Products were granted logging rights, or Tree Farm Licenses (TFLs) to Clayoquot Sound . These are renewable licenses on public land and to have them replaced with tree farms after they log the old growth forest. Fromm 1960-1970, clear-cutting was an approved method of logging, which was primarily done in this area.

In 1997, Ma Mook Natural Resources was founded to represent the collective interests of the five Nuu-Chah-nulth Central Region First Nations. An agreement was reached between MacMillan Bloedel and Ma-Mook, and Iisaak Forest Resources. Iisaak was signed into existence in November 1998. Iissak was 51% owned by Nuu-Chah-Nulth, while MacMillan Bloedel’s share was at 49%. In 2005, the Nuu-Chah-Nulth First Ntions purchased the interest from Weyhaeuser, which bought out Macmillan Bloedel's interest, and became 100% First Nationed owned .

Ma-Mook Natural Resources Ltd. has become the licensee of a large amount of the Clayoquot sound region and hold the tenure rights.

There is a lack of information on the tenure arrangements in Clayoquot Sound.

Administrative arrangements

Groups such as environmentalists and Indigenous people have low power, relative to logging companies as they have more money for their company. In this case, the environmentalists and indigenous groups have joined together to attain more power to rival the logging companies. However, since the logging companies are ultimately more powerful (i.e. they have more money), they are still the stronger stakeholder and continue to do as they desire.

There is a lack of information on the administrative arrangements in Clayoquot sound.

Affected Stakeholders

Here is a chart of the social actors who are affected stakeholders, their main relevant objectives, and their relative power in Clayoquot Sound.

Stakeholder(s)	Main relevant objectives	Relative Power
Nuu-cha-nulth (Nootka) groups (First Nation Groups)	Similar to environmentalists, they want their areas to be protected, and stay protected	Low
Fishermen and miners	Protection of the surrounding ecosystems, as logging can disrupt their livelihoods	Mid

Interested Outside Stakeholders

Here is a chart of the social actors who are interested stakeholders, who are outside of the community, their main relevant objectives, and their relative power in Clayoquot Sound.

Stakeholder(s)	Main relevant objectives	Relative Power
Environmentalists (non-profit groups)	Do not want to log in protected areas	Low-Mid
Companies buying timber or non-timber forest products (NTFP)	Can purchase goods elsewhere if timber products and NTFP ceased	Mid-High
People interested in buying property because of the view/nature	Can purchase property elsewhere	Mid
Tourists	Come to enjoy the view, nature, and surf	High
Logging companies (MacMillan Bloedel, British Columbia Forest Products, Ma-Mood Natural Resources Limited)	Would like to reach close to max AAC to maximize profits	Mid-High

Discussion

Aims and intentions of community forestry project

As stated by Ecotrust, the multi-year program that was started in 2017 aims to work on economic diversification, innovation, building on local institutions, as well as developing an ecosystem-based management approach to resource use in the Clayoquot UNESCO Biosphere Reserve region .

Assessment of relative success/failure

There is little written on the success, or failure, of the Clayoquot Sound community forest. However, from past articles about the conflicts and issues, it seems that there is still much work to be done, especially when working alongside the Indigenous People. A theme from the Clayoquot Forest Community Program (CFCP) is to “increase the participation of the region’s First Nations, women, youth and elders” .

Issues or conflicts

Since the early 1990s, there has been conflicts between the Indigenous peoples, as well as the members of the public, with industrial logging companies. Alongside Greenpeace, an environmental organization group, they protested these loggings, including one of the largest protests in 1993 when over 800 protesters were arrested. Many protests continued between 1980 to 1994, and created a worldwide media attention for the environmental support movement .

Assessment

Groups such as environmentalists and Indigenous people have low power, relative to logging companies as they have more money for their company. In this case, the environmentalists and indigenous groups have joined together to attain more power to rival the logging companies. However, since the logging companies are ultimately more powerful, i.e. they have more money, they are still the stronger stakeholder and continue to do as they desire.

Recommendations

From the current research done, it seems that the current CFCP is a good start, but could be improved. I would suggest that Indigenous Peoples should be referred to as partners rather than stakeholders, as they are the original owners of the land and it is, ultimately, the logging company’s who do not belong there and own the land. Thus, they should be given more respect and be called a partner. There is also clearly an attempt to bring together partners who have highly opposing views, but the education of either parties of the importance of the Biosphere reserve area would increase their knowledge and decision-making of the Clayoquot Sound region ultimately.

There is also a lack of information available to the public about tenure and administrative agreements. Hopefully in the future, there will be more information about this that can be accessed by anyone. This will help clarify the nature of the tenure, management authority and the reporting system of Clayoquot Sound.

References

This conservation resource was created by Course:FRST270.