B.C. announces plans to defer old-growth logging across 26,000 square kilometres

VICTORIA — The British Columbia government will consult First Nations about deferring the logging of big, ancient and rare old-growth trees across 26,000 square kilometres of forests.

An independent panel of scientific experts has mapped priority areas, and the province has asked First Nations to decide in 30 days whether they support the deferrals or require further discussion.

The province says it is following the recommendations of an independent review released last fall, which found that inaction could result in permanent biodiversity loss for the most at-risk old-growth ecosystems.

The government says it will stop advertising and selling of BC Timber Sales licences in the at-risk areas identified by the panel and further deferrals will be determined through agreements with Indigenous nations.