Our Mission & Team

Welcome to the Ancient Forest Alliance

The Ancient Forest Alliance (AFA) is a registered charitable organization working to protect BC’s endangered old-growth forests and to ensure a sustainable, value-added, second-growth forest industry. Founded by Ken Wu and TJ Watt in February 2010, the organization has quickly grown into British Columbia’s main organization working toward province-wide legislation to end the logging of endangered old-growth forests.

Our Mission

Goals

The AFA is calling on the BC government to:

Implement a science-based plan to protect the endangered old-growth forests in the province.
Ensure the sustainable logging of second-growth forests, which now constitute the majority of forest lands in southern BC.
Support First Nations land use planning and sustainable economic development and diversification in lieu of old-growth logging.
End the export of BC raw logs to foreign mills in order to ensure a guaranteed log supply for BC mills and value-added processing facilities.
Implement incentives for the retooling and development of BC mills and value-added facilities to handle second-growth logs.

We encourage you to do the same! Speak up for big trees and ancient forests in BC by sending an instant message to the BC government today.

Values

Approach

The Ancient Forest Alliance:

Works to inform and mobilize the public and diverse constituencies, including non-traditional allies, to protect ancient forests and forestry jobs. An educated and active citizenry exerts the ultimate lobby pressure on governments.
Focuses mainly on solutions, including ensuring viable economic alternatives, to the destructive status quo.
Recognizes and supports the centrality of First Nations in determining land use activities in their unceded territories and aims to work cooperatively with diverse First Nations in BC everywhere possible.
Retains the right to support and/or criticize all levels of government based on their environmental policies in regards to ancient forests and forestry jobs.
Works within the law.

What We Do

The Ancient Forest Alliance:

Explores and documents endangered ancient forests, record-sized heritage trees, and areas impacted by old-growth logging with professional photos and videos.
Educates the public through the news media, social media, our own publications, and through direct interaction at events, booths, and door to door.
Engages with and supports diverse First Nations communities within BC to develop old-growth conservation initiatives and land use plans that sustain their cultures and ancient forests.
Focuses on outreach with non-traditional allies to expand and broaden the conservation spectrum, including with businesses, unions, forestry workers, scientists, faith groups, and diverse cultural groups.
Undertakes research and develops solutions for policy makers.
Organizes public forums, slideshows, rallies, protests, hikes, campouts, petition drives, and letter-writing campaigns to build widespread grassroots support.
Works with other like-minded conservation organizations to coordinate and strengthen our impact.
Empowers, trains, and supports local activists to build campaigns in their own communities.
Engages key government decision-makers, civil servants, and politicians/ political parties regarding BC forest policies.