Victoria City Council unanimously adopts resolution calling for the protection of Vancouver Island’s old-growth forests

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Victoria City Council unanimously adopted a resolution on Thursday calling on the BC government to protect Vancouver Island’s endangered old-growth forests, starting with a moratoria on old-growth logging, and to work with First Nations, local communities, labour organizations, and industry to pursue a transition to a sustainable, second-growth forest industry! Council endorsed the resolution for consideration at this year’s annual convention of the Association of Vancouver Island and Coastal Communities (AVICC), representing 53 municipalities and regional districts along BC’s coast, which passed a similar resolution on old-growth forest protection in 2016. 

The AFA commends Victoria Council for this decision, which adds to the growing list of municipalities, chambers of commerce, businesses, unions, and recreation and conservation groups across BC who have signed resolutions or statements, urging the BC government to increase protection for BC’s endangered old-growth forests.

AFA Holiday Booths – Dates & Locations

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It’s that time of year again! Drop by an AFA booth in Victoria or Vancouver this holiday season to pick up gifts such as our 2019 calendar featuring beautiful images from AFA Photographer & Campaigner, TJ Watt, as well as our popular greeting cards, stickers, posters, buttons, and adoption certificates (adopt-a-tree or grove)!

Victoria:

Booth Location: MEC Victoria (1450 Government St, Victoria, BC V8W 1Z2)
Date & Time: Friday, Dec. 14 from 10 am to 5 pm

Booth Location: Hudson Public Market (1701 Douglas St #6, Victoria, BC V8W 0C1)
Dates & Times:
Wednesday, Dec. 12 from 11 am to 4 pm
Saturday, Dec. 15,  from 10 am to 5 pm
Wednesday, Dec. 19, from 11 am to 4pm
Friday, Dec. 21, from 4pm to 8pm

Booth Location: Patagonia Victoria (616 Yates St)
Date & Time: Saturday, Dec 15, from 1 pm to 5 pm

Vancouver: 

Booth Location: Patagonia Vancouver (1994 W 4th Avenue, Vancouver V6J 1M5)
Dates: Dec 7, 8 & 9 (Friday, Saturday, Sunday)
Time: 11 am to 4 pm

Please make the AFA your priority organization to support this Holiday Season! We are BC’s lead organization working to ensure comprehensive provincial legislation to protect endangered old-growth forests and to ensure the sustainable, value-added logging of second-growth forests. Your contribution truly goes far with us, and we appreciate it!

Can’t make it to one of the booths? Here are some other ways to purchase gifts or donate:

  • ONLINE: Purchase gifts through our new online store or donate online
  • By PHONE at 250-896-4007 to specify your order or donation amount and to pay with your credit card. We will ship product orders you (with an additional shipping cost added).
  • By EMAIL (for product orders) at: info@16.52.162.165

Thank you for your dedicated support!

~The AFA Team

Year-End Celebration & Fundraiser – THANK YOU!

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Thank you so much to everyone who came out and supported the AFA at our Year-End Celebration & Fundraiser on Nov. 29! We were delighted to welcome nearly 100 people throughout the evening, all who brought great energy, socializing, food and silent auction donations to make the night a great success! Excitingly, we raised nearly $5000!!

Thank you to Joe Martin for presenting on the knowledge and teachings of the Tla-o-qui-aht people and culture, to Rachel Ablack for sharing her beautiful voice with us all, to the Victoria Event Centre staff, and to our amazing volunteers, supporters, and AFA staff whom without, we could not have pulled off such an enjoyable and successful evening. We’re also sending a special thank you to the many wonderful businesses, artists, and individuals who generously donated over $3,500 in items toward our silent auction as well as delicious food toward the event:

Patagonia Victoria, Robinson’s Outdoor Store, Mountain Equipment Co-op, Sitka, i.O.N Clothing Featuring Hemp & Company, Pelican Products, Zero Waste Emporium, Inspire Hair Salon, Butchart Gardens, Deadbeetz Food Truck, Il Terrazzo Ristorante, Bon Macaron, Garden Works Oak Bay, Harmony Belly Dance Co., Esquimalt Farmer’s Market, Windblossom Massage, Hummingbird Crafts, TJ Watt Photography, HoopSpin Lab, Market on Yates, Country Grocer, and Thrifty’s Food James Bay, artists Logan Ford and Kleque Method, and AFA supporters Lyn James, Nitya & Scott Harris, Kristin Grant, and Amanda Evans.

We are so grateful for your dedicated support. Thank you again!

The AFA Team
TJ Watt, Andrea Inness, Joan Varley, Tiara Dhenin, Amanda Evans, Morgan Wheeler, Rachel Ablack, and Jenny Tan

AFA Year-End Celebration & Fundraiser, Thurs Nov. 29

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Join the Ancient Forest Alliance on Thursday, November 29, at the Victoria Event Centre (1415 Broad St, near Pandora Ave) from 6pm-9pm to honour our 9th year of operation and the amazing community that has helped us grow to where we are today!

The evening will feature a fun and informative presentation from AFA Campaigners Andrea Inness and TJ Watt, free finger food and refreshments, a silent auction featuring over $1500 in great items generously donated by local businesses and artists, as well as a chance to mingle with our campaign team and fellow AFA supporters. It’s also a great opportunity to pick up some AFA merchandise such as our greeting cards featuring photography by TJ Watt, our 2019 calendars, AFA t-shirts, stickers, and more!

Event Schedule:

  • Doors Open at 6 pm
  • 6 pm to 7 pm – meet and greet, appetizers and refreshments
  • 7 pm to 9 pm – slideshow, silent auction, music, and more mingling!

Tickets will be available at the door on a sliding scale between $10 and $20. All ages are welcome! 

We would appreciate if you could RSVP your attendance by emailing info@16.52.162.165 or by calling 250 896 4007. For more information, please email us at info@16.52.162.165.

Please visit our Facebook event page: https://www.facebook.com/events/1920660948000145/ to share the event widely!

*Please note, The Victoria Event Centre currently does not have an operational elevator, and there is one long flight of stairs at the venue entrance. If you would like to attend the event but require assistance with accessing the space, please contact us at and we will do our best to accommodate.

We look forward to seeing you at the event on Nov. 29th!

Thank You to Patagonia Victoria!

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Thank you most graciously to Patagonia Victoria for generously donating $500 to the Ancient Forest Alliance! The donation comes from a recent symposium and sale at the University of Victoria which raised awareness about environmental activism, responsible consumerism, and outdoor adventures, and goes above and beyond the Patagonia Victoria/Banff /Calgary of Elements Inc. annual commitment to the 1% For the Planet program! Patagonia Victoria has also supported the movement to protect old-growth forests in BC by hosting numerous events in their store and helping to mobilize community members. We are enormously grateful for their continuous and outstanding support!

Avatar Grove Photography Installation Featured in New Downtown Vancouver Bookstore

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Photography installation by celebrated Canadian photographer Edward Burtynsky at Indigo Robson. Photo Credit: Janis Nicolay Photography (CNW Group/Indigo Books & Music Inc.)

A large-scale photography installation by renowned Canadian photographer Edward Burtynsky featuring one of Vancouver Island’s most stunning ancient rainforests, Avatar Grove, will grace the walls of the new Indigo bookstore, opening today on Robson Street in downtown Vancouver. The installation incudes a short description of the importance and status of BC’s endangered old-growth forests and, thanks to the photographer’s support of our work, also mentions the Ancient Forest Alliance!

AFA Campaigner and Photographer TJ Watt worked alongside Burtynsky during filming and photography expeditions for The Anthropocene Project, a multidisciplinary body of work combining art, film, virtual reality, augmented reality, and scientific research that explores the impact humanity has had on the natural world. One of the locations they visited was Avatar Grove near Port Renfrew in Pacheedaht territory, which the AFA campaigned on and successfully protected in 2012 and which has become a well-known tourism attraction, drawing thousands of people from around the world every year.

Burtynsky captured striking photos of the grove, which, starting today, will be admired by many thousands of Indigo shoppers thanks to a friendship between the renowned photographer and Heather Reisman, Chief Executive of Indigo Books & Music. The arrangement also includes an extraordinarily generous donation of twenty-five thousand dollars to the Ancient Forest Alliance by Edward Burtynsky and a matching donation from Indigo in support of our work to protect endangered ancient forests!

The installation creates an exceptional opportunity to raise awareness of the beauty and grandeur of BC’s ancient forests, educate thousands of Indigo shoppers about their importance and status, and inspire Lower Mainlanders to explore those forests for themselves! A huge thank you to Edward Burtynsky and to Indigo Books and Music for supporting the ancient forest movement and the AFA!

Thanks to Everyone who Helped Make our Vancouver Spring Social and Fundraiser a Success!

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The Ancient Forest Alliance is sending an enormous THANK YOU everyone who helped make our May 16th Spring Social and Fundraiser a major success! The event was our first in Vancouver in recent years and allowed us to connect with many of our most generous supporters in the Lower Mainland while fostering awareness around the threats facing BC’s ancient forests and working towards meeting our strategic $20,000 fundraising goal for September 1st. The event helped us raise an amazing $4,000, pushing us almost halfway to our goal!

A significant portion of these proceeds were generated by the silent auction, with items generously donated by the following:

Patagonia Vancouver, Lush Handmade Cosmetics on W 4th Ave, Banyen Books & Sound, Greystone Books Ltd., Burdock & Co, Central City Brewing, The Farmer’s Apprentice, Virtuous Pie, Jamjar Folk Lebanese, Eternal Abundance, Ten Thousand Villages, Unity Yoga Teahouse, Moksha Yoga Vancouver, Figaro’s Garden, Hummingbird Crafts, and Garden Consult Extraordinaire, Michael Denhamer. Thank you also to the Beaumont Studios for hosting our event and providing great service.

The funds generated are being put toward the following campaign activities:

  • Planning expeditions into several remote endangered ancient forests in BC to document their beauty and destruction with professional photos and videos. Read our recent media release on old-growth logging in the beautiful Nahmint Valley near Port Alberni and watch the CHEK TV news report for an example.
  • Commission an economic report on the value of standing old-growth forests.
  • Commission updated mapping on the status of Vancouver Island old-growth forests, based on ecosystem types.
  • Conduct major outreach campaigns to non-traditional allies such as businesses, unions, faith and multicultural groups and engage First Nations allies and councils.
  • Print and distribute a new educational brochure on key old-growth policies needed from the new NDP government to overhaul BC’s backwards forest policies.

The generosity of our growing Vancouver support base, local businesses, organizations, and artists is fundamental and greatly appreciated as we work with determination to protect BC’s endangered old-growth forests while ensuring a sustainable, second-growth forest industry.

Thank you for choosing to support the AFA!

Ken Wu, TJ Watt, Andrea Inness, Joan Varley, Amanda Evans, Tiara Dhenin, Morgan Wheeler and Nova Raye
Ancient Forest Alliance

Ancient Forest Alliance

AFA core staff

THANK YOU to Everyone Who Helped Make Our Year-End Celebration a Success!

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The Ancient Forest Alliance would like to send a major THANK YOU to everyone who helped make our Year-End Celebration on November 25th a great success! The night was filled with great energy, socializing, music, food, and dancing. More than 150 people filled the Victoria Event Centre to its capacity.

Excitingly, we raised over $5000! A large portion of our proceeds resulted from the silent auction items that were generously donated by a variety of businesses and artists. We would like to thank the following groups for their support:

Patagonia Victoria, Robinsons Outdoor Store, MEC, Lumina Yoga & Wellness, Land & Sea Apparel, Emma Glover Design, Expedition Old-Growth, Olive the Senses, Harmony Bellydance Co., Butchart Gardens, Spinnakers Gastro Brewpub, Pelican Products, WindBlossom Massage, Il Terrazzo Ristorante, Café Brio, Phillips Brewery, Ashtanga Yoga Victoria, Hemp & Co., Moksha Yoga Victoria, Heart and Hands Health Collective, Port Renfrew Marina and RV Park, Bahnman Timber, The Land Conservancy, LUSH Victoria, the UVic Ancient Forest Committee, Andrea Renee Whelan at Hawthorne Naturopathic Centre, and artists Paul Beique, Keuque Method and Logan Ford for your beautiful artwork. To the Market on Yates and Red Barn Market, the appetizer platters were amazing! Thank you Bon Macaron Patisserie for the popular dessert.

We would also like to send a special thanks to Oliver Swain for his fantastic live performance, as well as C-Frets, DJ Rich Nines and Taquito Jalepeno for donating their time to the turn-tables. A double thanks to Chris Fretwell and Social Coast for playing a key role in organizing the event! Your time spent planning, printing materials and promoting the event is appreciated.

Of course, THANK YOU so much to our incredible volunteers, supporters and AFA staff who without, we could not have pulled off such an enjoyable and successful evening.

We are so grateful for your support.

Thank you,

Ken Wu, TJ Watt, Andrea Inness, Joan Varley, Amanda Evans, Tiara Dhenin, Kent MacWilliam
Ancient Forest Alliance

 

Photo: Ancient Forest Giftpack (calendar

New! 2018 Ancient Forest Calendars & Cards, Posters, Stickers, Certificates, and other Merchandise

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Make the Ancient Forest Alliance your holiday-giving priority by picking up some of our beautiful AFA merchandise and/or donating to our historic campaign mobilization

• Order products online HERE
• Donate HERE

We’re proud to present the Ancient Forest Alliance’s 2018 CALENDAR!

The calendar features many of the special places throughout British Columbia that we’ve explored as we work to protect our endangered old-growth forests and forestry jobs. It includes beautiful photos of the Central Walbran Valley, Carmanah Valley, Jurassic Grove, Parthenon Grove, East Creek, Echo Lake, Cameron Firebreak, wildlife, and more!

AFA 2018 Calendars: $25 | 3 or more $20 each

Cards: $5 each | 6 for $25 | 12 for $40

  • Choose from our specially selected 6-card sets – Big Tree Bundle, Grand Grove Set, Serenity Set, Wild Wonders. Or choose a variety pack of 6 or 12 cards

Posters: $10 each | All 3 for $25

  • Choose from Avatar Grove’s Gnarly Tree, San Juan Spruce, and Canada’s Largest Tree the Cheewhat Giant

Stickers: Bumper Stickers $6 | Logo Stickers & Tree Stickers $4

Certificates: Dedicate to anyone!

  • Adopt-A-Tree Minimum $50 donation
  • Adopt-A-Grove Minimum $100 donation
  • Ancient Forest Defender Minimum $100 donation
  • Ancient Forest Protector: Minimum $200 donation

Ancient Forest Gift Pack: $70

  • 2018 Calendar, 12 pack of cards, all 4 stickers

Donate to our Pivotal Campaigns!

Right now, with the election of a new NDP government, we have the greatest chance in BC’s history to protect endangered old-growth forests and ensure a sustainable, second-growth forestry industry. But we need your support more than ever to mobilize a powerful movement to get the job done. Your donation to the AFA will help us host a exciting rally/info night in Victoria on November 28th; build new signage for the Avatar Grove boardwalk; reach 20 000 households with a new educational brochure; build alliances with First Nations, business, union, faith and political leaders; and expand our online mobilization through instant messages to decision-makers at BCForestMovement.com.


How to purchase gifts and donate:

  • Online: Order gifts via our Online Store and pay via PayPal or credit card. You can also Donate online here.
  • By Phone at 250-896-4007 to specify your order or donation amount and to pay with your credit card. We will ship product orders you (with an additional shipping cost added).
  • By Email (for product orders) at: sales@15.222.255.145
  • In-Person at our Holiday Booths in Victoria and Vancouver (see details below)

IN VICTORIA:

  • Visit our office in the Central Building (620 View St, 3rd floor #303):
  • Nov 1- Dec 21: Tues, Weds & Thurs 11:00am-4:30pm

IN VANCOUVER:

  • Click here for the dates, times, and locations of our holiday booths in Vancouver.

**cash, cheques & credit cards accepted at all locations**


Thank you for your dedicated support!

AFA staff photo. From left to right Tj Watt

AFA Year-End Celebration & Fundraiser

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Join us Saturday, November 25, at the Victoria Event Centre (1415 Broad St) for the Ancient Forest Alliance's year-end celebration to honour our 8th year of operation, and the amazing community that has helped us get to where we are today!

Enjoy some appetizers, drinks, and music with AFA volunteers, staff, donors, and supporters! The night will feature a fun and informative slideshow presented by the AFA's Andrea Inness, Ken Wu, and TJ Watt, followed by a meet and greet, silent auction fundraiser from 5:30 to 8:30 pm and then musical performances from 8:45 pm to 1 am. This is also a great chance to pick up Christmas gifts like our 2018 calendar. Come join us for a beer, relax, and have some fun!

We are also very excited to announce that Oliver Swain will be playing at our event, followed by three local DJs! 

See here for a schedule and more information. 

  • Tickets are available for the presentation and/or musical performances.
  • Purchase your tickets here. or call 250 896 4007
  • Interested in volunteering? Email Amanda at canvass@15.222.255.145
  • For questions regarding accessibility into the event, please email us at info@16.52.162.165

We look forward to seeing you at the event!