ne rey RR tn tT ET ET Green No hempalooza by Arthur Hanks ext week, Vancouver’s Trade and Convention Centre will host the Commercial & Industrial Hemp Symposium. The three day event, running February 18-19, will feature international speakers from a diverse array of sectors, includ- ing the financial community, the pulp and paper industry, unions and Firsf Nations groups. A trade show will run concurrent to the event. Show manager, Sotos Petrides of Vancouver’s Wiseman&Noble Sales and Marketing, wants the show to promote awareness of hemp’s industrial potential and capabilities. “I don’t have a hemp activist background, but I believe in hemp,” he says. “I recognize that hemp needs support from the mainstream.” It’s going to be a big show. Five hundred people are registered for the symposium, while another 2000 souls are expected to attend the trade fair. Besides Wiseman & Noble, the sponsors of the event include Victoria’s Ecosource Paper and the Bank of Montreal. These may seem like odd bedfellows. Ecosource has been involved in the Hemp world for three years, and has built up a lot of grassroots respect. As for the Bank of Montreal (their secret identity may be “humungous bank”), they are simply getting in on the action. Peter Brown, Agriculture Manager, says “The interest in reintroducing this crop has been gaining momen- tum for the past few years. We are impressed by the entrepreneurial spirit of the farmers, processors and manufacturers who are considering working with the product.” Petrides admits there has been some goodwill from the grassroots, but most interest has come from the business and financial community. “Some of the grassroots resent my involvement. There has been some resistance there. I understand where they are coming from.” What will really be missing from the show is the word hallucinogen. This will not be a smoke-in. Leave your bongs at home. Remember, Missing green link by Corene McKay This is your city. Deep in the cool earth, a baby coyote listens to the sounds of birds and traffic. Above, the shadow of an owl signifies the end of a vole. A raccoon witness pauses, then shuffles on down the sidewalk. All the while bats dance after insects; the insects strive for smaller insects; seeds scatter on concrete. We think of the city and the wilderness as two separate things. But the Lower Mainland is a city of people and a city of nature. Now try to imagine the Lower Mainland as a place without roads. Can't do it, can you? But that’s how we're forcing our wild things to live, and they can’t survive in isolation from each other. Nature is wedged into cracks between buildings, and every year the buildings get taller and the cracks get smaller and further apart. ROSE (Posq Netkana) At Douglas College, the Institute of Urban Ecology is fighting for the cracks; their Green Links project is about nursing and joining the capillaries of nature into a vital, interconnected environment. And what an environment it is. Vancouver is held by the ocean and interwoven by valiantly struggling trees from Stanley Park to the mountains. The Fraser River, polluted and diseased as it is, supports the world’s largest salmon run. Vancouver is on the Pacific Flyway, a stopover for thousands of birds. In addition, we are an important overwintering site for raptors. And the ground here in this river delta is amazingly fertile. Green Links is about trying to save all this. And they mean to do so despite the additional million people expected to cram into the city in the next twenty-five years. Sound overwhelming? The Institute’s director, Douglas it’s still illegal to grow hemp in Canada because our law books consider it a controlled substance...on a par with heroin. But with a show such as the Symposium attracting this much credible attention, these rules could be changed. And soon. Petrides is banking on it: the College biology professor Val Shaefer, disagrees, “What we're doing isn’t rocket science—it’s so easy; it’s just common sense,” he explains. Green Links exists to preserve, enhance, and connect existing “green” spaces, and just about any green space will do. The program functions by delicate compromise and taking what it can get. Shaefer says that the “links,” or corridors, are for wildlife, not people, but often people must be accommodated in order for rojects to be completed. He cited Wildlife surveys Trail building Habitat enhancement Education knowledge) The Institute of Urban Ecology is looking for volunteers with experience in: Tree, flower, and shrub planting Community awareness and planning Clerical (planning, phoning, and computer Symposium will also see the launch of the new quarterly trade journal Commercial Hemp, which will cover the entire range of the _ hemp industry. “Each issue will have a different theme,” says Petrides. “One another will emphasize forestry, then farming issues...” Ottawa’s Bureau of Drug Surveillance has taken note, and will be sending a representative to deliver a status report on the government's views. But if the universe is just, those grassroots entrepre- neurs who have invested so much time into rehabilitating hemp will receive their economic rewards. “It’s been a tough year for Hemp store,” says Ian Hunter of Victoria’s Sacred Herb. Hunter relates the higher costs of doing business as a hemp store—especially with high wholesale prices. “It’s different than in other businesses. Also, most hemp businesspeople start with idealism and inspira- tion—I’m among them. Hemp people [so far] have been better a Coquitlam project that includes a crushed concrete pathway as an example. “Invertebrates won't cross the concrete,” he said. Many of the corridors exist along gas lines, one even follows a jet fuel pipeline. Ironically, these sites of what is normally considered environmentally negative resource extraction are what is sustaining Vancouver's wildlife. Green Links exist in smaller ways too. Nature flows through Lower Mainland backyards and, in our minds, through downtown murals and sculptures. The issues will cover textiles, people than business people.” “We're looking forward to it. “ says Shea of New Westminster’s Canadian Hemp Co. “We want to get a lot more contacts; we’re looking for some suppliers from Nepal and Ger- many. More people from the mainstream will buy hemp if it’s sold at a lower price.” For exam- ple, hemp retailers currently pay $15 for a yard of fabric which they sell for $20. Not much of a mark- up. Cheaper supply prices will lower the retail price, as well as giving hemp entrepreneurs a healthier profit margin. It’s win/ win all around. Shea sees no problems with the involvement of the Bank of Montreal. “They are welcome. We had a store account at the Delta Credit Union and then we put hemp in the name. They dropped us, saying we were promoting an illegal activity!” The Symposium could be the kickstart towards a greener future. Hemp may not save the world but it has the potential to make some people a great deal of money. The times they are a-changin’ (as I heard on a TV commercial once...). Institute of Urban Ecology acts as a steward for this environment. And guess what, you can help too. No really, you can. What you do can be as simple as planting bird-friendly plants in your garden on your own, or you can get involved with Green Links on one of their myriad projects. One volunteer explains her interest in Green Links: “It doesn’t try to force its point of view on people as much as it just tries to complete projects that need to be done.” Or in your own backyard you can: Plant indigenous or native plants Create a butterfly garden Install nest boxes for birds Put in a bird feeder Plant a hummingbird garden Build a wildlife pond For more information phone 527-5224, fax 527-5095, email val_schaefer@douglas.bc.ca, or visit _NODDING ONION (Allium cefnuum) http://www.douglas.be.cafiue/title1 html wr Institute - --5 SP 'eo: ANOTHER REWARD OF HIGHER EDUCATION. Get $750 towards the purchase or lease of any new GM vehicle. THE $750 GM GRAD PROGRAM. FOR DETAILS CALL 1-800-GM-DRIVE. 4 February 17 1997 The Other Press : ‘cas