This qualifies as a client plug, I suppose, but it’s a cause that’s really close to my heart.
We’re doing some work with Greenpeace Canada, Sierra Club of BC and ForestEthics on the continuing campaign to save BC’s Great Bear rainforest.
The Great Bear Rainforest is a huge swath of the land–the size of Austria–on BC’s central coast. It’s home to three kinds of bears, six million migratory birds, 3000 genetically distinct salmon stocks and many species of plants unique to the region. Most importantly, it’s the largest tract of intact coastal temperate rainforest left on Earth.
As you may recall, there was a landmark agreement in 2006 among various stakeholders–the provincial government, logging companies, First Nations and environmentalists. They agreed to a new approach to resource planning developed by an independent team of scientists, and committed to its implementation by March 31, 2009. But we’re not (ahem) out of the woods yet. From the petition:
A couple of years ago, Premier Campbell made a very specific commitment to preserve this precious rainforest. The final countdown is on for the BC government to make their promise a reality by the March 31, 2009 deadline. Premier Campbell needs to hear from you.
We are down to the wire. Unless all elements of the promise are kept, the ecological health of the rainforest will be in jeopardy once again. We’ve come so far towards the rare success of having a vast unspoiled forest safeguarded, let’s not undermine all this good work by not reaching the finish line.
Give Me an Early Christmas Present: Sign This Petition
If you can spare 37 seconds, I’d really appreciate it if you would sign the petition urging the government of BC to keep their promises regarding this precious region. You don’t have to be from BC, either–support from other parts of the globe really helps.
If you’re keen to help beyond signing the petition, consider any of the following:
- Digg the petition.
- Email the link to the petition to your friends. Here’s a shortened URL for that: http://bit.ly/QnOJ
- Join the Facebook group.
- Submit your photos to our Flickr-powered photo contest (sweet prizes therein)
- Blog, tweet, bookmark or otherwise spread the word on the campaign.
- Watch, favourite and share this two-minute YouTube video about the project:
Thanks to Emily, Raul, Monique, Rebecca and everybody else who has written about the campaign thus far. We’re making good progress, but we’ve got a ways to go.
DarrenBarefoot.com 
Interesting, Darren.
For anyone who wants to see a little more of the Great Bear Rainforest, Ian McAllister and the team at Pacific Wild have pretty amazing video of the coastal wolves — at what he calls the “watering holes” of the forest.
One video shows a wolf alone in the early morning, eating a salmon at the side of a river.
Pacific Wild is partly doing this to research the behaviour — but mostly (I think) they’re trying to get people to care about a part of the world few of us ever travel to.
(I’m not affiliated, I just reported on them recently).
Am I missing something? You’re link to the petition goes instead to a form email/fax to be sent to Campbell, Penner, Bell, & Hagen.
I sent the email, but curious if there is an actual petition somewhere. My cursory look at the linked site didn’t reveal one.
Brent: By ‘petition’ I mean ‘form that emails sundry government officials’. I just haven’t been able to devise a short, clear term for the latter, so I’m going with ‘petition’.
Thanks for the clarification, Darren. I wasn’t trying to bust your chops. Honest.