Lawmakers heading into the first day of the fall session at the B.C. legislature were met by a small group of people looking for more concrete action on ending old-growth logging in the province.

The group wants the province to implement all 14 recommendations from the independent old-growth strategic review.

sa国际传媒淚tsa国际传媒檚 confusing to me because theysa国际传媒檝e promised to do this and yet they just seem to be running the clock out and logging in the meantime,sa国际传媒� said Deborah Tin Tun, one of the supporters.

Melanie Murray of Denman Island was arrested last winter during protests against old-growth felling.

She showed up on Monday to make it clear to the next premier that the public wants the forests saved.

sa国际传媒淚tsa国际传媒檚 time for them to take their deferrals seriously, stop logging in the deferral zones and save the old-growth sa国际传媒� one of our best climate sinks we have,sa国际传媒� she said, calling for logging moratoriums instead of deferrals. sa国际传媒淭hey call it a deferral and then they cut in it, how is that helpful?sa国际传媒�

B.C. has announced deferrals on nearly 1.7 million hectares of old-growth, with just over one million hectares being forests it says are most at risk of irreversible loss.

But a recent report from the environmental advocacy group, Stand.earth, found that over 55,000 hectares of proposed deferrals face imminent risk of logging.

It used satellite imagery analysis to allege that some deferrals have already been destroyed sa国际传媒� some to make way for pipelines sa国际传媒� or are in the process of being clearcut.

Forests Minister Katrine Conroy, in a statement to Black Press Media, said such reports about significant logging in deferral areas are misleading.

sa国际传媒淭he ministry of forests has been monitoring the situation on the ground and sa国际传媒� in fact sa国际传媒� less than half a per cent of the proposed deferral areas have been harvested since November 2021.sa国际传媒�

The provincesa国际传媒檚 new old-growth strategy is being developed with communities and First Nations, the statement said.

Logging may proceed on territories where deferrals werensa国际传媒檛 supported, as the government said it would not unilaterally impose them on First Nations.

sa国际传媒淎fter decades of neglect, we are taking better care of our oldest and rarest forests for future generations,sa国际传媒� Conroy said.

Save Old Growth, one of the groups outside the legislature, said itsa国际传媒檚 not against logging, just the felling of old-growth trees, and that the majority of B.C. residents want to see the forests stay intact.

sa国际传媒淭hese trees are irreplaceable,sa国际传媒� said Trevor Mckelvie, who said he worries about his niecessa国际传媒� and nephewssa国际传媒� futures being impacted by climate change. Logging can still be done in many ways that donsa国际传媒檛 mean cutting down 2,000-year-old trees, the Save Old Growth supporter said.

sa国际传媒淔rom an economic perspective, continuing to log the way we do, itsa国际传媒檚 just not sensible,sa国际传媒� Mckelvie said.

sa国际传媒淲esa国际传媒檙e not against forestry at all, B.C. is a province built on forestry, but we just want reform,sa国际传媒� Tin Tun said. sa国际传媒淭hat reform is what this government has promised and all they have to do is make it happen.sa国际传媒�

The several groups involved in the legislature demonstration said they will kick off sa国际传媒極ctober Rebellionsa国际传媒� sa国际传媒� a month of actions intended to build pressure on the government. Tin Tun and Mckelvie said they donsa国际传媒檛 enjoy being arrested, but the disruptions seem to be the only things that get the government to act.

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