UPDATE 1-Historic deal to protect Canada rainforest from logging

(Adds official announcement, quotes)
By Julie Gordon
VANCOUVER, Feb 1 (Reuters) - British Columbia on Monday
unveiled a historic agreement to protect a massive swath of
rainforest along its coastline, having reached a deal that
marries the interests of First Nations, the logging industry and
environmentalists after a decade of often-tense negotiations.
Under the agreement, about 85 percent of forest within the
Great Bear Rainforest would be protected, with the other 15
percent available for logging under the "most stringent"
standards in North America, environmental groups involved in the
talks said.
The Great Bear Rainforest is one of the world's largest
temperate rainforests and the habitat of the Spirit Bear, a rare
subspecies of the black bear with white fur and claws. It is
also home to 26 Aboriginal groups, known as First Nations.
"The Great Bear Rainforest, there's no question, it's a
jewel in the crown of magnificent landscapes in British
Columbia," Premier Christy Clark said at an event on Monday.
She added that the "landmark agreement" would protect more
old and second growth forest, while still ensuring economic
opportunities for local Aboriginals and communities. The
province is expected to enshrine the new measures into law in
the spring.
The Great Bear rainforest, which includes forests, waterways
and mountains, covers 6.4 million hectares of the province's
coast. More than half its surface is forest, including 2.3
million hectares of old growth, which stores high levels of
captured carbon.
In the 1990s, frustrated over what they saw as destructive
forestry practices on their traditional lands, First Nations
partnered with environmentalists to fight back against logging
companies, blockading roads and protesting.
By the early 2000s, environmental groups and industry
players, including Interfor Corp IFP.TO , Western Forest
Products Inc WEF.TO and Catalyst Paper Corp CYT.TO , had
started talks. At the same time, the government began
negotiating with the Coastal First Nations and Nanwakolas
Council.
The final agreements, reached more than a decade later,
"will deliver certainty for coastal forests, local communities
and jobs for years to come," Rick Jeffery, chief executive of
industry advocate Coast Forest Products Association, said in a
statement.
The deal would also end of the commercial grizzly bear hunt
within Coastal First Nations territories, though other existing
tourism-related businesses will not be affected.
"Our leaders understand our wellbeing is connected to the
wellbeing of our lands and waters," said Chief Marilyn Slett,
president of Coastal First Nations.
"If we use our knowledge and our wisdom to look after our
lands and waters and communities, they will look after us into
the future."
The announcement comes nearly two years after a landmark
Supreme Court decision that granted title to a vast swath of
British Columbia's interior to the Tsilhqot'in First Nations,
who had gone to court to stop logging in their traditional
lands.
That decision has bolstered First Nations across the
province, who now have a legal precedent for fighting
development on their territories.