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Keeping Haida Gwaii green
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June 9, 2010
Haida Gwaii gets green attention
The federal government plans to expand protection of waters off Haida Gwaii, formerly the Queen Charlotte Islands. Meanwhile, B.C.’s Haida First Nation plans to capitalize on the growing carbon trading market to preserve one quarter of Haida Gwaii’s forested landmass. Companies would be invited to offset their carbon footprint as a result of logging elsewhere by paying a fee to help preserve 2,500 sq. km of old growth forest. “We desperately need to find more ways for communities to make money from keeping the forest standing—and funding for keeping the carbon stored within the forest is getting a lot of attention,” says Ken Lertzman. A professor in the School of Resource and Environmental Management, Lertzman also sees the establishment of a larger marine conservation area off Haida Gwaii as an important first step in developing a coordinated approach to conserving ecosystems that span land and oceans.
Ken Lertzman, 778.782.3069; lertzman@sfu.ca
The federal government plans to expand protection of waters off Haida Gwaii, formerly the Queen Charlotte Islands. Meanwhile, B.C.’s Haida First Nation plans to capitalize on the growing carbon trading market to preserve one quarter of Haida Gwaii’s forested landmass. Companies would be invited to offset their carbon footprint as a result of logging elsewhere by paying a fee to help preserve 2,500 sq. km of old growth forest. “We desperately need to find more ways for communities to make money from keeping the forest standing—and funding for keeping the carbon stored within the forest is getting a lot of attention,” says Ken Lertzman. A professor in the School of Resource and Environmental Management, Lertzman also sees the establishment of a larger marine conservation area off Haida Gwaii as an important first step in developing a coordinated approach to conserving ecosystems that span land and oceans.
Ken Lertzman, 778.782.3069; lertzman@sfu.ca