It’s not every day that a campaign you’ve been involved with reaches a milestone like this one, but yesterday the suddenly-wanting-to-look-green Conservative government of Canada put in the final $30M to make the $120M Great Bear Rainforest campaign a reality. This matched the Province of BC’s $30M announced a few years ago.
Dubbed the largest integrated conservation program in the history of North America, the Globe and Mail yesterday correctly noted that "what sets the fund apart is the $60-million commitment from private eco-friendly foundations, an unprecedented non-governmental contribution that proponents are hailing as a model for resolving environmental conflicts around the world. The private money will support conservation management and stewardship jobs for resident natives, while government funds will be invested in ecologically sustainable businesses."
I’ve been tracking this campaign for many years, and know the 3 amazing women who started it all – Tzeporah Berman and Merrran Smith of ForestEthics and Karen Mahon (now at the Hollyhock Leadership Institute), having heard their inspiring story of how the campaign was created many times. This is another amazing example of how a huge audacious vision, carried in the heart by smart yet fierce campaigers, with many years of determination, and most importantly a willingness to work in creative ways that blur the traditional boundaries between "us" and "them" can have a huge impact on what we previously thought was possible.
Huge congratulations go out to our friends and clients at the Tides Canada Foundationwho spearheaded the Canadian fundraising, and to our investors Renewal Partners who also played a pivotal role, as well as the dozens of other environmental groups, first nations communities, corporate negotiators, and government leaders who all worked together to make this happen. This is a big day for BC and a big day for bold, creative solutions to seemingly intractable problems.
The press release from our client Tides Canada Foundation is here.The Globe and Mail story is here. The website (that we didn’t do) for the GBR campaign is here.
