A man in a blue jacket stands beside a massive old-growth cedar in a forest.

The Narwhal: Did BC keep its old-growth forest promises?

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May 28, 2024
By Shannon Waters
The Narwhal

Read the original article here.

With an election approaching this fall, the BC NDP government has released a surprise update touting ‘significant progress’ on protecting old-growth forests. We take a look at the reality on the ground.

 

It’s been four years since a pair of professional foresters hired by the BC NDP government urged the province to take a radically new approach to old-growth forests.

In their strategic review, Garry Merkel and Al Gorley said the government should manage BC’s old forests as ecosystems rather than a source of timber. They also called for an immediate deferral of logging in old-growth forests in BC at risk of irreversible biodiversity loss.

The report was released as protesters began to flock to Fairy Creek, a largely intact old-growth valley on southwest Vancouver Island, setting the stage for the largest civil disobedience action in Canadian history. Following the arrest of more than 1,100 people, and at the request of Pacheedaht First Nation, the BC government deferred just over 1,180 hectares of Fairy Creek old-growth forest from logging.

The Fairy Creek deferrals are included in more than 2.4 million hectares of old-growth forest “temporarily deferred from development” in collaboration with First Nations and industry, according to a May 21 old-growth “update” from the government.

Aimee in makeshift tree ready to be arrested by RCMP

The Fairy Creek blockade became the largest civil disobedience action in Canadian history. Logging was subsequently deferred in the old-growth valley on southwest Vancouver Island, in the territory of the Pacheedaht First Nation. Photo: Taylor Roades / The Narwhal

The unexpected update comes as the BC NDP and other parties gear up for a fall election campaign. The latest poll shows the NDP only slightly ahead of the BC Conservatives, whose popularity has soared over the past year. If elected, the BC Conservatives are promising to “support BC forestry,” which the party describes as “sustainable and renewable.” They’re also pledging to hold groups and activists “who impede the activity of resource development through illegal blockades, harassment and violence” accountable, both legally and financially.

Against this backdrop, the old-growth update says the government has made “significant progress” on implementing 14 recommendations made in the foresters’ review of old-growth strategy. Yet it also cautions it “will take years to achieve the full intent of some of the recommendations.”

Environmental groups and the Union of British Columbia Indian Chiefs were quick to criticize the update, saying it lacks concrete commitments to urgently protect BC’s remaining old-growth forests.

“The BC NDP government has objectively taken us farther along than any previous government in bringing the key policy pieces together needed to protect old-growth and endangered ecosystems,” Ken Wu, executive director of the Endangered Ecosystems Alliance, a national non-profit conservation group, told The Narwhal. But Wu said big policies like ecosystem-based protection targets are still missing, along with sufficient funding “to cover the lost forestry revenues of First Nations should they agree to implement old-growth logging deferrals.”

The Wilderness Committee, an environmental non-profit group, called the update a stall tactic that “delays meaningful changes and fails to include any new interim measures to protect the most endangered old-growth forests.”

“The endless delays from the BC NDP are resulting in the destruction of irreplaceable forests they vowed to protect,” Tobyn Neame, the Wilderness Committee’s forest campaigner, said in a press release. “Premier David Eby promised accelerated action on old growth, not another vague plan, and it looks like he is trying to tick a box without doing the actual work.”

But Merkel, who is working for the government on contract, urged patience, telling The Narwhal much of the work is taking place behind the scenes.

What progress has been made on implementing the old-growth recommendations? And what more needs to be done?

Read on.

Wait, why did the BC government commission an old-growth review in the first place?

The BC NDP’s promises to safeguard old-growth forests stretch back to before the party formed government. The party’s 2017 election platform promised to modernize land-use planning “to effectively and sustainably manage” BC’s old-growth forests. The campaign pledge followed several decades of a simmering war in the woods and an international spotlight on contested old-growth areas like Clayoquot Sound.

In July 2019, Merkel and Gorley were appointed by the province to “get input and hear perspectives on managing the province’s old-growth forests for ecological, economic and cultural values.”

How much old-growth forest is left in BC?

BC once boasted 25 million hectares of old forest but by 2021 only an estimated 11.1 million hectares of old growth remained, according to the province.

Ecologists disagreed with the government’s figures, saying less than three per cent of high productivity old-growth forests — the forests with the biggest trees and the richest biodiversity — were still standing. They found only 35,000 hectares of forest with the largest, most productive old-growth trees — areas where trees are expected to grow over 25 metres tall in 50 years — remained in BC.

The definition of old-growth forest varies depending on location. Coastal forests with trees at least 250-years-old are considered old growth, while interior forests with trees at least 140-years-old meet the definition.

What did the BC. old-growth forest review say?

Merkel and Gorley’s report called for a “paradigm shift” in the way BC manages old-growth forests, including abandoning the misconception they are a renewable resource.

“These ‘ancient forests’ are globally unique, rare and contain species as yet undiscovered, and many of these ecosystems and old forests are simply non-renewable within any reasonable time frame,” the foresters wrote. They said it can take 500 to 750 years before a coastal ancient forest returns after logging.

A logging truck speeds down a logging road carrying a number of ancient western redcedars as autumnal colours decorate the background.

Logging trucks loaded with giant old-growth cedar trees are a common sight on Vancouver Island, including along the shores of Lake Cowichan. Photo: TJ Watt / Ancient Forest Alliance

Old forests have intrinsic value for all living things, the report concluded, and should be managed for ecosystem health, not for timber. Merkel and Gorley recommended immediately deferring development in old forests “where ecosystems are at very high and near-term risk of irreversible biodiversity loss.” Prioritizing ecosystem health and resilience are among other recommendations.

The foresters also said the province needed to engage “the full involvement” of Indigenous leaders and organizations in an old-growth strategy.

Did the government follow the old-growth review’s recommendations?

Just ahead of former premier John Horgan’s snap election call in September 2020, the government announced 353,000 hectares of forest in nine areas would be protected under the strategy. Critics warned the move would not actually protect much old-growth forest.

During the 2020 election campaign, the BC NDP promised to protect “more of BC’s old-growth forests” by implementing all 14 recommendations in Merkel and Gorley’s old-growth report. But logging of old-growth forests continued, including in areas home to endangered caribou and spotted owls.

In November 2023, the environmental group Stand.earth estimated at least 31,800 hectares of forest recommended for deferral in 2021 had been destroyed.

According to the government’s May update, only two of the old-growth review’s 14 recommendations — “engage the full involvement of Indigenous leaders and organizations” and “defer development in old forests at high risk, until a new strategy is implemented” — have reached an advanced stage of implementation. Nearly half the recommendations are still in an “initial action” stage.

Garry Merkel wears a blue collared shirt and reads through a booklet.

Garry Merkel, a member of the Tahltan First Nation, was one of two foresters commissioned by the BC government to examine the province’s approach to old-growth forests. The report the foresters submitted calls for a paradigm shift in the way BC manages old-growth forests, saying they should be managed for ecosystems and not for timber supply. Photo: Morgan Turner / The Narwhal

Following the old-growth update, the Union of British Columbia Indian Chiefs said the province needs to immediately implement all proposed logging deferrals, as well as additional areas proposed by First Nations and others that meet the definition of at-risk old-growth forests.

“We must take immediate steps to stop the logging of at-risk old growth on the ground,” union president Grand Chief Stewart Phillip said in a statement.

Why is BC taking so long to protect old-growth forests?

Wu compared the government’s efforts to protect BC’s old-growth — and its broader conservation policies — to a puzzle.

Over the past several years, several major policy pieces have been assembled that have the potential to effectively protect endangered ecosystems such as old-growth forests, he said in an interview. “Where my patience runs out, is where they’ve so far failed to put all those pieces in place.”

However, Merkel, now an independent contractor for the Ministry of Forests and the Ministry of Water, Land and Resource Stewardship, said the NDP government is about halfway toward implementing the old-growth panel’s recommendations, with much of the work happening out of the public eye.

He knows the seemingly slow pace has frustrated some observers.

“I tell people that we have to certainly be patient, but I don’t tell people to stop advocating and pushing,” Merkel told The Narwhal. “This is the kind of thing that if you don’t keep pushing, it’s so big that it just kind of gets lost in the background. … It’s very rare that government does something at this scale.”

How does reconciliation fit into BC’s old-growth forest strategy?

Merkel said implementing the strategy’s recommendations is complicated, in part because of the BC NDP government’s commitment to reconciliation with First Nations. The old-growth strategy is one of the first policies to put the government’s commitment to implementing its Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples Act to the test because, Merkel pointed out, it is “tied directly to Aboriginal Rights and Title.”

Garry, overlooking his front yard, the shoreline of the beautiful St Mary Lake

Forester Garry Merkel, a member of the Tahltan Nation, says the BC government is about halfway to fully implementing the recommendations from the old-growth forest strategic review he co-authored in 2020. Photo: Morgan Turner / The Narwhal

“In BC, protected areas require the consent and shared decision-making of the local First Nations whose territories they will be established in,” Wu said. “Therefore, protected areas establishment ultimately moves at the speed of the local First Nations whose territory it is.”

After BC’s old-growth forest strategy was released, the Ministry of Forests presented First Nations with potential areas within their territory where old-growth logging could be deferred while long-term stewardship plans are developed. Merkel said the ongoing process involves First Nations, industry representatives and multiple ministries, with their work marking the start of a seismic shift in how the province manages land.

“The old-growth strategy wasn’t so much about old growth as it was about fundamentally changing the way you look at land and changing our land stewardship approach,” Merkel said. “Learning how to think about land as an ecosystem, as opposed to forest has been hard; learning how to enter into effective co-governance relationships, especially when multiple First Nations are involved, in trying to set up frameworks to collaborate in real time and make sure that they’re accountable to the public — it’s been really hard.”

What does reconciliation look like on the ground?

Na̲nwak̲olas Council president Dallas Smith, whose organization represents six First Nations on northern Vancouver Island and the central South Coast, credits the BC NDP government for working more directly with individual First Nations than its predecessors. Previous governments typically “tried to do things from a provincial perspective” by seeking support primarily from high-level organizations like the First Nations Leadership Council, Smith said.

The government has also supported policies that enable First Nations to take the lead in deciding how conservation and resource development takes place on their territories, Smith told The Narwhal. While progress may seem “glacial,” initiatives are moving forward, especially in areas where First Nations take up government policies that mesh well with their own priorities, such as Indigenous protected areas, he said.

“We’ve all found our little wiggle room in there to pull some of these initiatives that government wants to achieve, connect them to initiatives we’re trying to achieve in our communities and make some of that progress,” he said. “You’re seeing more and more nations figure out how to do it for their territory.”

As with the potential old-growth deferrals, First Nations will play a pivotal role in helping the province achieve its conservation commitments.

“First Nations are in the driver’s seat,” Wu said. “When it comes to establishing protected areas directly in any given territory, the BC government should be expected to provide the vehicle that is the policy framework and the funding to ensure that First Nations can drive that vehicle to where we all need to go, which is the protection of endangered ecosystems.”

Kwiakah First Nation is one such success story. On May 24, the nation announced it had reached agreement with the province and forestry company Interfor to reduce logging in 7,866 hectares of the Great Bear Rainforest and focus on restoring the land to “its pre-industrial state” through regenerative forestry practices.

“By creating the M̓ac̓inuxʷ Special Forest Management Area, we are asserting our inherent responsibilities and creating an Indigenous-led conservation economy that will steward and heal our territory while allowing our people to thrive,” Kwiakah First Nation Chief Steven Dick said in a press release.

The Kwiakah Nation said the new conservation area is a first step toward “rebuilding knowledge systems that protect and restore forests to old-growth characteristics,” while creating new jobs in land stewardship.

Conservation finance programs launched in the Great Bear Rainforest to date are credited with creating more than 100 businesses and 1,000 permanent jobs in ventures ranging from ecotourism to a sustainable scallop fishery.

Under the new agreement, any timber harvesting revenue the Kwiakah Nation loses out on as a result of the new management area will be counteracted through the generation of carbon credits and regenerative forestry jobs, according to the Ministry of Forests.

Displacing revenues related to logging ancient forests is key to achieving effective ecosystem protections, according to Wu — and something he says the BC NDP government has, until recently, failed to implement.

“That’s a biggie because you’re not going to get all the best places under deferral unless First Nations have economic support to implement those,” Wu said.

Last October, the province announced a $300-million Indigenous conservation fund to protect old-growth forests. The fund will support conservation initiatives, including Indigenous stewardship and guardian programs.

Wu called the financing a “vital enabling condition” to create more protected areas in BC.

What about ecosystem and biodiversity protection?

The update on old-growth protection also reveals another BC NDP platform promise is delayed. The government promised to finalize a new biodiversity and ecosystem health framework this year. But the update says the framework won’t be complete until 2025.

Meanwhile, a new report from federal think-tank Policy Horizons Canada ranks biodiversity loss and ecosystem collapse second on a list of 30 potential disruptions Canada faces, in terms of likelihood and impact.

The collapse of ecosystems “could have cascading impacts on all living things, putting basic human needs such as clean air, water and food in jeopardy,” the report states. “Key industries like farming, fishing and logging could be hard hit, leading to major economic losses and instability.”

An old-growth western redcedar as seen looking up at the canopy from the ground.

BC’s old growth forests are unique, rare and non-renewable, according to two foresters who were commissioned to write an old-growth strategic review for the provincial government. Photo: Taylor Roades / The Narwhal

Last November, the government published a draft biodiversity and ecosystem health framework that aims “to prioritize the conservation and management of ecosystem health and biodiversity, including the conservation and recovery of species at risk.” Public consultation on the framework closed at the end of January.

The framework will be backed by legislation, according to the update, and include guidance and standards for managing ecosystem health and biodiversity developed in collaboration with First Nations.

Wu called the framework “the last big piece” in BC’s conservation policy puzzle.

“The biodiversity and ecosystem health framework is the vital game changer that essentially can finish the puzzle,” he said.

In its press release on the old-growth update, the non-profit environmental group Sierra Club BC noted the framework is expected to include interim conservation targets to protect at-risk ecosystems without delay.

“What’s needed now is leadership at every level of government and in every ministry to protect irreplaceable old-growth forests before we lose any more,” Sierra Club BC campaigns director Shelly Luce said in a press release. “Meaningful action plans would move us beyond talking, to deliver on existing commitments and create change on the ground.”

Wu hopes the framework will lay out specific conservation targets for all of BC’s ecosystems, based on scientific and First Nations knowledge.

“Ecosystem-based targets are so foundational that, without them, it’s like … a surgeon who just has a target in kilograms of what they’re going to remove,” he said.

The old-growth update, however, makes no mention of ecosystem-based targets, worrying Wu.

Even if the framework delivers specific targets, he notes provincial cash will be required to help implement them.

Are there any other old-growth conservation efforts?

One thing the NDP government has definitely done right, according to Wu and others, is to commit considerable cash to conservation efforts.

Last November, Minister of Water, Land and Resource Stewardship Nathan Cullen announced $1 billion in federal-provincial funding as part of an agreement with the federal government and the First Nations Leadership Council. The agreement includes commitments to support Indigenous-led conservation initiatives and restore 140,000 hectares of degraded habitat within the next two years. Part of the federal investment — $50 million — will go towards identifying and conserving up to 1.3 million hectares of old-growth forests.

Nathan Cullen stands at a podium with the text, "Taking action for you," while he makes an announcement. Premier Eby and two other government officials stand behind him.

Minister of Water, Land and Resource Stewardship Nathan Cullen says there is “much done, more to do” when it comes to protecting BC’s at-risk ecosystems like old-growth forests. Photo: Taylor Roades / The Narwhal

In December, the province also committed to protecting 30 per cent of the province’s land base by 2030, partly by creating new Indigenous protected areas, according to Cullen’s current mandate letter.

“The NDP have taken us further, so far, than any other previous government in history in moving forward with the enabling conditions and the policies that will lead to the greatest expansion of protected areas, including old growth, in BC history,” Wu said.

The province is currently hosting discussions about land management that include First Nations, local communities and governments, and industry representatives. There are nine land-use planning tables across BC that Cullen said are “well on their way and making new land-use plans in their region” — with 10 more tables still to be created. Their goal is to decide how to prioritize local and regional ecosystem health and biodiversity and determine how economic activities — from logging and mining to farming and fishing — fit within those priorities.

“Indigenous-led conservation through land-use planning processes is the way that we’ll achieve durable and diverse conservation,” Cullen told The Narwhal in an interview.

“That is where we’re able to find common ground. When you get down to the maps and valley by valley, interest by interest, you’re able to build a vision and a future together, rather than the continuation of having to go to court, ending up in significant conflict and creating massive uncertainty.”

The minister summed up the NDP’s environmental record to date as “much done, more to do.”

“The conservation efforts that we’re making, we are seeing the early results of those and they’re positives, but they take time, and there’s so much more we can do,” he said.

BC Old-Growth Policy Update Adds Little To Current Commitments

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Conservationists note the latest BC government plan doesn’t include much action beyond its previous commitments, with the updated plan lacking specificity and objectives around old-growth protection. Key deferral funding and ecosystem-based targets are still missing. However, the mention of a science advisory group is much welcomed. Existing commitments to protect 30% of BC by 2030 with over $1 billion in provincial-federal funding are moving protected areas progress forward, as the province has been in discussions with dozens of First Nations across BC on their Indigenous Protected and Conserved Areas (IPCA) proposals.

The BC government released an old-growth policy update yesterday outlining its roadmap for forest management and old-growth conservation in BC. The document titled “From Review to Action,” is the province’s official implementation plan thus far for the recommendations laid out by the Old Growth Strategic Review Panel (OGSR), which was tasked in 2020 to evaluate how old-growth forests are managed in BC.

The OGSR found that the status quo was ecologically and economically unsustainable and that a “paradigm shift” was urgently needed in forest management in BC, echoing what environmental groups had been arguing for decades. The BC government accepted all of the OGSR recommendations and pledged to implement them, representing a major shift from the government’s previous stances on the old-growth issue.

This plan builds on the steps already taken by the BC government including:

  • A commitment to incrementally protect 30% of BC by 2030 (currently, 15% of BC is in legislated protected areas).
  • Securing over $1 billion to enable this expansion, which includes a dedicated $300-million conservation financing fund and a joint $100 million+ in a federal/provincial old-growth conservation fund.
  • Floating a promising draft Biodiversity and Ecosystem Health Framework (BEHF) that has the potential to direct protected areas establishment correctly via “ecosystem-based targets”, which would ensure that science-based targets span all ecosystems, including the most endangered and least represented ones.
  • Establishing the Ministry of Water, Land, and Resource Stewardship (MWLRS) as a necessary coordinating agency in land and resource management.
  • Supporting several Indigenous Protected and Conserved Areas (IPCA) plans, including the Ahousaht and Tla-o-qui-aht conservancies recently announced in Clayoquot Sound and protecting the Incomappleux Valley last year.

These historic milestones in old-growth conservation are significant and deserve to be celebrated. But conservationists are pointing out that critical gaps remain in government policy, that if not addressed will mean that the protection of the most at-risk old-growth ecosystems will fall short. Except for a promising mention that they will bring together a science advisory committee to help guide their forthcoming biodiversity-related policies, the newly released plan does not directly address the remaining policy gaps. The most important of these gaps include a lack of funding for First Nations’ lost revenues when they consent to old-growth logging deferrals (without such “solutions space” funding, the BC government won’t be able to secure logging deferrals on the full 2.6 million hectares of the most at-risk old-growth stands in BC – and they know this…) and the lack of ecosystem-based protection targets (protected areas targets for every ecosystem based on science and Traditional Ecological Knowledge that “aim” protection correctly to also include the most endangered ecosystems, like big-tree old-growth ecosystems, rather than skirting around them as is typically the case with government policies) which may yet come in via the Biodiversity and Ecosystem Health Framework due in 2025.

Despite these critical shortcomings in the BC government’s old-growth policies thus far, conservationists are drawing a sharp contrast between the positions of the NDP government and those of the ascendant BC Conservative Party, currently among the opposition parties. BC Conservative Party leader John Rustad recently stated that he would scrap BC’s 30% by 2030 protected areas commitment, making false claims that the commitment would result in 30% less agriculture and 30% less forestry in BC. The reality is that the protected areas expansion would happen almost exclusively on Crown/unceded First Nations lands where farming is already illegal (farming happens on private lands, and private lands are only purchased for conservation purposes from willing sellers and focused on native ecosystems, not farmlands). Forestry would not be reduced by anywhere close to 30% as the added protections would amount to 15% more protected areas at most (given that 15% of BC is already protected) and would include vast areas of alpine, subalpine, wetlands, grassland, bogs, lake and rivers without trees or timber value.

The BC Conservative’s platform states that forestry in BC is already “100% Sustainable” despite the independent findings of the OGSR that the massive clearcutting and old-growth liquidation that define current forest policy represent a model that is diametrically opposed to sustainability. The Conservative platform also pledges to mobilize the government to persecute activists (typically First Nations and environmentalists) who disrupt resource industries. In general, the Conservative platform promotes the classic destructive status quo economics of massive industrial resource depletion that has resulted throughout history in the collapse of both rural employment and ecosystems — think of the Atlantic cod fisheries or the 30-year decline of forestry in BC due to the massive overcutting of the valley bottoms and lower elevations where the biggest, best trees once stood, leaving behind smaller trees on steep slopes that are expensive to reach, resulting in mill closures — instead of the modernization of the BC economy towards smart, diversified, and sustainable industries and policies.

EEA's Ken Wu, wearing a blue jacket and grey pants, stands beside a massive Douglas-fir tree surrounded by the lush green foliage of the unprotected Eden Grove.

Endangered Ecosystem Alliance’s Ken Wu with a giant Douglas-fir tree in the unprotected Eden Grove near Port Renfrew in Pacheedaht territory.

Quotes:

Ken Wu – Executive Director, Endangered Ecosystems Alliance:

“The BC NDP government has objectively taken us farther along than any previous government in bringing the key policy pieces together needed to protect old-growth and endangered ecosystems. Under their leadership and First Nations, we are on the brink of the largest expansion of protected areas in BC’s history as dozens of Indigenous Protected and Conserved Area plans are now underway. However, they are still missing several critical policies, the most important of which is the lack of ecosystem-based protection targets — because just one province-wide target is insufficient to capture all ecosystems and will potentially allow new protected areas to skirt around the many productive forests with the biggest trees — based on science and Traditional Ecological Knowledge. They also have thus far failed to allocate the needed funding to cover the lost forestry revenues of First Nations if they agree to implement old-growth logging deferrals – hence resulting in only half of the priority, most at-risk old-growth being deferred from logging — a frustrating and consistent failing on the BC NDP government’s shoulders for which they deserve full blame and that they must remedy ASAP.

Right now, the rise in the polls of the BC Conservative Party with their extremist anti-environmental stance to kill BC’s protected areas commitment and who state against all evidence that ‘forestry in BC is already 100% sustainable’, is undoubtedly creating great caution within the BC NDP government against moving forward quickly with ambitious environmental action. It is essential for BC environmentalists to expose and tackle the giant Conservative cave troll in the room – Rustad’s radical anti-environmental agenda- as in 5 months they may be ruling the province and undertaking a backwards reversal to 1980’s resource policies that kill most of the forthcoming protected areas expansion, as is their plan.

The old-growth update released by the Ministry of Forests yesterday is a fairly lacklustre plan with few objectives and little action. It’s mostly about processes regarding shared decision-making with First Nations and more planning tables. The one bright light is the mention of an expert advisory panel to implement biodiversity-related measures — a much-needed and welcome precursor to potential ecosystem-based targets. The actual action from the BC government has been largely outside the Ministry of Forests, via the new Ministry of Water, Lands and Resource Stewardship which has been mandated to protect 30% of the province’s land area by 2030, is in charge of over $1 billion in provincial-federal funding to make it happen, and is now moving forward with discussions on dozens of Indigenous Protected and Conserved Areas (IPCA) projects of First Nations across BC, totalling millions of hectares that will help protect ecosystems and indigenous cultures.

My overall assessment of Eby and old growth is that he has taken unprecedented leaps forward in developing the enabling policies to expand protected areas in BC via First Nations, which is how protected areas are now done in BC, and he should be thanked for this — but there are still critical gaps in conservation policies that have to be fixed. Eby needs to show leadership and get this done.”

TJ Watt – Photographer & Campaigner, Ancient Forest Alliance:

“The BC government’s latest old-growth update notes some significant strides that have been made toward enacting a paradigm shift in the conservation and management of forests in BC, however, it lacks specificity and objectives on the action front – namely, how the government will address the fact that thousand-year-old trees with trunks the size of living rooms are still being cut down today. British Columbians are rightfully angry and dismayed by the fact that they still must advocate for this destructive practice to stop. Ecological emergencies such as the biodiversity and climate crisis that old-growth logging massively contribute to call for a modern version of wartime efforts. The BC government must show leadership and pull out all stops to remove well-known barriers to old-growth protection such as providing at least $100 million in deferral or ‘solutions space’ funding and ensuring that new protected areas are aimed at preserving the most at-risk areas through ecosystem-based targets. This calls on them to become true advocates for protecting the best old-growth forests instead of being content with landing only part-way there.”

Ian Thomas – Research & Engagement Officer, Ancient Forest Alliance:

“We are heartened by the progress made by the provincial government on conservation financing and their commitments to vastly expand protected areas. But without directing that funding towards the most threatened old-growth ecosystems we will continue to lose large tracts of our most magnificent ancient forests. This plan was a missed opportunity to identify the gaps and own up to the stalled progress on TAP deferrals. The actual results of this ongoing refusal to tackle this issue will be the loss of irreplaceable forests and the further degradation of threatened biodiversity in BC. The NDP can and must do better to ensure the TAP deferrals are implemented in their entirety, and ecosystem-based protection targets guide land-use decisions across the province, but let’s not kid ourselves and assume the NDP’s failures are remotely comparable to the stated goals of the BC Conservatives. The Conservative platform is quite simply terrifying. We are in an ecological catastrophe with compounding biodiversity and climate crises that threaten human well-being on an unprecedented scale. The NDP government, despite moving far too slowly in many ways, has at least accepted that we are at a moment when the ship needs to be swerved away from the iceberg. The Conservative platform is about aiming right at the iceberg and leaning on the throttle. The wildfire crisis bearing down on the province this summer is a result (globally and locally) of the same destructive policies of unsustainable resource extraction that John Rustad is promising to intensify. Furthermore, Rustad has pledged to use the legal system to target, intimidate and persecute anyone who threatens the profits of resource corporations, pledging to side with large corporate development over the voices of local community members. The environmental movement needs to hold the NDP to account for their failings, but also not make a false equivalency between current policy and the extreme anti-environmental agenda that the conservatives are promising to implement.”

AFA's Ian Thomas, wearing a blue jacket and grey pants, stands beside an old-growth cedar in a forest under imminent threat, as seen by the bright orange felling tape wrapped around the massive tree.

Ancient Forest Alliance’s Ian Thomas beside an old-growth cedar in a forest under imminent threat on northern Vancouver Island in Quatsino territory.

More information:

Our main concerns with regards to the BC government’s latest old-growth update include:

  1. There is little mention of old-growth protection and no mention of ecosystem-based targets. It mainly hides behind better consultations and forest planning tables but lacks many actual objectives. The beginning of the document does mention the importance of the BC Nature Agreement and the BC Conservation Financing mechanism, both funds that are designed to expand the protected areas system – but then doesn’t incorporate them in the body of their old-growth policies.
  2. The Ministry of Forests has failed to secure old-growth logging deferrals for half of the priority most at-risk Technical Advisory Panel old-growth categories (i.e. 1.3 million of the 2.6 million hectares are secured). There is no great mystery why this is so – the BC government has still yet to provide deferral or “solutions space” funding for the lost revenues of First Nations who have an economic dependency on old-growth logging and who are contemplating deferrals but who have not committed yet to IPCAs. This has been an ever-present failing of this government and we emphasize the importance of deferral or “solutions space” funding.
  3. There is no BC Protected Areas Strategy (unlike with the NDP government in the 1990s) to develop plans, centralize resources, undertake needed assessments like gap analyses, and systematically prioritize areas via science-based targets. The current approach is ad hoc based on a first-come, first-serve scenario from First Nations who have previously developed IPCA proposals largely driven by previous federal funding.
  4. The local Forest Landscape Planning tables can include the establishment of new protected areas, but it certainly isn’t being emphasized by the Ministry of Forests. There is no substitute for a coordinated provincial strategy to get to 30% by 2030 entailing ecosystem-based targets.
  5. The Biodiversity and Ecosystem Health Framework (BEHF) when implemented could create the targets needed to guide new protected areas expansion (e.g. Provincial Conservancies and Parks) — as it must — but the response of the civil servants, when questioned, seems to indicate it will more likely just update targets for the weaker Biodiversity Guidebook conservation reserve system. i.e. It will only guide the weaker and smaller old-growth reserves in the “working landscape” like Old-Growth Management Areas and Wildlife Habitat Areas — both of which are tenuous designations full of logging loopholes — but not necessarily the major protected areas system like Conservancies and Parks. Instead, the protected areas with strong protections need to aim for the “good stuff” too and not largely emphasize alpine and subalpine landscapes. Strong ecosystem-based targets from the BEHF that form the foundation of a BC Protected Areas Strategy and that guide the expenditure of the BC Nature Agreement and Conservation Financing funds, in terms of priority areas and expenditures, are vital. Otherwise, BC will end up with a protected areas system that still largely skirts around the valley bottoms and emphasizes protecting a lot of alpine and subalpine areas of low timber values.
  6. We have concerns that the timber industry may be involved in creating the conservation targets of the Biodiversity and Ecosystem Health Framework – this is an absolute no-go for conservation. Independent science and Traditional Ecological Knowledge committees, similar to the Coast Information Team struck up during the Great Bear Rainforest process, are needed, and the proposed BC Biodiversity Office would be the natural one to convene such a panel of experts in consultation with First Nations. We are concerned that no funding is provided to First Nations in the Forest Landscape Planning tables to establish conservation areas like Old-Growth Management Areas, Ungulate Winter Ranges, Wildlife Habitat Areas, etc. The funding thus far is only where First Nations want to create IPCAs. Without funding directed to First Nations right now for old-growth conservation at the FLP tables, these FLP tables may end up “baking in” forestry plans that are pre-paradigm shift — and this is what the MoF seems to be aiming for.
  7. The MoF has stated that they will be reviewing OGMA rules — and we hope it means that boundaries cannot be changed to allow logging of choice stands.
  8. The BC government currently only allows for incorrectly identified at-risk old-growth forests to be subtracted from rather than added to the priority TAP logging deferral areas. This constitutes a significant timber bias and conservation loophole that must be closed.
  9. Most importantly, the Biodiversity and Ecosystem Health Framework (BEHF) due in early 2025 will need to devise ecosystem-based targets that are:
    • Legally binding and not merely aspirational guidelines.
    • Guide the expansion of both the protected areas system like Provincial Conservancies and Parks and the biodiversity/conservation reserve system like OGMAs.
    • Are fine filter enough to represent all BEC zones, subzones, variants, ecological communities, and, most critically, *Forest Productivity Distinctions* (i.e. areas that grow large vs medium vs small trees).
    • Scale-up protection by incorporating the latest conservation biology science, based on independent scientists and Traditional Ecological Knowledge holders, not industry reps.
AFA's Ian Thomas, wearing a blue jacket and dark grey pants, stands beside a freshly cut old-growth cedar. The tree's stump dwarfs Thomas, who is 6"5', amongst a sea of more clearcut stumps and debris.

Ancient Forest Alliance’s Ian Thomas beside an ancient redcedar tree felled in 2022 on northern Vancouver Island in Quatsino territory.

See our information explaining the central importance of ecosystem-based targets and forest productivity distinctions.

In short, we believe what is needed is:

  1. An action plan that brings a goal of old-growth protection as the first cornerstone of old-growth management, both in terms of the real protected areas and biodiversity conservation reserves. It should emphasize the centrality of the BC Nature Agreement, BC Old-Growth Fund, and Conservation Financing mechanism to achieve these goals in its policies.
  2. A commitment to ecosystem-based targets to guide protected areas, conservation areas, and resource decisions – all based on independent science teams and Traditional Ecological Knowledge without industry.
  3. Recognizing the importance of forest productivity distinctions in protection and conservation targets.
  4. Developing a BC Protected Areas Strategy like the NDP of the 1990s to develop targets, analyses, and plans and to deploy resources and action to systematically expand the protected areas system based on science and Traditional Ecological Knowledge.
  5. A clear statement that the province still has a goal of achieving deferrals on the 2.6 million hectares of the TAP priority most-at-risk recommended deferral old-growth areas.
  6. Allocating deferral or “solutions space” funding for First Nations to implement deferrals even where they haven’t decided on IPCAs.
  7. Allocating funding for First Nations at the Forest Landscape Planning tables for potential lost revenues should they move forward with conservation reserves like OGMAs, WHAs, and UWRs.
  8. Moving to close the loopholes in OGMAs that allow moveable boundaries to enable logging and in WHAs and other such conservation designations that allow logging to take place.
  9. Ensure the addition of misidentified at-risk old-growth forests to the priority list of deferrals where identified by scientists, citizens, and industry.

From ground level, we are looking up at an ancient western redcedar, of which is marked with falling tape and is in danger of being logged.

 

A graphic image of the BC legislature in shades of blue, with a photo of John Rustad in the forefront.

The Narwhal: BC Conservative Leader says his party would kill ‘nonsense’ plans for new protected areas

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May 17, 2024
By Shannon Waters
The Narwhal

See the original Narwhal article here.

As the BC Conservatives surge in the polls, party leader John Rustad — kicked out of the BC Liberal caucus for promoting a tweet spreading misinformation about climate change — says he would scrap the province’s pledge to create new conserved areas

A BC Conservative Party government would walk away from the province’s commitment to protect 30 per cent of its land base by 2030, party leader John Rustad told The Narwhal in an interview.

“The Conservatives would absolutely axe doing that,” Rustad said. “That’s nonsense.”

“It’s 30 per cent of all of our ecosystems,” he said. “What are we going to do if we have 30 per cent less food production? What are we going to do if we’re going to have 30 per cent less forestry production? What are we trying to achieve here as a province?”

Rustad’s comments come as the BC Conservatives surge in the polls five months before the provincial election, with Premier David Eby calling the Conservatives “a real threat” to the NDP’s chances of regaining power. An Abacus Data poll released May 14 showed the Conservatives only eight points behind the BC NDP, which has been in government since 2017. A Pallas Data poll released May 16 put the two parties in a dead heat, with the BC Conservatives leading the NDP by one point at 38 per cent of the vote.

Rustad has led the upstart BC Conservatives for just over a year, after being kicked out of the opposition BC Liberal caucus in 2022 for promoting a social media post that expressed doubt about climate change science. Since Rustad’s acclamation as party leader, and as the popularity of federal Conservative Party Leader Pierre Poilievre grows, support for the BC Conservatives has steadily climbed.

The BC NDP’s pledge to protect 30 per cent of the province was made as the world faces a growing biodiversity crisis. It follows a commitment from almost 200 countries, including Canada, to address the unprecedented loss of wildlife and biodiversity worldwide by protecting 30 per cent of their land and waters over the next six years. According to the World Economic Forum, biodiversity loss and ecosystem collapse represent one of the largest risks the world faces over the next decade, with dire consequences for the environment, humankind and economic activity if not addressed.

Rustad’s Conservatives reject plan to protect more of B.C.

Rustad asserted that protecting more land in B.C. would “create more vulnerability” for residents, saying 15 per cent of the province is already protected in some form. He also said B.C. has “more protected land … than any other jurisdiction” in Canada.

In 2023, all provinces and territories agreed to contribute to the federal government’s 30-by-30 conservation targets, saying in a joint statement they would help work toward “halting and reversing biodiversity loss by 2030 and to put nature on a path to recovery by 2050.”

The BC Conservatives are also pledging to repeal B.C.’s law upholding the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples.

“The vast majority of [B.C.’s Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples Act] is fine,” Rustad, who was minister of Aboriginal relations and reconciliation under the former BC Liberal Party government, said in the interview. But he said the legislation effectively gives First Nations a veto over activities on their land, a claim countered by the B.C. government and many others.

“The government doesn’t admit it, but they won’t make any decisions unless they reach consensus — that’s equivalent to a veto,” Rustad said. “I want to see us actually go after what I call economic reconciliation. We need to work with First Nations, we need to help them get engaged economically — not to take from one people to give to another, but to add to the economic pie to make sure that First Nations can prosper from the land, from their traditional territories.”

Minister of Water, Land and Resource Stewardship Nathan Cullen called Rustad’s stance on conservation targets unfortunate, telling The Narwhal the 30-by-30 targets have broad support in B.C.

“I’m hearing more and more from the natural resource sector, from hunters and conservationists and environmentalists, that [the] relationship-based approach, rights-based approach is a good way to go,” said Cullen, who is responsible for implementing the conservation policy.

“Indigenous-led conservation through land use planning processes is the way that we’ll achieve durable and diverse conservation. We can bring communities together — [and] bring our best science and understanding together — to make sure that the conservation that we undertake represents the many diverse ecosystems in B.C. and is done in full co-operation leadership with First Nations rights and title holders.”

Rustad represents ‘a scary way of doing things,’ Na̲nwak̲olas Council president says

The Na̲nwak̲olas Council is one of the Indigenous groups currently participating in discussions about how B.C. can implement 30-by-30 conservation targets. In an interview, council president Dallas Smith said the policy’s positive impacts will reach far beyond the areas protected, adding the council is interested in expanding the Great Bear Rainforest protected areas on land and in the marine environment.

“It’s about how do we actually make a sustainable path going forward that includes the economy, and community human wellbeing as well,” Smith said. “That’s just the way it’s got to work going forward. We can’t have these discussions in isolation anymore.”

Smith is no stranger to provincial political life, having run for the BC Liberals (now called BC United) in 2017. When Rustad was minister of Aboriginal relations and later minister of forests, lands and natural resource operations in the BC Liberal government, Smith was part of the negotiating process that led to bilateral agreements with First Nations.

Smith, who said he once considered Rustad a friend, called the Conservative party leader’s stance on the 30-by-30 conservation targets policy short-sighted, especially since the province has already begun to negotiate land protection agreements with First Nations.

“To have someone like John come back and act like all these agreements [with First Nations] — that started a discussion going in the right direction, finally — are ready to be scrapped is very frustrating because 30-by-30 is actually a good way of bringing it all together so people understand what the target and goal is,” Smith said.

“It also motivates us to find what we do with the other 70 [per cent of the land].”

Lush greens amongst Upper Edinburgh Grove

Increasingly rare old-growth forest ecosystems could gain more protection under the province’s 30-by-30 conservation targets.

Rustad’s characterization of what the 30-by-30 policy would mean for B.C.’s food production and forestry sounds like fear mongering, Smith said.

“People don’t know what it is and he seems to want to make them afraid of it. It’s really a scary way of doing things when we’ve already come this far down the line,” he said. “There has been so much significant progress made and he’s threatening to take that all away. That’s a very, very, very concerning thing to not only First Nations, [but] I think to all the people who have started to see the benefits of the collaboration that reconciliation has brought.”

Ken Wu, executive director of the Endangered Ecosystems Alliance, said it’s unlikely any agricultural land in B.C. would be impacted by creating new protected areas.

“Farming occurs on private lands, not on Crown lands where the protected areas expansion will occur, and private lands are only protected from willing sellers after buying their lands at an agreed upon price,” Wu pointed out in an interview. “[Rustad] knows that, but he mentions ‘farms’ as a misleading, bogus dog whistle to rouse up his base.”

“We are on the precipice of the biggest protected areas expansion in B.C.’s history but it may be cut short if the BC Conservatives get in,” Wu said.

Last November, the NDP government dedicated $500 million to advance the conservation policy and the federal government also chipped in $500 million. Of that, $50 million is earmarked to permanently protect “high priority” old-growth forests.

“They should be given huge kudos for this,” Wu said.

While concerns have been raised about how the province is defining protected areas — the NDP government has yet to make details public — Wu said he is encouraged by the effort he has seen so far.

“[The NDP] is now moving forward with negotiations over dozens of Indigenous Protected and Conserved Areas projects of First Nations across B.C., totalling thousands of square kilometres, to protect ecosystems and their cultures,” he said. “In B.C., protected areas require the consent and shared decision-making of the local First Nations whose territories they will be established in.”

A man in a white shirt crouches on top of a massive ancient western redcedar stump in a clearcut.

Ken Wu, executive director of the Endangered Ecosystems Alliance, says the BC Conservatives’ agenda is diametrically opposed to conservation and biodiversity protection. Photo: TJ Watt

According to the BC Conservatives website, if the party forms government it would also reverse many of the climate action policies the BC NDP has championed since it came to power in 2017, including eliminating the carbon tax and low-carbon fuel standard.

B.C. hasn’t had a name-brand Conservative government for nearly a century — although the role was filled by the now defunct Social Credit Party for more than 30 years, ending in 1991.

Wu emphasized the importance of recognizing what is at stake in this year’s election for the future of conservation and biodiversity protection in B.C.

“I want to be sure that no environmental group comes forward with any nonsense false equivalency, that because there have been failings from the NDP so far — and I recognize where those genuine failings have been — that’s not the same as having an agenda that is antagonistic and diametrically opposed to these goals,” he said.

 

camas flowers bloom in a garry oak meadow in uplands park

Camas Lily

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The emblem of an endangered ecosystem, of deep cultural significance, and simply gorgeous, the camas lily is one charismatic plant. This flower, native to the Garry oak ecosystem of southeastern Vancouver Island is instantly recognizable for its glorious blue-purple flowers that can blanket whole meadows in springtime.

There are two species of blue camas on Vancouver Island — the common camas and the great camas — separated by size and the arrangement of the petals, which on the great camas twist together. Neither should be confused with death camas though, a white flowering species with bulbs that can be lethal to consume.

For the Coast Salish people, camas have traditionally been no mere ornament but a way of life. Indeed, it was considered second only to the all-important Pacific salmon in its importance in trade on the coast. This is because the rich, starchy bulb of the camas is a fantastic source of carbohydrates, traditionally filling the role of potatoes, bread, or rice in other cultures. Camas bulbs would be cooked in pit ovens for 24–48 hours to allow the complex starches to become sweet and easily digestible.

purple camas close up.

Traditionally, Indigenous camas harvesters have not been passive consumers of a wild plant, but instead active cultivators of camas meadows, including carrying out controlled burns to maintain the oak savannahs where camas thrive. Archaeological research suggests that Indigenous people in North America have been cultivating camas ecosystems for at least 3500 years, a legacy of care and stewardship that has helped maintain this biodiverse ecosystem and all the creatures that depend on it.

Today, due to development for housing and agriculture, Garry oak ecosystems are among the most threatened habitats in Canada.

To see some of the best camas displays this spring, visit one of the beautiful meadows at Uplands Park, Summit Park, or Beacon Hill in Victoria (late April/early May are the best times). Here, one can still wander among the fields of flowers and be reminded of the interwoven human relationship that goes back thousands of years 💜

 

 

 

A man in neon scales a record-sized Sitka spruce as the sun peaks out from behind the branches as they sprawl every which way.

Global News: Get a bird’s-eye view from one of Vancouver Island’s tallest trees

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May 10, 2024
Global News
By Simon Little & Paul Johnson

Watch the Global News video and read the original article here.

It’s being described as one of the most significant big tree finds in BC in years.

A group of conservationists recently had the opportunity to scale a massive 71-metre (223-foot) tall Sitka Spruce discovered in the Carmanah Valley on southwestern Vancouver Island. The massive tree is nearly four metres (13 feet) wide at its base.

“We just knew the only way to convey the true grandeur of this tree was to climb it and get right up there in the top,” TJ Watt, a campaigner and photographer with the Ancient Forest Alliance told Global News.

“Only when you see a human beside a tree for scale can you truly grasp just how monumental these trees are; they are some of the largest living organisms on planet Earth.”

Watt has spent the last 15 years bushwhacking through BC forests to find and document the province’s giants.

His mission is to use photography and social media to inspire people and try to share just how special the rare, old-growth trees are.

Using a giant slingshot to hurl a rope into the tree’s upper limbs, Watt and a team of professional climbers made their way into the canopy in the fall of 2022.

Watt said the unique ecosystems that exist in giant tree canopies are still not well understood.

“The giant limbs of these trees which can be as big as a regular-sized tree are adorned with ferns, and lichens and mosses,” he said.

“These are truly hidden realms that deserve more research, more investigation and more appreciation to ensure they are preserved in perpetuity.”

The giant Sitka is among what Watt says represents a fraction of remaining ancient coastal forests, 90 per cent of which have been harvested since industrial logging began.

While this tree is in the protected Carmanah Valley, much of the population of big trees remaining on Vancouver Island is not.

“The old-growth temperate rainforests of British Columbia are almost second to none on earth in terms of their beauty and grandeur,” he said.

“But unfortunately many of them are still at risk today.”

Taken from the ground looking upward, a man in a neon yellow shirt, helmet, and blue pants climbs a rope that lines one of the tallest trees —a massive Sitka spruce — in the Carmanah Valley. The tree's immense canopy is splayed out above him.

 

 

 

 

A white fawn lily, with its oblong petals and vibrant yellow pistil and stamen, hangs delicately.

Thank you to these businesses and artists for their support!

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We’d like to take the opportunity to extend a massive thank you to the following businesses and artists for their philanthropic support toward the old-growth campaign.

Thank you to:

Wild Coast Perfumery, who graciously continues to support ancient forest protection.

The Hausplants, GRDN Collective, Bloom Effect, and Garden Mice, who collectively made a contribution following their Green Auto Greenhouse event in celebration of Earth Day.

Stillwater Nature Spa for their generous gift and ongoing support.

And Barbara Brown Art, who donates 5% of her annual art sales to the old-growth campaign.

Your support makes our work possible and we’re extremely grateful to every one of you.

If you’re a business owner or artist and would like to support the protection of old-growth forests in British Columbia, shoot us an email at info@16.52.162.165 for ways to do so!

CTV News: Carmanah Valley Sitka Spruce Climb

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See this CTV News video coverage of AFA staff and professional arborists at Bartlett Tree Experts who locate and climb the largest Sitka spruce tree in BC’s famed Carmanah Valley. (Coverage starts at 12:58.)

Victoria Buzz: BC environmentalists climb and measure Carmanah Valley’s largest Sitka spruce tree

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April 24, 2024
By Curtis Blandy
Victoria Buzz

See the original article here.

In recognition of Earth Month in April, a group of environmental conservation advocates decided they would showcase one of Vancouver Island’s largest old-growth giants by climbing and measuring it, and capturing drone footage of the process.

Members of the Ancient Forest Alliance (AFA) sought out the Carmanah Valley’s largest Sitka spruce tree, which stretches approximately 21 storeys into the sky in an effort to highlight the importance of conserving and protecting old-growth forests.

According to the AFA, this Sitka in particular has a mammoth trunk, which forks into multiple stems, reminiscent of the multi-headed hydra of Greek mythology.

They noted that this tree is protected, as it grows within the Carmanah-Walbran Provincial Park in Ditidaht territory.

“This giant is by far the most spectacular Sitka spruce tree that we’ve come across during our decades-long search for big trees in BC,” said TJ Watt, AFA campaigner and photographer.

“We had been big tree hunting in the valley for two days as part of my work as a National Geographic Explorer, when, just before dark, a massive crown caught our eye in the distance. Right away, we knew we had found something special.”

The tree is 12.9 feet (3.89 metres) wide near its base, 233 feet (71 metres) tall and has an average crown spread of 72 feet (22 metres).

BC’s Big Tree Registry marks this as the largest tree in the Carmanah Valley, despite the “Carmanah Giant” being taller, and the fourth-largest Sitka spruce on record in BC.

The AFA says that two blue whales laid end-to-end would still not be as tall as this tree which has been dubbed the “Hydra Spruce.”

“Most Sitkas are tall and straight like a Roman pillar, but this one had an enormous trunk that forked into five major stems, creating a sprawling canopy like the head of a hydra,” Watt explained.

“Near the base, it would have taken seven or eight of us to wrap our arms around the trunk. Seeing it from the ground was one thing, but we knew that to truly highlight the tree’s grandeur, we would need to climb to the top.”

To climb this giant, the AFA partnered with Bartlett Tree Experts, a group of professional arborists, who shot an enormous slingshot loaded with a line up unto the canopy.

They used ropes to climb so they would not damage the tree and were able to get to within a few metres of the top of the tree’s canopy.

“I’ve climbed thousands of trees in my life, but this one was like none other,” said Matthew Beatty, Arborist and Climber with Bartlett Tree Experts.

“Even within the Carmanah Valley, where we have climbed numerous trees for scientific research projects, this is a giant among giants.”

He continued by saying he hopes that the footage and images captured during this climb inspire people to protect and advocate for old-growth groves.

The BC government continues to develop and roll out its Old-Growth Strategy, which aims to protect 30% of BC’s ancient forests by 2030.

Through these protections being put in place, AFA continues to advocate for proper implementation that will ensure protection for sites that hold BC’s oldest, largest and most at-risk trees.

Watch the video of the climb below:

 

Conservationists locate and climb the largest Sitka spruce tree in BC’s famed Carmanah Valley

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Spectacular drone footage and photos reveal climbers more than 20 stories in the air in the “hydra-like” canopy of an old-growth Sitka spruce, highlighting the incredible grandeur of old-growth forests in British Columbia during Earth Week.

Conservationists with the Ancient Forest Alliance (AFA) have located, climbed, and measured the largest spruce tree in the famed Carmanah Valley. The record-sized tree — whose mammoth trunk forks into multiple stems reminiscent of the multi-headed hydra of Greek mythology — grows protected within the Carmanah-Walbran Provincial Park in Ditidaht territory on Vancouver Island. The tree was identified by AFA’s TJ Watt and Ian Thomas while exploring the valley in the spring of 2022 and climbed later in the fall with the help of professional arborists. The images and videos are being released for the first time today to celebrate Earth Week.

See an incredible video of the climb and the full photo gallery.

The towering tree measures 12.9 ft (3.89 m) wide near its base, 233 ft (71 m) tall, and has an average crown spread of 72 ft (22 m). According to the BC Big Tree Registry, this makes it the largest tree in the Carmanah Valley (despite the famed “Carmanah Giant” being taller), and the fourth-largest Sitka spruce on record in BC. Two blue whales laid end-to-end would still not equal the height of this immense tree, which is one of the largest living organisms on Earth. Its immense, multi-stemmed crown has garnered it the nickname the “Hydra Spruce.”

Through a fisheye lens, a man wearing neon ascends the largest Sitka spruce tree in Carmanah-Walbran Provincial Park, with many other trees surrounding it.

Climber Will Clayton of Bartlett Tree Experts begins his ascent up the towering trunk of the largest spruce tree in the Carmanah Valley in Ditidaht territory on Vancouver Island, BC.

“This giant is by far the most spectacular Sitka spruce tree that we’ve come across during our decades-long search for big trees in BC,” noted AFA campaigner and photographer TJ Watt. “We had been big tree hunting in the valley for two days as part of my work as a National Geographic Explorer, when, just before dark, a massive crown caught our eye in the distance. Right away, we knew we had found something special. Most Sitkas are tall and straight like a Roman pillar, but this one had an enormous trunk that forked into five major stems, creating a sprawling canopy like the head of a hydra. Near the base, it would have taken seven or eight of us to wrap our arms around the trunk. Seeing it from the ground was one thing, but we knew that to truly highlight the tree’s grandeur, we would need to climb to the top.”

AFA later teamed up with professional arborists from Bartlett Tree Experts to ascend, document, and measure the ancient tree. Using a 12-foot “Big Shot” slingshot, the team fired a line over a large branch high up into the canopy. Then, using low-impact techniques where climbers ascend the ropes themselves rather than the tree’s trunk, they could reach within a few meters of the top of the tree. Lowering down a giant tape measure, they calculated a height measurement of 233 feet or 71 meters tall — as tall as a 21-story building.

“I’ve climbed thousands of trees in my life, but this one was like none other,” said arborist and climber Matthew Beatty with Bartlett Tree Experts. “Even within the Carmanah Valley, where we have climbed numerous trees for scientific research projects, this is a giant among giants. The feeling of being within an ancient canopy is an immersive, humbling, and awe-inspiring experience. I hope that by highlighting the magnificence of these rainforest ecosystems, we inspire people about the need to protect those forests still at risk outside the park boundaries.”

Climber Finn Rowlands dangles among the massive canopy of the Hydra Spruce during golden hour. All five trunks visible in this image are part of the same tree.

The Carmanah Valley has long been famous as one of the most superlative old-growth Sitka spruce forests left in Canada. Beyond the Hydra Spruce, it is home to Canada’s tallest known tree, the Carmanah Giant, which towers 315 feet (96 metres) in the sky. The Carmanah Valley was the focus of intense conservation efforts in the early 1990s when it was imminently threatened by logging. Big-tree hunter and conservationist, the late Randy Stoltmann, was a particular champion of protecting this exceptional valley. After intense public pressure, the entire watershed was eventually protected as a provincial park alongside sections of the nearby Walbran Valley. The Carmanah is now celebrated as one of the most magnificent old-growth forests on Earth, with visitors coming from across the world to walk through its vast pillars of enormous trees.

Pioneering research in the canopies of tall trees in the Carmanah Valley in the early 1990s also revealed thousands of invertebrates living in the lush jungle of epiphytic ferns, mosses, and lichens. Many of these species were entirely new to science and are believed to only live in the crowns of old-growth trees and nowhere else on Earth. Other inhabitants of these unique “sky gardens” include wandering salamanders, which recent research suggests may “glide” from branch to branch like flying squirrels, and the endangered marbled murrelet. This tiny seabird nests on the mossy cushions found on the immense branches of old-growth trees.

“When we walk among trees at ground level, huge as they seem, we are often only seeing one third of the tree, which can extend hundreds of more feet into the air,” said Watt. “Climbing into the canopy of a giant old-growth tree is like entering a lost world seen by very few people. Their branches can be as big as regular-sized trees and are often adorned with suspended gardens, overflowing with mosses, ferns, lichens, and shrubs. In those moments, you realize the vast ecological value of even a single old-growth giant. They are worlds unto themselves, with creatures that might live their entire lives in the canopy without ever touching solid ground. These ancient giants are like huge, living apartment buildings that have grown over centuries, housing uncountable numbers of individual creatures and species. These trees are irreplaceable in our lifetimes. I hope the images and videos we’ve captured here inspire reverence and awe in those who see them and inspire people to engage and speak up for protecting old-growth forests across BC.”

 

Research has shown that in addition to their immense ecological value in providing habitat for wildlife, supporting biodiversity, maintaining clean water, sequestering carbon, and buffering against climate change, standing old-growth forests and protected areas provide greater economic benefits to communities in the longer term when compared to logging them. Factoring in ecotourism, recreation, non-timber forest products, carbon credits, and enhanced real estate values, among other industries, standing old-growth forests have been shown to provide greater economic benefits over time than the one-time economic benefits gained from cutting them down.

“Carmanah is a perfect example of what society gains when we set aside large areas for nature. Thirty years after it was saved from logging, Carmanah still has vast stands of the giant trees that have been decimated elsewhere in BC. It still harbours threatened species such as marbled murrelets and western screech owls, and, it’s still a place of hidden natural wonders, where we can seek out and document some of the largest and oldest living beings on Earth,” stated Watt. “Conservationists 30 years ago gave us this gift; without them, the valley and its skyscraper trees would be another stump field transitioning to an industrial tree farm. We must give that same gift — healthy ecosystems and protected old-growth forests — to future generations.”

Climber Matthew Beatty near the top of the tree, which measures 233 feet (71 m) tall – as tall as a 21-story building.

As the BC government develops its new Old-Growth Strategy as part of a larger mandate to expand protection to 30% of BC by 2030, it must commit to legally binding ecosystem-based protection targets. These must factor in “forest productivity distinctions” (differentiating between sites that grow large trees vs. sites that typically grow small trees in cold, rocky, or boggy sites) set by science and Traditional Ecological Knowledge committees. These critical distinctions are vital to ensure the most at-risk and least-protected ecosystems are prioritized — otherwise, protection will still be largely focused on alpine and subalpine areas with low to no timber values.

Old-growth forests have unique characteristics not found in the ensuing second-growth tree plantations that they are being replaced with. These forests are typically re-logged every 50 to 60 years on BC’s coast, never to become old-growth again. Old-growth forests 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.

This climbing project was part of AFA campaigner and photographer TJ Watt’s work as a National Geographic and Royal Canadian Geographical Society Explorer, supported by the Trebek Initiative. This grant supports emerging Canadian explorers, scientists, photographers, geographers, and educators with the goal of using storytelling to ignite “a passion to preserve” in all Canadians. Watt was among the first round of recipients in 2021.

All tree climbing and drone filming was done with permission from local governments.

The Carmanah Valley at dusk, with shades of green and blue in the valley and pink along the mountain outline.

The Carmanah Valley

AFA’s TJ Watt to Present at TEDxVictoria on May 15!

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Catch Ancient Forest Alliance Photographer and Campaigner TJ Watt at the TEDxVictoria event on May 15th! Alongside 11 other diverse presenters, TJ will speak about his efforts to document and help protect endangered old-growth forests in BC.

To grab your tickets or learn more, visit: https://tedxvictoria.ca/

The goal of TEDxVictoria is to bring together local experts, community organizations, entrepreneurs, start-ups, established businesses, and passionate individuals to explore the ways in which the city has evolved and changed over the past decade. With a fresh perspective, this conference will discuss the many opportunities and challenges that have arisen and celebrate ingenuity, problem-solving, and forward-thinking in Victoria.

TEDxVictoria organizers said, “It’s up to us, all the change we want to see personally, globally, and local to Victoria. This year’s TEDxVictoria will bring our community together for inspiring conversations that help us understand, explore, and motivate change. Whatever that change looks like, here’s to ideas worth spreading.”