Glebe EarthCARE Participants Help Conserve B.C.'s Great Bear Rainforest

By Mrs. Bolotenko, EarthCARE Lead Teacher Glebe Collegiate, April 16, 2006

B.C. is Great Bear Rainforest is the world's largest coastal temperate rainforest, and has been referred to as "Canada's Amazon". Three times the size of P.E.I., it covers and area of 21 million acres of lakes and towering cedar trees, is the traditional territory of 17 First Nations, and home to numerous species of fish and wildlife, including the rare white Kermode Bear. In an effort to support Greenpeace's initiative to stop clearcut logging of the Great Bear Rainforest, TWIGS drew up a petition in December, 2005 and collected names from Glebe's students and staff members. We then mailed the petition to Premier Gordon Campbell of British Columbia. TWIGS was pleased that our voices were heard, when we read that Premier Campbell, in collaboration with industry, environmentalists and native tribes, signed an agreement to protect the Great Bear Rainforest from further logging.