Beginning this year, the Gitga’at and seven neighbouring First Nations (see sidebar “The Coastal First Nations”) will “harvest” one million tonnes of “carbon offsets” from the Great Bear Rainforest, sharing millions of dollars in revenue with the province over the next century.
That harvest was created, counterintuitively, by putting vast areas of the Great Bear off-limits to industrial-scale logging. By leaving more trees standing, the First Nations are able to sell certificates attesting to the increasing volume of carbon stored in their roots, leaves and fibre. Purchasers may claim the carbon thereby removed from the atmosphere to offset their own direct greenhouse emissions.
So, if I understand their business model, they get stupid liberals (but I repeat myself) and their stupid governments to send them money, and they in return do, uh . . . nothing.
Sounds moronic to me, but then what do I know of the workings of The Great Spirit Bear or whatever.
I’ll tell you this, though — call me crazy, call me a cockeyed optimist, call me drunk (which might be technically true at the time of writing); but I’ll bet those zany Indian kids might, just might be able to pull this one off and save Aunt Bea’s farm from the evil bankers.
GreatSpiritBearbless and GreatSpiritBearspeed.
