Time Lapse Forest Cover Map Shows the Progressive Demise of Vancouver Island’s Old-Growth Forests over the past Century

For Immediate Release

Time Lapse Forest Cover Map Shows the Progressive Demise of Vancouver Island’s Old-Growth Forests over the past Century

Victoria – A time lapse map of Vancouver Island has been released showing the demise of the Island’s old-growth forests over a century of industrial logging. Well over 90% of the original, high productivity, low elevation old-growth forests on Vancouver Island with the biggest trees have already been logged, according to the data analysis, while over 75% of the moderate to high productivity old-growth forests (ie. the commercially valuable old-growth forests) have been logged. Conservation groups, businesses and chambers of commerce, forestry workers and unions, naturalist clubs, city and town councils across BC, and many First Nations are calling on the provincial government to expand protection for BC’s endangered old-growth forests. Instead, a sustainable, value-added second-growth forest industry would support and enhance employment for BC’s forestry workers.

See the time-lapse map sequence here:  https://youtu.be/c9hTF2oxLjo

A series of new maps have been developed and placed in a time-lapse sequence to show the demise of Vancouver Island’s old-growth forests for over a century. The maps, developed by Commons BC for use by conservation groups and the public, start in 1900 and end in 2016, and were created through a combination of satellite imagery, government data, and archives of old aerial photos. 

They show that the productive old-growth forests have been progressively clearcut across Vancouver Island, starting with the flat lowlands on southeastern Vancouver Island at the turn of the century and progressing west and north through the mountains, up the major valleys and across steep, rugged terrain in recent decades.

“These maps make it clear how successive governments have overseen and facilitated the demise of the greatest ancient rainforests on earth here on Vancouver Island for over a century – and it’s still going on at a rapid pace today. Our second-growth tree plantations don’t replicate the original ancient forests for species, the climate, water conservation, or for recreation and tourism opportunities, and they are to be logged again every 50 to 80 years. Therefore old-growth forests under BC’s system of logging are a non-renewable resource – we’re mining our old-growth forests. Once they are logged, they are not coming back, and future generations will be shocked to see how governments were thinking in this era to take these ecosystems to the brink of extinction,” stated Vicky Husband of Commons BC.

“Next to the US redwoods, Vancouver Island’s old-growth forests are the grandest on Earth. Here, trees can grow as tall as skyscrapers and as wide as living rooms. Given the fact that they are vital for tourism, endangered species, the climate, clean water, and many First Nations cultures – and that most of our forests are now second-growth today – it should be a no-brainer that the BC government needs to move fast to save what’s left of our scarce ancient forests”, stated Ken Wu, Executive Director of the Ancient Forest Alliance. “Instead, they’ve continued to spin the tale that old-growth forests are not endangered on Vancouver Island by including vast tracts of the stunted ‘bonsai’ trees growing in bogs and at the tops of mountains in their statistics. It’s like including your Monopoly money with your real money, and then claiming to be a millionaire, so why stop spending?”

“The full transition into a purely second-growth forest industry is inevitable when the last of the unprotected old-growth forests are logged. We’re just saying let’s do it sooner, while we still have significant tracts of these ancient forests still standing”, stated Arnold Bercov, President of the Public and Private Workers of Canada (PPWC). “By ending raw log exports and creating incentives and regulations for processing and value-adding second-growth logs, we can sustain and enhance forestry employment levels while protecting BC’s endangered old-growth forests at the same time.”