Rethinking forest governance during a "second war" in British Columbia's woods: a Collaborative Action Framework

There are persistent conflicts in British Columbia over logging in old growth forests. This study traces the development of a Collaborative Action Framework (CAF) process during the Fairy Creek forest conflict in British Columbia in 2020–2021. The CAF process involved a twoday summit, where more than 80 participants from First Nations, industry, academia, unions, government, and nongovernment organisations developed a vision for the province's forests to 2070. During the summit, six working groups were established to carry the work forward, and build strategies for achieving the 2070 vision. This paper focuses on the Forest Governance Working Group (FGWG), which was chaired by a First Nations leader. This study presents the design and outputs of the CAF and FGWG processes, which sought to inform forest policy and mitigate the risk for other forest conflicts in the province. These processes did not occur in a vacuum, and both inspired and were shaped by a multitude of forest co-governance and power sharing initiatives between First Nations and the government across the province.