Solution
The Clayoquot Sound UNESCO World Biosphere Reserve should be no place for mining!
Biosphere Reserves are established to conserve areas of global ecological importance and to promote sustainable development. Clayoquot’s ecosystems are too rare and precious to deface and contaminate by mining, which is clearly not a sustainable activity – once a deposit is mined out, it’s gone.
Overlooking the mouth of Tranquil River. A few km upstream is the old
Fandora gold mine that Imperial Metals is interested in re-opening.
Unfortunately, mining is not prohibited in Biosphere Reserves. To make Clayoquot Sound permanently mine-free will require action by the provincial government.
Tla-o-qui-aht First Nations are calling on the BC government to establish a mining moratorium in their traditional territories, which encompass the southern third of Clayoquot Sound.
A moratorium on all mining activity, including exploration and staking of new claims, is a good first step towards designating Clayoquot Sound mine-free.