Conservation North and the Bulkley Valley Stewardship Coalition say UK-based Drax Group is still sourcing logs from old growth forests in BC, which includes areas by Prince George and Smithers.
"In a recent radio interview, Drax representative Joe Aquino claimed that Drax stopped sourcing logs from old growth forests in 2023. However, findings by UK and BC-based environmental groups found that this is not the case," notes a press release from Conservation North.
The logs have been turned into pellets, shipped to Europe and Asia and burned to produce fuel for electricity, as Drax Power is Britain's largest power plant, controlling most of BC's pellet production.
CBC's The Fifth Estate found that Drax had been operating in areas that include BC's old growth and primary forests, and the company's March 2022 annual report, acknowledged that fact in fine print.
“We were surprised to hear a Drax representative claim that they did not procure old growth logs after 2023. An in-depth analysis shows that this company continued to source logs from old growth as recently as January 2024,” said Len Vanderstar of the Bulkley Valley Stewardship Coalition in Conservation North's press release.
Biofuelwatch UK, Conservation North, and the coalition analyzed government data to track the origin of logs and their destinations, explained the release, determining Drax had obtained logs and chipped wood from Priority Deferral Areas in 2023, which were designated as rare old growth forests, and continued to procure old growth wood for their mills this past January.
"A provincial government data leak last week revealed that the BC government was in the process of ‘deleting’ some of these old growth areas identified by the technical committee and allowing business-as-usual logging in them," continues the press release.
A technical committee for the Province identified and mapped old growth forest types as Priority Deferral Areas in 2021, including high and near-term risk areas of irreversible biodiversity loss if logged, notes the release.
"Many of these Priority Deferral Areas continue to be logged throughout the province by forest licensees," they added.
103 loads of logs were received by Drax from companies logging old growth in January, explained Michelle Connolly of Conservation North, noting 39 of those loads came from blocks overlapping with Priority Deferral Areas.
“We are appalled about the continued logging of priority old growth deferral areas and the fact that the BC government has been manipulating the mapping to free up timber," stated Vanderstar. “What is also upsetting is the fact that these forests are a significant component in carbon capture and should not be used to generate electricity in the name of climate change mitigation.”
