Vancouver, July 29th, 2021 – The BC Chapter of the Canadian Association of Physicians for the Environment (CAPE) wishes to express our support for the July 28th Union of BC Indian Chiefs (UBCIC) statement which calls Premier John Horgan to immediate action, demanding a deferral on all old-growth logging in British Columbia.

Indigenous peoples in this region have maintained the strong relationship between ecosystem and community health for at least 10,000 years. The long-term health benefits of old-growth ecosystems, including clean air, clean water, healthy salmon habitats, and climate change resiliency, vastly outweigh any short-term logging revenue. Old growth forests also sequester carbon more effectively than younger forests and are more resistant to destructive wildfires.

Colonialism continues to devastate the culture, health and wellbeing of Indigenous peoples. Industrial old-growth logging perpetuates this colonialism.

As articulated by the UBCIC, the rights and wishes of Indigenous peoples to steward their sacred territories must be honoured.

The BC Chapter of CAPE, representing health care providers from across the province, demands an end to all industrial old-growth logging for the protection of ecosystems, Indigenous and non-Indigenous health.

The members of the BC Chapter of CAPE acknowledge that we live and work on the traditional, ancestral and unceded territories of Indigenous peoples throughout this province.

For more information or to request an interview, please contact:

Dr. Larry Barzelai, Chair, CAPE BC
barzelailp@gmail.com