So your organization worked your collective butts off, applied pressure, deluged politicians with postcards, filled the streets with demonstrators and finally achieved your goal: the government sat down with you and hammered out a deal.
You both signed on the dotted line… and that was it, right?
Apparently not.
A few years ago, an intense campaign by environmentalists culminated in a commitment from B.C. Premier Gordon Campbell (as well as businesses, First Nations and others) to set aside a large tract of rainforest that the campaigners dubbed the Great Bear Rainforest.
Thing is, the agreement was to have the conservation plan take effect by March 2009… and, according to a site set up by environmental groups ForestEthics, Greenpeace and Sierra Club B.C., there’s a lot left to be done, and some critical milestones have slipped by.
This sort of thing happens more often than you might think. Signing an agreement is one thing, but working out the details and turning them into a reality on the ground – that’s another thing entirely. The best of intentions can be sunk by a lack of political will, recalcitrant stakeholders, behind-the-scenes lobbying, insufficient funding and staff, bureaucratic wrangling, incompetence or a failure to pay attention.
Which is why change doesn’t happen when the piece of paper is signed. And whether you’re a neighbourhood group that has petitioned the city for traffic-calming measures on your street, or an international coalition of large environmental groups, you have to keep the pressure up until the change you want to see has actually happened.
In the case of the Great Bear Rainforest, if you want to see this precious, spectacular area genuinely protected, you can sign this online petition, urging the B.C. government to keep their promise.
(Hat-tip to Darren Barefoot, who’s working with the organizations to spread the word)
