Building a Broad-Based Movement: Thank You to These Non-Traditional Allies!

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Building a broad-based movement to protect old-growth forests by engaging non-traditional allies, such as businesses, unions, outdoor recreation groups, chambers of commerce, tourism associations, faith groups, and more, is the hallmark of our work at Ancient Forest Alliance. Of these diverse non-traditional allies, there are a number who’ve recently shown their support with generous gifts to AFA, and we’d like to take this opportunity to thank them!

Thank you to:

Living Forest Campground and Burnaby Central Secondary School’s WISH Club for their generous donations to the old-growth campaign.

Botanical Bliss for their monthly contributions to the AFA since 2022.

Ethos Imagery, who donated for the second time this year in their mission to allocate 1% of all sales to AFA.

And Dirty Freehub podcast, whose donation acted as a thank you to members of AFA and their assistance with Dirty Freehub’s READ & RIDE program for Big Lonely Doug, working to inspire cyclists to get involved with the campaign to protect ancient forests in BC. Check out Dirty Freehub’s podcast featuring episodes with AFA’s TJ Watt and Endangered Ecosystem Alliance’s Ken Wu!

Are you a business owner or a member of an organization and curious about joining this ever-growing movement and taking action for old-growth forests? Check out our Building Alliances page and have your business/organization sign a resolution or contact info@16.52.162.165 for more information!

Massive red cedar resembling rock wall discovered in Ahousaht territory

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August 3, 2023
Ha-Shilth-Sa
By Karly Blats

Ahousaht, BC
It was like nothing Ahousaht’s Tyson Atleo had ever seen before.

Giving the illusion of a rock wall, a massive western red cedar tree in Ahousaht territory near Tofino in Clayoquot Sound has been named one of Canada’s most impressive trees by conservationists on Vancouver Island.

Ancient Forest Alliance (AFA) photographer and campaigner TJ Watt identified the remotely located tree on Flores Island while exploring with a friend.

The huge tree measures more than 17 feet (five metres) wide near its base, and its trunk gets even wider going upwards more than dozens of meters. According to a press release from the AFA, the tree stands 151 feet (46 metres) tall and is assumed to be well over a thousand years old given its size.

According to the AFA, the tree could have the largest or near largest timber volume of any tree in Canada for about the first 50 feet of its trunk—the part you see and experience from the ground.

“After nearly two decades of photographing, exploring and searching for big trees in old-growth forests across BC, no tree has blown me away more than this one,” said Watt in a press release. “It’s a literal wall of wood. Your brain can’t compute the scale when you stand below it. The first time I arrived, from a distance I thought it had to be two trees because of how wide the trunk and limbs are. It defies words. As an avid big tree hunter, it’s a highlight of my life to find something as spectacular as this.”

According to the BC Big Tree Registry, the tree would currently rank as the sixth largest known red cedar in the country. The registry’s largest red cedar is the Cheewhat Giant, which is located in Ditidaht territory southeast of Nitinat Lake.

The record-sized tree on Flores Island has so far garnered the nickname ‘The Wall’, or ‘ʔiiḥaq ḥumiis’, meaning ‘big red cedar’ in the Nuu-chah-nulth language. It grows on unprotected Crown/public lands in the unceded territory of the Ahousaht First Nation.

No logging plans exist for the area and the Ahousaht First Nation’s Land Use Vision, currently in the late stages of negotiations with the BC government, includes the protection of the forest where this tree is found.

“It was unlike anything I had ever seen before,” said Ahousaht First Nation Hereditary Representative Tyson Atleo. “When TJ first contacted me to go visit the tree, I was assuming it was like many I had experienced across different territories on the Island including in Ahousaht – but this one was obviously quite special. It really does look like a rock wall when you’re hiking up towards it and then you actually realize it’s a tree. It’s just breathtaking.”

Old-growth forests are culturally significant to the Ahousaht people, Atleo said, because they provide the nation with everything they need to survive, from shelter to transportation to clothing.

Aerial view over the ancient forests of Flores Island in Ahousaht territory in Clayoquot Sound, BC.

“The forest provides for every aspect of our wellbeing in addition to being home to our food sources,” Atleo said. “Everything that we need to survive is there, and not only physical survival but it’s a place representative of natural law. So it’s also our place for spirituality, for learning everything we need to know about being good humans on this planet.”

The Ahousaht First Nation’s Land Use Vision calls for the protection of 80 per cent of Ahousaht territory through the creation of new Indigenous Protected and Conserved Areas (IPCAs), encompassing most of the old-growth forests in their territory, to be legislated as Provincial Conservancies by the province.

“The 2017 Land Use Vision that we’re working on implementing builds off thousands of years of stewardship and more recently decade’s worth of efforts by some of our late leaders and current leaders,” Atleo Said. “Efforts that include stopping clear-cut harvesting in Ahousaht territories.”

Atleo said the large red cedar is currently within the boundaries of a tree farm license, and that the objective is to transition that tree farm license into new protected areas and a new forest tenure for Ahousaht.

The Ahousaht First Nation is keeping the location of the tree private at this time, but Atleo said they may take visitors there in the future.

See the original article here.

1,000 year old tree found on Flores Island to be protected

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July 28, 2023
CHEK News
By Kori Sidaway

Watch CHEK’s video coverage here.

Nearly two decades into his hunt for B.C.’s biggest trees, it takes a lot to blow away Ancient Forest Alliance campaigner and National Geographic explorer TJ Watt.

A tree on Flores Island has done just that. Five metres (17 feet) wide at its base, even wider as it goes up, reaching more than 150 feet tall, the western red cedar is likely more than 1,000 years old.

“When I first saw it I thought, initially, it was a rock wall,” said Watt.

It’s a sprawling fortress of tree limbs which Watt has dubbed, “Canada’s most impressive tree.”

“It’s just the most mind-blowing thing I’ve seen in nature,” said Watt.

Though currently unprotected, Ahousaht First Nation plans to protect this tree and 80 per cent of other trees in their territory.

“I believe firmly that we do need to protect from ourselves, from extraction and exploitation,” said Tyson Atleo with Ahousaht First Nation. “We need to put a pause on harvesting. We need to put a pause on exploitation so we can re-calibrate that relation. I know we can and Ahousaht is leading that way right now.”

Ahousaht’s approach for a successful conservation-based economy is one that Atleo believes other First Nations could model after.

The next step as Watt sees it, is the province working to ensure it’s an easy process to get there

“[B.C. Premier] David Eby needs to step in to make sure ministries are doing everything in their power to reduce barriers to old growth conservation, stop heel-dragging on conservation financing, provide funding to support old growth deferrals and ensure the oldest and best trees in B.C. Are being protected,” said Watt.

Protected, so generations to come can stand under or see, something that’s been here for more than a millennium. The biggest, Watt is sure, is still yet to come.

“Where that tree might be, who knows, so the hunt continues,” said Watt.

View the original article here.

 

BC big tree hunter documents grandest old-growth tree he’s ever seen

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July 29, 2023
CBC News
By Chad Pawson

TJ Watt says Western red cedar near Tofino is a 46-metre-tall leviathan of a biodiverse ecosystem.

For 20 years, Victoria’s TJ Watt, 39, has trekked through the province’s vast and verdant landscape seeking out giant, old trees to document them and make a case for their conservation.

Now, at a time when exceptionally large trees have dwindled due to logging, he’s recorded what he calls the tree of his lifetime.

“No tree has blown me away more than this one,” he said. “It literally is a wall of wood.”

Watt photographed the tree, a Western red cedar, in 2022 on Flores Island in fabled Clayoquot Sound on Ahousaht First Nations territory while on a field trip as a National Geographic and Royal Canadian Geographical Society explorer. (The species is also spelled redcedar because it’s not deemed to be a true cedar.)

It’s estimated to be 46 metres tall and five metres wide at its base. The old-growth tree, part of forests that store carbon and support many species of plants and animals, is estimated to be at least 1,000 years old, according to Watt.

Its dimensions put it at the very top of the biggest and oldest trees in the province and across Canada.

“Unlike most other trees, it actually gets wider as it goes up,” said Watt. “It’s really the highlight of my life to come across something this spectacular.”

Watt and the Ahousaht First Nation have now revealed images and details of the tree to the public — although keeping its location secret — to show it as an example of the importance of the province meeting commitments to overhaul forestry to balance harvesting with ecological values.

“It’s representative of a healthy, intact, coastal, temperate ecosystem,” said Tyson Atleo, 36, a hereditary representative of the Ahousaht First Nation. “We don’t see a lot of trees that size anymore.”

The tree has been nicknamed “The Wall” or “ʔiiḥaq ḥumiis,” meaning “big redcedar” in the Nuu-chah-nulth language. It’s in a type of forest that’s in danger of disappearing from BC’s landscape due to a history of intense logging.

“Forests like this have just been reduced to a tiny, tiny fraction of their original extent today,” said Watt. “We need to be doing everything we can in our power to ensure that they remain standing, especially given the climate and biodiversity crisis.”

The tree is not currently in danger of being logged as it’s in an area where old-growth logging is being deferred as part of work between First Nations and the province to protect old-growth forests at risk of permanent biodiversity loss.

Aerial view over the ancient forests of Flores Island in Ahousaht territory in Clayoquot Sound, BC.

The Ahousaht First Nation, whose territory spans Clayoquot Sound, a globally recognized biosphere reserve, is at the forefront of work to keep significant trees in biodiverse forests standing while finding other ways, such as tourism, to replace lost revenues.

“It’s a wonderful opportunity to share … who we are as the Ahousaht, what our values and principles are, but also help [visitors] experience the magic of our territories as is exemplified by this incredible tree,” said Atleo.

Ahous Adventures, an Ahousaht-owned and operated eco-cultural tour company in Tofino, won’t be taking visitors to the tree in order to keep the area protected but does other tours to show off the region’s other impressive trees.

‘An ecosystem unto itself’

Nations like the Ahousaht are hoping for more conservation funding from the province to be able to develop alternative economic opportunities in their territories that will allow for trees like ʔiiḥaq ḥumiis, to remain standing.

In order to raise funds on its own, the Ahousaht has established a voluntary stewardship fee for its territories, much like BC Parks’ day-use passes.

Meanwhile, others also making careers of trying to locate and document massive old-growth trees that still exist, say coming across trees like The Wall is akin to a religious experience.

“You feel so small, and you realize it is so incredibly important what these things are. They represent so much more than just a tree. It’s an ecosystem unto itself,” said Colin Spratt, a conservation photographer who takes people on tours of Vancouver’s Stanley Park to show off old-growth trees there.

View the original article here.

VIDEO: Canada’s most impressive tree?

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July 28, 2023
CTV News

Check out this VIDEO on CTV News covering what we believe to be the most impressive tree in Canada. Dubbed ‘The Wall’, or or ‘ʔiiḥaq ḥumiis’, meaning ‘big redcedar’ in the Nuu-chah-nulth language, this massive tree measures over 17 ft (5 m) wide near its base and 151 ft (46 m) tall and stands in a remote location on Flores Island near Tofino in Ahousaht Territory.

AFA campaigner and photographer notes that of all the trees he’s seen over his big tree hunting career, this one is by far the most mind-blowing. “It’s a literal wall of wood. Your brain can’t compute the scale when you stand below it,” he says. “The first time I arrived, from a distance I thought it had to be two trees because of how wide the trunk and limbs are. It defies words.”

The scale of the tree is a reminder of the importance of protecting old-growth forest ecosystems that support biodiversity.

Luckily, there are no current logging plans for this area, and the Ahousaht First Nation’s Land Use Vision (currently in the late stages of negotiations with the BC government) calls for the protection of 80% of their territory, including the ancient forest where this tree is found. This would happen through the creation of new Indigenous Protected and Conserved Areas (IPCAs) to be legislated as Provincial Conservancies by the province.

To ensure that forests like these remain standing across the province, Premier Eby must remove any barriers to protection from within his government and link conservation funding for First Nations to sustainable economic development and protecting the biggest and best old-growth stands vs. saving the least endangered ecosystems.

Read the full media release here.

Watch CTV News’ full video coverage here.

 

Existence of massive, ‘mind-blowing’ old-growth tree revealed in Clayoquot Sound

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July 27, 2023
The National Observer
By Clayton Keim

An enormous old-growth cedar tree has been identified in Vancouver Island’s Clayoquot Sound, possibly dating back over a millennium.

The western redcedar reaches a towering height of 46 metres and stands five metres wide at its base.

It is currently the sixth largest redcedar in Canada, according to the BC Big Tree Registry. TJ Watt, a photographer with the Ancient Forest Alliance, was awed when he initially encountered the tree. “It was absolutely mind-blowing.

“It didn’t even look like a tree at first from a distance; it looks more like a rock wall,” he said. “It really defies words, and it stands in a class of its own.”

The Ahousaht Nation, whose territory encompasses many old-growth forests including those on Clayoquot Sound, has been aware of the tree for some time. The decision to highlight its existence was made, in part, to promote the protection of old-growth trees across B.C. “We need to do more to protect these types of forests because there are fewer and fewer left,” said Tyson Atleo, hereditary representative for the Ahousaht Nation.

“We know that we are causing significant destruction of old-growth rainforests that we are really collectively dependent on as a species for the biodiversity that they uphold, as well as for carbon sequestration.”

Many comparable old-growth cedars in B.C. are widest at the base, gradually tapering off as they grow larger. Watt was shocked when this tree inverted the structure of comparable trees. “The trunk expands ever wider as it goes up into this sprawling, fortress-like canopy,” he said, going on to describe it as “the most impressive tree in Canada given its size.”

Cedar trees hold a unique significance to the Ahousaht Nation due to their versatility and abundance; they are used for housing, cooking and transportation. Bark that is stripped and soaked in water becomes soft and pliable, and is used for clothing.

“Cedar is really the tree of life to our people, as it provides us with the materials to live a healthy and happy life in this region,” said Atleo.

Research into old-growth forests has applications for both medicine and ecological conservation. “The canopy of this tree is filled with various types of epiphytes [moss, ferns and lichens], other trees, moss maps and canopy soils,” explained Watt. “Undoubtedly, there are new species to be found suspended up above the forest floor.” For those discoveries to take place, however, old-growth forests must be protected.

Conservation groups are calling for the B.C. government to recognize the importance of arboreal protection. “If they skirt around the forests that are most at risk and only protect those that were not truly at risk of logging to begin with, then it won’t be doing justice to these forests,” Watt said.

Read the original article here.

See VIDEO of Canada’s Most Impressive Tree!

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This is huge — literally! We’re thrilled to share a video of what may very well be Canada’s most impressive tree. This gargantuan redcedar measures over 17 ft (5 m) wide near its base and 151 ft (46 m) tall. However, unlike most other trees, its trunk gets wider going upwards, culminating in a sprawling fortress-like crown of wooden spires akin to a massive wooden wall of an ancient castle.

This giant could possibly have the largest or near largest timber volume of any tree in Canada for about the first 50 feet of its trunk — the part you see and experience from the ground. This would make it, experientially, perhaps the most impressive tree in Canada, despite other cedars being taller or ranking higher overall.

It grows in a remote region of Flores Island in Ahousaht territory in Clayoquot Sound, BC, and has so far garnered the nickname ‘The Wall’, or ‘ʔiiḥaq ḥumiis’, meaning ‘big redcedar’ in the Nuu-chah-nulth language. The exact location has been asked to be kept private at this time.

AFA Photographer & Campaigner TJ Watt first located and photographed the tree in 2022 with his friend Nathaniel Glickman before returning in the spring of 2023 with Tyson Atleo, Hereditary Representative of the Ahousaht Nation and the Natural Climate Solutions Program Director of Nature United, and members of the Maaqutusiis Hahoutlhee Stewardship Society (MHSS).

Thankfully, the incredible Land Use Vision from the Ahousaht Nation, currently in the late stages of negotiations with the BC government, calls for the protection of 80% of Ahousaht territory, including the ancient forest where this tree is found. This would happen through the creation of new Indigenous Protected and Conserved Areas (IPCAs) to be legislated as Provincial Conservancies by the province.

The BC government must fully fund and support Indigenous-led protection of old-growth across BC, including in the remaining monumental old-growth stands and those identified as most at risk by the province’s science panel, the Technical Advisory Panel.

AFA commends the Ahousaht Nation for continuing to be such incredible stewards of their lands, which thankfully still harbour some of the most magnificent ancient forests, trees, and wildlife on Earth.

When visiting Ahousaht territory, visitors are encouraged to participate in their voluntary Stewardship Fee. Revenues from the Stewardship Fee directly fund the MHSS Stewardship Guardian Program which works on restoration, monitoring, infrastructure maintenance, and visitor engagement for the Ahousaht. Stewardship Fees can be paid online or at their office at 9-368 Main Street in Tofino. Also be sure to check out Ahous Adventures.

Thank you to the Trebek Initiative for helping make this expedition work possible.

▶️ Read our full media release here!

? Take a look at our photo gallery here!

? And don’t forget to SPEAK UP! Send-a-Message calling on the province to commit funding and set ecosystem-based targets for protecting the last monumental old-growth forests across BC.

Canada’s Most Impressive Tree Located by Conservationists in Clayoquot Sound, BC

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For Immediate Release
July 26, 2023

Conservationists on Vancouver Island with the Ancient Forest Alliance (AFA) have identified what may very well be Canada’s most impressive tree in a remote location in Ahousaht First Nation territory near Tofino in Clayoquot Sound. While the gargantuan ancient western redcedar tree, located by AFA Photographer and Campaigner TJ Watt on Flores Island, measures over 17 feet (5 metres) wide near its base, its trunk gets even wider going upwards over dozens of meters — as opposed to tapering like virtually all other trees. The widening trunk eventually becomes a sprawling, fortress-like crown of wooden spires, creating a most impressive spectacle akin to a massive wooden wall of an ancient castle. The tree stands 151 feet (46 metres) tall and is almost certainly well over a thousand years old given its size.

See incredible video footage here.
See the full photo gallery here.

This giant could very well have the largest or near largest wood volume of any tree in Canada for about the first 50 feet of its trunk – the part you see and experience from the ground (since humans don’t fly or swing through the canopies at the tops of trees). This means that, experientially, it’s perhaps the most impressive tree in Canada, despite other cedars being taller or ranking higher based on the American Forestry Association points system (based on a tree’s height, diameter at breast height at 1.37 meters, and crown spread).

Ancient Forest Alliance photographer TJ Watt beside the gargantuan redcedar on the day he first came across it.

“After nearly two decades of photographing, exploring, and searching for big trees in old-growth forests across BC, no tree has blown me away more than this one,” stated Ancient Forest Alliance Photographer & Campaigner TJ Watt, who first located and photographed the tree while exploring with his friend Nathaniel Glickman. “It’s a literal wall of wood. Your brain can’t compute the scale when you stand below it. The first time I arrived, from a distance I thought it had to be two trees because of how wide the trunk and limbs are. It defies words. As an avid big tree hunter, it’s a highlight of my life to find something as spectacular as this.”

The record-sized tree has so far garnered the nickname ‘The Wall’, or ‘ʔiiḥaq ḥumiis’, meaning ‘big redcedar’ in the Nuu-chah-nulth language. It grows on unprotected Crown/public lands in the unceded territory of the Ahousaht First Nation, who have asked to keep the exact location of the tree private at this time. No logging plans exist for the area and thankfully, the Ahousaht First Nation’s Land Use Vision, currently in the late stages of negotiations with the BC government, includes the protection of the forest where this tree is found. Their Land Use Vision calls for the protection of 80% of Ahousaht territory through the creation of new Indigenous Protected and Conserved Areas (IPCAs), encompassing most of the old-growth forests in their territory, to be legislated as Provincial Conservancies by the province. Watt re-visited the giant tree in spring with members of the Ahousaht Nation and Stewardship Guardian Program, the Maaqutusiis Hahoutlhee Stewardship Society (MHSS).

“Old-growth forests with their monumental redcedar trees have been of great cultural importance for the Ahousaht Nation since time immemorial,” stated Tyson Atleo, a Hereditary Representative of the Ahousaht Nation and the Natural Climate Solutions Program Director of Nature United. “A tree as large and ancient as this supports an incredible web of life both above and below ground while also storing huge amounts of carbon. Large, intact old-growth ecosystems are critical in combating the global biodiversity and climate crisis, and the Ahousaht Nation’s Land Use Vision will ensure they remain standing for generations to come.”

According to the BC Big Tree Registry, the tree would currently rank as the 6th largest known redcedar in the country. That it doesn’t rank at the top is in large part due to the limitations in how a tree’s overall score is calculated using a formula that factors in the diameter at breast height (1.37 meters from the ground), height, and average crown spread. This method is fairly effective for depicting the size of trees that have a typical cone shape. However, since this tree gets wider as it goes up, it harbours an incredible volume of wood that’s difficult to calculate. If one was able to factor in the tree’s full scale, it would likely rank right near the top of the list.

“Having visited most of the top 10 old-growth redcedar trees on record in Canada, including the Cheewhat Giant near Nitinat Lake that currently ranks as the largest cedar on Earth, to me, this one still feels the most impressive in person,” adds Watt. “That this unique tree is not the grandest tree in Canada is largely an artifact of the methodology used to measure trees under the points system of the American Forestry Association. Its towering presence is all-encompassing. Of the few people who’ve come to see it with me since, more than one thought that they were approaching not a tree but a rock wall. It goes to show that some of the most spectacular living organisms on all of Planet Earth grow right here in BC, and the provincial government should be fully funding and supporting the Indigenous-led protection of old-growth forests, including the remaining monumental old-growth stands.”

Ancient Forest Alliance photographer TJ Watt and Ahousaht Hereditary Representative Tyson Atleo stand beside an ancient western redcedar tree thought to be the most impressive tree in Canada.

The BC government is currently developing a number of different policies and initiatives that have the potential to vastly expand the protection of old-growth forests across BC if done right, including creating a new conservation financing fund by early fall to help protect old-growth forests through the creation of Indigenous Protected and Conserved Areas (IPCAs). This funding, if directed wisely, will help to supplant the lost revenues and jobs for First Nations communities from forgoing old-growth logging opportunities through the creation of economic alternatives such as eco-tourism, sustainable aquaculture, non-timber forest products, renewable energy, and sustainable, value-added second-growth forestry. It should also provide the funding needed by First Nations for guardian and stewardship programs.

Conservation financing has already played a pivotal role in helping the Ahousaht Nation propose protection for the majority of the old-growth in their territory while supporting the creation of new sustainable business opportunities such as Ahous Adventures, an Ahousaht-owned and operated eco-cultural tour company in Tofino.

Tyson Atleo, Ahousaht Nation.

“We encourage those who are interested in learning more about Ahousaht culture and viewing the incredible natural beauty found in our territory to take a trip with Ahous Adventures next time they’re in Tofino,” notes Atleo. “Supporting conservation-based economies is integral to protecting old-growth ecosystems while still providing good jobs for members of our community that connect them with the land. We hope our story can be an example for other Indigenous communities who might be considering how to leave old-growth forests standing while building a more prosperous, sustainable economy.”

When visiting Ahousaht territory, visitors are encouraged to participate in their voluntary Stewardship Fee. Revenues from the Stewardship Fee directly fund the MHSS Stewardship Guardian Program which works on restoration, monitoring, infrastructure maintenance, and visitor engagement for the Ahousaht. Stewardship Fees can be paid online or at their office at 9-368 Main Street in Tofino.

“I extend my gratitude to the Ahousaht Nation for continuing to be amazing stewards of their lands in Clayoquot Sound, which harbour some of the most magnificent ancient forests, trees, and wildlife on Earth,” notes Watt. “Across BC, over a century of industrial logging has vastly decimated the productive old-growth forests with the giants like this one. Only a tiny, tiny fraction of the grandest temperate rainforest stands remain today. The BC government has a chance and an obligation to support First Nations communities to both protect these ecosystems while funding sustainable economic development alternatives. Creating conservation economies that allow new, sustainable jobs and businesses to flourish while preserving imperiled ecosystems is a win-win for humans and nature.”

The photos and exploration for this project were made possible in part by support from the Trebek Initiative, a grantmaking partnership between the National Geographic Society and the Royal Canadian Geographical Society that supports emerging Canadian explorers, scientists, photographers, geographers, and educators with a goal of using storytelling to ignite “a passion to preserve” in all Canadians. Watt was among the first round of grant recipients in 2021 and was named a National Geographic Explorer and Royal Canadian Geographical Society Explorer.

Aerial view over the ancient forests of Flores Island in Ahousaht territory in Clayoqout Sound, BC.

Background Info on Endangered Old-Growth Forests in BC

Old-growth forests have unique characteristics not found in the ensuing second-growth tree plantations that they are being replaced with and which are re-logged every 50 to 60 years on BC’s coast – never to become old-growth again. Old-growth forests are vital to support endangered species, the multi-billion dollar tourism industry, carbon storage, clean water, wild salmon, and First Nations cultures. Well over 90% of the high-productivity old-growth forests with the biggest trees and over 80% of the medium-productivity old-growth forests have been logged in BC.

Banana Slugs

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BC’s coastal rainforests are famously home to giant organisms. But beyond the big trees, these forests also produce giant slugs! The banana slug is the second largest slug on earth, being able to reach 9 inches (23 cm) in length. These charismatic, often bright yellow creatures are signature members of the rainforest community.

Banana slugs are enthusiastic omnivores that feed on plants, detritus, and carrion, but they seem to have a special fondness for mushrooms. Feeding is done through their specialized rasp-like tongue called a radula. This tongue is equipped with over 20,000 ‘teeth’ that the slugs use to shred their food. If mushrooms have nightmares, they’re probably of tooth-studded tongues!

Another secret to the banana slug’s success is its slime, which is hydrophilic and able to absorb 100 times its weight in water, keeping the slug moist. The slime also provides the animal with locomotion, adhesion, and protection.

The slime is neither solid nor liquid, but a strange substance known as a liquid crystal, in which the molecules are fluid but structured. The slime is, paradoxically, both an adhesive (allowing the slug to stick to things) and a lubricant, allowing the slug to slide without resistance. Thanks to slime, a slug can even travel across a razor blade without injury.

Finally, the slime provides protection, as it contains a paralytic toxin. Any human foolish to give a slug a big lick will find their tongue and lips go numb. Clever raccoons will roll the slugs in dirt in order to bind up and remove the slime before these little bandits dine on banana-escargot.

Scouler’s Corydalis

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Beautiful and extremely rare in Canada, the Scouler’s corydalis is found only on southwest Vancouver Island around the Nitinat, Carmanah, and Klanawa valleys in Ditidaht and Huu-ay-aht territories. With delicate pink-purple flowers and bright feathery leaves that look like stylized green flames when first emerging, this relative of the bleeding-heart flourishes in the rich soils along the banks of the rivers as well as disturbed areas.

Scouler’s corydalis has some interesting strategies for distributing its seeds. When jarred, the elastic seedpods will hurl the seeds up to 2 metres away from the parent. Fascinatingly, the seeds of the corydalis are sheathed in a lipid-rich layer (called an eliaosome) that contain proteins, sugar, and vitamins, which is not believed to be for feeding the baby plant, but for ants!

Ants are thought to harvest these seeds and take them back to their nests, where they strip off the fatty, nutritious coating to feed to their offspring and toss the seed onto their rubbish heap. This nutrient-rich substrate provides the infant seed with ideal growing conditions and the new colony of corydalis gets a headstart in the ant colony’s waste management site. That same seed coating that is so delectable for ants is believed to taste repulsive to deer mice, a handy way to deter these rodents which might otherwise eat the seeds.

Scouler’s corydalis is provincially blue-listed with only 24 known occurrences in Canada. Not only are they rare, they’re also ephemeral, with the plant dying back in the summer after seeding. The beauty of this unusual plant is present for only a few short months in spring, one of the countless wonders of our incredible coastal rainforest. If you see it, savour the experience!