The debate on the mandate of the Mount Arrowsmith Biosphere Reserve (The News, Aug. 9) entitled, Biosphere activism is not the problem, needs to be put to rest so that the Biosphere can get on with their United Nations Education Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) directive.
Equating the Biosphere with an activist organization is similar to asserting that because boys get killed in car accidents the Boy Scouts should be activist for Mothers Against Drunk Driving (MADD).
Both may be necessary, justified organizations; but it is easy to see how the Boy Scout funding could be withdrawn, and stakeholders may not wish to engage, if that was the direction the local Boy Scout membership chose to take.
Before weighing in, the writer should have taken the time to read the Biosphere’s core documents. The UNESCO Biosphere is a non-political and non-partisan science and education organization. Period. There is no “A” for activism in “UNESCO.”
There is nothing fishy about volunteers resigning because of activism. Volunteers can spend their precious volunteer hours doing something positive and rewarding rather than fighting a small, disruptive, politically active minority of members who have been able grind the organization to a halt.
Something is rotten in the Biosphere. That’s the fishy smell.
Cindy Hutchison
Qualicum Beach
