Close X
Saturday, November 23, 2024
ADVT 
National

Conservation group buys out hunting rights in B.C. rainforest to protect wildlife

Darpan News Desk The Canadian Press, 05 Jan, 2024 11:18 AM
  • Conservation group buys out hunting rights in B.C. rainforest to protect wildlife

A conservation group says its latest purchase of exclusive hunting rights in a British Columbia rainforest is a major step toward protecting the area's wildlife, but hunters say the move is an "abuse" of the licensing system.

The Raincoast Conservation Foundation, based in Sidney, B.C., said Thursday that it raised $1.92 million over two years to buy the rights from hunters that covers roughly a quarter — or 18,000 square kilometres — of the Great Bear Rainforest on the province's north and central coast.

Raincoast's guide outfitter co-ordinator Brian Falconer said the group has fulfilled all aspects of the purchase except the physical transfer of the hunting licenses, a process that is being completed.

The province confirmed in a statement that it has received the application to transfer the certificate, and the transaction was being reviewed.

Falconer said they will continue to buy more hunting rights to achieve the ultimate goal of eliminating commercial trophy hunting completely in the Great Bear Rainforest.

The purchase makes Raincoast the largest hunting tenure holder in B.C., covering more than 56,000 square kilometres. 

"Literally hundreds of animals every year, including particularly the trophy species like grizzly bear, black bear, wolves, cougars, those are the real trophy species, those are not being killed now," he said.

He said it assures there are healthy populations of animals, particularly carnivores, all through the Great Bear Rainforest.

Raincoast has been buying hunting rights in the province since 2005, after a 2001 moratorium on grizzly bear hunting approved by an NDP government was overturned when the Liberals were elected to government. 

The province again brought in a ban on grizzly hunting in 2017 after the NDP returned to power, but Falconer said Raincoast will continue its efforts because there are many other species the group can protect by controlling hunting tenures.

"We are required to do hunts in order to maintain these territories at this point," Falconer said.

"We've been very unsuccessful at those hunts, and so the harvest rate has gone down to zero in those properties, " he said. "We just have very, very poor hunters." 

In the place of commercial hunting, Raincoast has been encouraging ecotourism in the regions where they hold tenure, another intentional move that Falconer said is aimed to show the economic potential of a sustainable industry based on wildlife.

"It is lighting the path to a new, conservation-based economy that is not dependent on killing and extracting things," he said.

Raincoast's purchases, however, have upset the group Hunters for B.C., which says the move amounts to abusing commercial licensing to stifle legal hunting activities.

The group's president Robin Unrau said the 2017 ban on grizzly hunting put several outfitters in a difficult financial situation, which gave conservation groups like Raincoast an opportunity to the buy tenures from hunters with the plan to not hunt.

"Whether they're taking them out hunting physically or whether it's just on paper to look good, it should be written better that a hunting tenure is for the purpose of hunting and not as we say just going through the motion on paper and using this propaganda," Unrau said.

He said the move to limit commercial hunting also isn't addressing the key challenge facing species like the grizzly, which is habitat protection.

Unrau said hunting, when done responsibly, is actually a key tool in maintaining biodiversity and balance in a given region, and Hunters for B.C. are members of the Fish, Wildlife and Habitat Coalition that play a role in conservation efforts.

"Protectionism is fantastic," he said. "It has to have its time and place.

"There's always two sides to a story; if conservation organizations or environmental groups choose not to really look at the big picture, which is the habitat. If we're not able to look at that, I think it's a failure on all our part for the wildlife."

 

MORE National ARTICLES

Port Moody Police arrest vandal

Port Moody Police arrest vandal
Police have arrested a man who allegedly smashed several vehicle windows in the parking lot of Eagle Ridge Hospital in Port Moody. Police say officers were called to the hospital on Monday just before 9 p-m after a man allegedly smashed the windows of vehicles parked in the lot, then threatened a security guard before fleeing.

Port Moody Police arrest vandal

Spike in Vancouver property tax in 2024

Spike in Vancouver property tax in 2024
Vancouver business owners and residents will face a property-tax increase in 2024, but it’s smaller than last year’s double-digit spike. Vancouver's city council has approved a 7.5-per-cent property-tax increase in 2024.

Spike in Vancouver property tax in 2024

BC facing snowfall warnings

BC facing snowfall warnings
BC is facing a number of weather warnings related to heavy snowfall and wintry conditions. Environment Canada has issued snowfall warnings in Whistler, the North Thompson region and Highway 1 from Sicamous to Golden, with accumulations of up to 20-centimetres expected in some areas.

BC facing snowfall warnings

Revealing allegations on Nijjar death meant to 'put a chill' on India, Trudeau says

Revealing allegations on Nijjar death meant to 'put a chill' on India, Trudeau says
The allegations worsened already strained relations between the Liberal government and that of India's Prime Minister Narendra Modi, which has continued to deny any connection to the killing. In the interview, Trudeau said his public statement came after weeks of "quiet diplomacy" that included raising the allegations with India at the highest levels.

Revealing allegations on Nijjar death meant to 'put a chill' on India, Trudeau says

Liberal caucus meets after Canada votes for Israel-Hamas ceasefire at United Nations

Liberal caucus meets after Canada votes for Israel-Hamas ceasefire at United Nations
Liberal MPs gathered Wednesday for what was expected to be their final caucus meeting of the year, a day after Canada shifted its stance to join international calls for an immediate ceasefire between Israel and Hamas. The decision came amid conflict within Prime Minister Justin Trudeau's Liberal caucus over how to respond to the latest eruption in violence, which was triggered when Hamas militants launched their brazen Oct. 7 attack on Israel.   

Liberal caucus meets after Canada votes for Israel-Hamas ceasefire at United Nations

Truck driver gets 15 years in prison, flees to India

Truck driver gets 15 years in prison, flees to India
Police are seeking an Interpol Red Notice on a Surrey truck driver sentenced to serve 15 years in jail for cocaine smuggling who escaped to India last year. B-C R-C-M-P say a Canada-wide warrant has also been issued for Raj Kumar Mehmi, who was sentenced in absentia in November for smuggling 80 kilograms of cocaine across the Pacific Highway crossing from the U-S.

Truck driver gets 15 years in prison, flees to India