From fur to fir: Lessons for the BC forest industry from the anti-fur campaign

BC's forest industry is feeling internal and international pressure to chan ge its practices, and there is an increasing move to certification, amidst debates about preferred certification modes. This reflects changes in the e conomies of many of Canada's rural and northern communities, which have tra ditionally been dependent upon natural resources, but are now coming under pressure from the global community - not only in economic terms, but in ter ms of social values. As demography changes, and with it, social and economi c values, this pressure is Likely to continue. The Canadian North first fel t such pressure as a result of the European boycott of the Newfoundland sea l hunt, and then anti-trapping boycotts that have occurred periodically sin ce then. These campaigns have had a profound effect on the lifestyles, cult ures and sustainability of the northern communities. Over almost three deca des, the government, non-government organizations and people of the North h ave had to learn to deal with and respond to these external campaigns that threaten them. The lessons they have learned about the nature of these camp aigns could be useful to the province of British Columbia, which is now com ing under increasing pressure from Europe and the US regarding its forestry practices. This paper outlines the evolution and characteristics of the in ternational campaigns against sealing and trapping, as well as the experien ces of northerners in dealing with them. It goes on to apply these lessons to the BC situation, with some recommendations for appropriate responses. F undamentally, these campaigns reflect changing demographic and social chara cteristics and values in North America and Europe, and the changing relatio nship of people to natural resources, but they also raise questions about f air reflection of the variety of stakeholder interests in resource decision -making, and the limits on definition of "stakeholders.".