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Port Renfrew’s Avatar Grove featured in national IMAX series

Jan 10 2018/in News Coverage

Kelly Richardson by an ancient redcedar in the unprotected Jurassic Grove between Jordan River and Port Renfrew. Ken Wu, Ancient Forest Alliance

Sooke News Mirror: A Victoria artist, recognized internationally, will showcase Port Renfrew’s old growth forests in a new IMAX project.

Kelly Richardson, who visited Avatar Grove two years ago has chosen it to be featured in her upcoming digital art installation series, which will be projected on IMAX screens across the country in 2019.

“Having lived and worked in England for the last 14 years, I recently relocated to Victoria in order to be closer to the truly magnificent old-growth forests. After visiting Avatar Grove during a work trip in the fall of 2016, I was overwhelmed by my experience of those ancient stands, which was a huge influence in my decision to apply for a professorship at the University of Victoria where I now work,” said Richardson in a press release.

“My upcoming projects will feature the old-growth forests in this region, and I hope I can contribute to efforts to raise awareness about their outstanding beauty and the plight to protect what remains.”

Richardson was born in Canada, and her artwork has been acclaimed throughout North America, China, and Europe, displayed in multiple museums, film festival, and expositions.

Her large format-film series where the ancient forests will be featured in, focuses on environmental themes and will encourage viewers to wonder why we have allowed ourselves to arrive at such an environmental crisis, and what our future might look like if we continue on this path of destruction.

“We’re excited to have such a renowned and original artist of Kelly Richardson’s caliber, focusing her talent to draw international attention through creativity to the endangered old-growth forests of Vancouver Island,” said Ken Wu, executive director of the Ancient Forest Alliance in a press release.

“The old-growth forests around Port Renfrew, which are still largely endangered, are clearly continuing to impress increasing numbers of people; not only tourists, businesses, and news media, but acclaimed artists as well.”

The AFA hopes all the attention being drawn to forests like Avatar Grove, will help catapult the campaign to convince the B.C. provincial government to protect old-growth forests in our region.

Read the original story here.

WATCH: Victoria artist to showcase Port Renfrew old growth forests in IMAX project

Jan 10 2018/in News Coverage

WATCH: Vancouver Island’s endangered old-growth forests in Port Renfrew have captured the attention of an internationally acclaimed artist. The giant ancient trees will be featured in an upcoming digital art installation that will be projected on IMAX screens across the country.

They’re known as Canada’s tall trees the gorgeous giants part of the old growth forest in Port Renfrew are a magnificent sight to see.

“Trees that are as tall as a downtown skyscraper and as wide as your living room upwards of a thousand years old,” said TJ Watt from the Ancient Forest Alliance.

And they never fail to capture the attention of those lucky enough to witnesses their presence.

So, it was no surprise they caught the attention of internationally acclaimed artist Kelly Richardson, who took a job with the University of Victoria, after living in the UK for 14 years to be closer to the ancient giants.

Richardson is known for creating hyper-real digital films of rich and complex landscapes using CGI, animation and sound.

“It’s not just the sheer size but it’s actually how you feel in front of these ancient, ancient trees. I couldn’t believe those ancient stands still exist at all anywhere in the world let alone here,” said Richardson.

Infatuated with their beauty she hopes to bring the old giants to life on the IMAX screens for her latest work to celebrate 50 years since its invention.

“Without giving away too much you will be immersed in an old growth forest which has been shifted to an area of science fiction,” said Richardson.

But for her, it’s about more than just a visual experience.

“I want viewers to feel a potential future, what it’s like to live in that future and through that perspective view ourselves in our current situation with some measure of hindsight and clarity about what we are doing and where we are headed and why?” said Richardson.

Because while clearly magnificent to look at and a giant in size, the old growth trees are endangered.

“Old growth logging actually continues today on a very large scale. If you were to go to Port Renfrew this very week you will see old growth trees falling and hitting the ground,” said Watt.
The project will be shown on IMAX screens across the country premiering in 2019 and with a platform of that size, the goal is to bring attention to the issue of their preservation.

“ My hope is that one day we won’t have to protect them we can finally have then saved,” said Watt.

Watch the original CHEK News story here.

Ancient Forest Alliance campaigner and photographer TJ Watt stands among towering old-growth Douglas-fir trees in Metchosin.

ACTION ALERT: Support Expanded Protection of the Endangered Coastal Douglas-Fir ecosystem in British Columbia!

Jan 9 2018/in Take Action

Please take just a couple minutes to WRITE to the BC government, telling them you support their proposal to expand protections in the endangered Coastal Douglas-Fir ecosystem on Vancouver Island and in the Gulf Islands!

The BC government is seeking the public’s input on their proposal to increase the amount of Coastal Douglas-Fir ecosystem protected on public (Crown) lands on Vancouver Island’s southeast coast and in the southern Gulf Islands.

The Coastal Douglas-Fir (CDF) ecosystem is home to the highest number of species at risk in BC, including Garry oak trees, sharp-tailed snakes, alligator lizards, and Vancouver Island screech owl and pygmy owl subspecies. With less than four percent of the region’s ecosystems currently protected by the province, the proposed protection measures are greatly needed and are a significant step forward, although by themselves are not sufficient to halt the loss of biodiversity from the region.

The BC government is proposing to protect 21 parcels of public land in Bowser, Qualicum Beach, Nanoose Bay, Gabriola Island, Ladysmith, Galiano Island, and Saltspring Island. The proposed new protected areas total 1,125 hectares and expands upon a similar process in 2010 that resulted in the issuance similar land use orders, which protected 2,024 hectares of public lands on southeast Vancouver Island the Sunshine Coast.
See: https://www.for.gov.bc.ca/TASB/SLRP/southisland/CDFAmendment.html

Please write to the BC government until Monday, January 15th 2018, to express your support for this proposal and for greater protection of the Coastal Douglas-Fir ecosystem.

Email your written comments to CDFOrderAmendment2017@gov.bc.ca and Cc Forest Minister Doug Donaldson at FLNR.Minister@gov.bc.ca and Environment Minister George Heyman at env.minister@gov.bc.ca.

Tell them:

You support the BC government’s full proposal to increase the amount of Coastal Douglas-Fir (CDF) ecosystem protected on Crown lands through their proposed Land Use Orders.
In addition, you also support the creation of a provincial land acquisition fund, which would allow the BC government to purchase and protect private lands of high conservation or recreational values to establish new protect areas in the CDF ecosystem and across BC. Because private lands constitute the vast majority of the region, this fund is needed to ensure the sufficient protection of the CDF ecosystem.
You recommend they read the report Finding the Money to Buy and Protect Natural Lands by the University of Victoria’s Environmental Law Centre, which details over a dozen mechanisms used in jurisdictions across North America to raise funds for protecting land (found online here: https://www.elc.uvic.ca/wordpress/wp-content/uploads/2015/12/FindingMoneyForParks-2015-02-08-web.pdf).
You would like the province to consider a third phase of similar land use order protections on additional Crown lands in the Coastal Douglas-fir ecosystem.

*Be sure to include your full name and address so that they know you are a real person.

More details:
The BC government is proposing to protect 21 parcels of public land covering 1,125 hectares in Bowser, Qualicum Beach, Nanoose Bay, Gabriola Island, Ladysmith, Galiano Island, and Saltspring Island. The protection measures expand upon a similar process undertaken in 2010, where land use orders were issued to protect 2,024 hectares of public lands on southeast Vancouver Island the Sunshine Coast.

The Coastal Douglas-Fir ecosystem, the smallest of BC’s 16 distinctive biogeoclimatic zones (classified according to their climatic and ecological features), is among the most endangered ecosystems in Canada.

The CDF ecosystem encompasses about 260,000 hectares on southeast Vancouver Island, the Gulf Islands south of Cortes Island, and a small area of the Sunshine Coast. About 50 percent of the entire ecosystem has been converted to human uses such as agriculture and urbanization. About one percent of the region’s original old-growth forest remains.

Only nine percent of the land base is provincial Crown land, so the purchase and protection of additional private land is also critical to help safeguard conservation values and species at risk.

The Ancient Forest Alliance is calling on the BC government to establish an annual $40 million provincial land acquisition fund to purchase and protect private lands in BC, including in the Coastal Douglas-fir zone, which has the highest percentage of private land in the province of any biogeoclimatic zone in BC.

The proposed fund would rise to an annual $100 million by 2024 through $10 million increases each year and would enable the timely purchase of significant tracts of endangered private lands of high conservation, scenic, and recreation value to add to BC’s parks and protected areas system.

Many regional districts in BC have land or “park” acquisition funds, including the Capital Regional District of Greater Victoria (CRD). The CRD’s fund generates about $3.7 million each year and, with its partners, has spent over $35 million to purchase over 4,500 hectares of land since its establishment in the year 2000, ensuring the protection of such iconic natural areas as the Sooke Hills and Potholes, Mount Maxwell on Saltspring Island, and lands between Thetis Lake and Mount Work. Like the CRD’s land acquisition fund, the proposed $40 million provincial fund could be used as leverage to raise additional funds from private land trusts, environmental groups and private donors.

See the Ancient Forest Alliance’s media release about the proposed expansion of Coastal Douglas-Fir zone protections at: https://staging.ancientforestalliance.org/news-item.php?ID=1162