Photographer TJ Watt is dwarfed by one of the huge alien shaped Red Cedar's in the threatened Avatar Grove near Port Renfrew

Old-growth forest worth preserving

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I had the pleasure last Sunday to experience the small grove of old-growth trees near Port Renfrew known informally as the Avatar Grove.

This amazingly rare site, which comprises approximately10 hectares, holds some of the oldest and largest trees remaining on Vancouver Island, some of which are 10 or more metres around and stand 30 metres or more tall, many 500 to 800 years old. I was shocked and deeply saddened to see survey tape surrounding the grove, including tape that indicated a proposed new logging road, as well as cut lines.

It is extremely important that this small grove of trees is preserved, as it is one of the last such stands of ancient old-growth trees on the Island. With the recent decline in fishing, Port Renfrew is in serious need of additional sites that will attract tourism, and the Avatar Grove would be an ideal addition to what they offer the travelling public. Acquiring this grove of trees would be a win for all concerned, especially our children — who we are forcing to live in a world greatly diminished in natural wonders such as these magnificent cedar, spruce and Douglas fir trees, which are among the oldest living things on Earth.

Waterfalls flow from streams running through towering ancient red cedars in the logging threatened Avatar Grove near Port Renfrew

Avatar’s beauty exists in our world, too

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So I finally went to see Avatar in 3-D. It was breathtaking, of course. But what struck me the most was at the end; I realized that I had viewed this epic story of environmental degradation through plastic 3-D glasses made in China.

There was a box to “recycle” them at the exit, but when I asked an attendant what happened to the 3-D glasses in that box, she said they got shipped to Toronto to meet an unknown fate.

The 3-D glasses are one product among millions that are used once and then discarded every day, without a thought about where the materials came from or where the product will end up, let alone what we could do to reduce waste. Because of this mindless consumption, we are making our planet uninhabitable.

Recently, I visited one of the few remaining areas of low-elevation old-growth forest on southern Vancouver Island, aptly nicknamed Avatar Grove. Breathtaking beauty exists in the real world too. However, the largest ancient trees are marked for logging. If everyone in B.C. who enjoyed Avatar stood up to save our few remaining ancient forests, that just might offset the environmental cost of all those 3-D glasses.