When the Wilderness Committee was founded in BC in 1980 there was little information available to the public on Canadian wilderness and wildlife issues. We focused on our mission to research, publish, and distribute information about threatened Canadian wilderness and wildlife in order to build broad public support for their preservation.
We measure success in five areas: wilderness areas protected from industrial development, public education, research, legal precedents and innovative tactics.
Our Public Education:
– The Wilderness Committee has published and distributed over 123 editions of free educational newspapers [over 9 million copies in total], 29 calendars, 12 books, over 50 colour posters, 10 videos and numerous technical briefs, research documents and maps.
– We have developed hundreds of lectures, slide shows, briefs and presentations for public hearings, government meetings, schools and public events reaching over 100,000 people each year in different speaking engagements
Our Research Achievements:
– Established world`s first upper-canopy, temperate rainforest research station. Research at our station has led scientists to revise the number of insect species existing in Canada from approximately 33,000 to 66,000.
– Mapped remaining tracts of wilderness and the logging plans for them on Vancouver Island. Used this map and the science of conservation biology to develop a Conservation Vision that calls for protecting 40% of B.C.`s land base in order to save biodiversity. This is equivalent to Alaska`s protected area system. Our Vision has been endorsed by 6 other major B.C. environment groups.
Our Legal Precedents:
– Prevented predator control [wolf kill] in northeast British Columbia. This case established the right of environment groups to have hearing on environmental issues in court.
– Stopped logging in Greater Victoria`s drinking watershed.
Innovative Tactics:
– Our international WILD campaign helped produce, in support of local conservation groups, a set of maps of remaining wilderness areas which were instrumental in prompting government action to protect natural ecosystems and indigenous homelands in several Latin American countries.