What do Coca-Cola, Chevron, Catalyst and North Cowichan all have in common?

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What do Coca-Cola, Chevron, Catalyst and North Cowichan all have in common?
Is North Cowichan really committed to being carbon-neutral?
The Magic of the Six Mountains

1. What do Coca-Cola, Chevron, Catalyst and North Cowichan all have in common?

Question: What do Coca-Cola, Chevron, Catalyst and North Cowichan all have in common?

Answer: We all produce carbon and none of us are carbon neutral.

The difference between North Cowichan and the others? If we stop logging our forests, we can sell carbon offsets: They—the others—buy.

Before we spell out the exciting win-win possibility that may exist here in our Valley, first we want to give credit where credit is due—to Council.

On Wednesday, August 21, Council voted for the UBC partnership to lead the way with our forestry review, public consultation, and the weighty process about to unfold as we determine how, with the highest and best values paramount, we will manage and be responsible for the Six Mountain Community Forests.

The vote has been cast and we are now moving forward together. New chapter, new verse, new story. Ok, there are still some concerns—for instance, will there be logging in the next 2.5 years as public consultation ramps up? Are we reading the Staff Report correctly? Does it say there will not be full public consultation until 2021, and it will not come into effect until 2022?

From the beginning of the forest campaign last October, Council has been caught between past industrial forestry practises, changing ecological, economic and social values, and a state of climate emergency that has moved to a whole other level fast—faster than most people could have imagined ten months ago.

As a community we have gone through a year’s crash course on forest ecology—we still know only the surface. In February when a budget deadline led Council had to make a quick decision about the salvage, few people understood the issues and consequences about to unfold. It is now time to pull together as a community and move on.

So, moving on to a possibility for a partnership in North Cowichan that makes sense: In the last two presentations by UBC, the ethics of carbon credits was raised. Again, it came up this last Council meeting. If we sell our carbon offsets to some unknown carbon-producing industry are we selling our souls?

The answer is No. UBC has informed us that we can choose who we sell to, just as companies choose who they will buy from. Enter Catalyst.

Scientists say a healthy mature forest is the most efficient way to store carbon and mitigate climate emergency. Catalyst has a history of buying carbon credits. Catalyst has bought carbon credits in BC, including credits for reforestation projects in parks. Catalyst, who provides jobs for our community, uses our water, and produces carbon, was not able to buy carbon offsets from our forests when they started looking into the carbon market.

If we stop logging our forests, it’s possible North Cowichan and Catalyst could come together to do something positive for the environment. If not Catalyst, other local companies could buy our carbon credits, like Harbour Air who fly in and out of our community, trucking companies, and even municipal governments like Duncan, who need offsets to remain carbon neutral. We are entering a whole new world of possibilities.

2. Is North Cowichan really committed to being carbon-neutral?

While the Municipality was able to get to a carbon-neutral postion for its own operations in the years from 2013 to 2016, the same cannot be said for 2017 and 2018. As you can see in the graph above, there has a been a major rise in the Green House Gas emissions balance and we are back to 2012 levels.

This graph is based on on the CARIP (Climate Action Revenue Incentive Program) reports on the North Cowichan Website. These annual reports are prepared by the Municipality.

https://www.northcowichan.ca/EN/main/departments/planning-development/community-planning/reporting.html

When the emissions started to rise in 2017, the Mayor and Council had the option to purchase carbon offsets to keep the Municipality carbon-neutral, they voted against purchasing the offsets.

Duncan, on the other hand, has been able to maintain its carbon-neutral position by investing in the Community Carbon Marketplace.

The Municipality of North Cowichan is not setting a very good example for the rest of the valley. If they are unable to reduce their corporate emissions - how do they expect the broader community to reach the target of a 33% reduction in greenhouse gases by 2025 or the more scientifically current targets of a 45% reduction by 2030 and net zero by 2050 that the UN’s International Panel on Climate Change says we need to reach to prevent runaway climate disruption.

There is no excuse for our Municipality not to be carbon-neutral, we own a 5,000-hectare forest and could be selling carbon offsets for reforestation that would more than cover the deficit.

Click here to purchase tickets online

SUZANNE SIMARD’S MOTHER TREE PROJECT IN OUR BACKYARD

Professor Suzanne Simard of UBC, Canada’s world renowned forest scientist, will present her Mother Tree Project—discovery and proof of the fungal and root connections of trees—at the Magic Of The Six Mountains, October 2, in the Cowichan Performing Arts Centre. Tickets on sale now.

Ecologists, biologists, and some foresters are talking about the consciousness of the forests, of interconnectedness between trees, the land and us. We are beginning to understand what Elders have been trying to warn us—we all need each other not only to survive but to thrive.

Enter Professor Suzanne Simard, forging a path through science. Millions of people have seen her Ted Talks (see How Trees Talk To Each Other). She is featured in the bestselling book, The Hidden Life of Trees, by German forester Peter Wohlleben. Suzanne will be presenting to our Valley with her great friend, Andy MacKinnon.

Andy, a retired Professional Forester, Biologist, and President of the S. Vancouver Island Mycological Society, has co-authored six best-selling books on native plants and fungi. The Ancient Forest Alliance calls him "The Rock Star of Botanists.” Many will remember him from the Secret Of The Six Mountains public meeting. Between them, Suzanne and Andy will tell the story of the communication, sharing, and interdependence of a forest.

Our community is about to engage in a formal process where we will decide how our municipal government will caretake the 5,000 hectare Community Forest. There is no municipally owned forest like it on the continent. It is an enormous responsibility.

With Suzanne and Andy here to present and answer questions, we will have the opportunity to become more informed about forest ecology and hence better placed to make wise decisions about its well-being. On October 2, as a community, we will be able to probe the depths of our relationship with the forests, to move beyond the surface level of the forest debate begun last November.

We are still asking for pause of all logging until there is real public engagement about the future of the Community Forests. What this will be is still unfolding. The Magic Of The Six Mountains will be the time and place to reconnect and recommit as a public voice.