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New IMAX Film by Renowned Canadian Video Artist to Highlight Vancouver Island’s Endangered Old-Growth Forests

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The magnificent but endangered old-growth forests of Vancouver Island are about to get a large-scale national audience on IMAX screens across Canada as the film Embers and the Giants premieres at the Images Festival in Toronto this week (Thursday, April 18) and later this fall in IMAX cinemas across Canada in Victoria, Sudbury, Edmonton and Montreal.

The film is part of a program of work entitled Outer Worlds, a series of five IMAX commissions from leading Canadian media artists, each of whom have created films in a cinematic genre typical of IMAX films: larger-than-life landscapes. Two of the films will feature the endangered old-growth forests of Vancouver Island near the town of Port Renfrew, in the unceded territory of the Pacheedaht First Nation band:

Embers and the Giants, by internationally renowned Canadian artist Kelly Richardson, a professor of Visual Arts at the University of Victoria and on the board of advisors of the Endangered Ecosystems Alliance, presents an endangered old-growth forest during last light, articulated by thousands of floating embers of light. Initial impressions may be that we are witnessing a rare, exceptionally beautiful display of fireflies. Then again, human intervention may be at play, suggesting a time when we’ll need to amplify the spectacle of nature in order to convince the public of its worth.

An endangered old-growth forest during last light in Kelly Richardson’s IMAX art film, Embers and the Giants

Richardson is known for creating hyper-real digital films of rich and complex landscapes that have been manipulated using CGI, animation and sound. Her projects have received major international acclaim, having been featured in the National Gallery of Canada, in galleries around the world, in an official Canada 150 exhibition, and in the upcoming IMAX film series.

Her most recent project and work has previously been highlighted in various news media:
See: : https://www.timescolonist.com/islander/capturing-the-art-of-nature-and-change-1.23144042
and https://www.sookenewsmirror.com/news/port-renfrews-avatar-grove-featured-in-national-imax-series/
and https://www.cheknews.ca/victoria-artist-showcase-port-renfrew-old-growth-forests-imax-project-405493

Forest, by Leila Sujir, Chair of the Studio Arts Department in the Faculty of Fine Arts at Concordia University, is another feature of the project. Her subject will be the Central Walbran Valley, an area on Vancouver Island that is scheduled for clear-cut logging. Over the past decade, Sujir has been experimenting with stereoscopic 3D video, extending the viewer into the space of the moving image.

Over the years, Vancouver Island’s old-growth forests have drawn considerable attention from the artistic community, including Emily Carr who produced pieces depicting the old-growth trees, giant stumps, and forests of the region in the first half of the 20th century; scores of renowned artists who contributed to the best-selling art book “Carmanah: Visions of an Ancient Forest” (300,000 copies sold) in 1990; and increasing numbers of artists and filmmakers in recent years featuring the ancient forests around Port Renfrew, including Richardson and Sujir.

“I relocated to Victoria in 2017 after living and working in England for 14 years in order to be closer to the magnificent old-growth forests. After visiting Avatar Grove during a work trip in the fall of 2016, I was overwhelmed by my experience of those ancient stands, which was a huge influence in my decision to apply for a professorship at the University of Victoria where I now work. My most recent project, Embers and the Giants, features the old-growth forests in this region. Through my partners with the Outer Worlds IMAX project, I hope I can contribute to efforts to raise awareness about their outstanding beauty and the plight to protect what remains.”

“We’re excited that such high-caliber artists and film producers will feature the endangered old-growth forests of Vancouver Island through the most spectacular medium – IMAX technology – on a national scale,” stated Ken Wu, executive director of the Endangered Ecosystems Alliance. “The old-growth forests around Port Renfrew, still largely endangered, are clearly continuing to impress increasing numbers of people -not only tourists, but acclaimed artists as well.”

Internationally renowned Canadian artist, Kelly Richardson, working on IMAX art film near Port Renfrew.

“The old-growth forests around Port Renfrew, referred to these days as Canada’s ‘Tall Trees Capital’ that attracts thousands of tourists from around the world, are an international treasure with some of the largest and oldest living organisms on the planet. Sadly, most are on the verge of being turned into giant stumps. All large-scale exposure and awareness raising, including through creative media, are greatly welcome!” stated TJ Watt, Ancient Forest Alliance campaigner and photographer.

The campaign to protect the old-growth forests around Port Renfrew, in the Avatar Grove, Central Walbran Valley, Jurassic Grove, Eden Grove (adjacent to “Big Lonely Doug”), Edinburgh Mountain, and Mossome Grove, has enlisted a ground-breaking alliance of environmental activists and diverse allies involving numerous businesses, labour unions, city and town councils, artists, conservation groups, and others, calling on the British Columbian provincial government to protect old-growth forests and to ensure a sustainable, second-growth forest industry.

More BACKGROUND Information on BC’s Old-Growth Forests

Old-growth forests are vital to sustaining unique endangered species, climate stability, tourism, clean water, wild salmon, and the cultures of many First Nations. On BC’s southern coast, satellite photos show that at least 79% of the original, productive old-growth forests have been logged, including well over 90% of the valley bottoms where the largest trees grow. Only about 8% of Vancouver Island’s original, productive old-growth forests are protected in parks and Old-Growth Management Areas (see maps and stats at: https://16.52.162.165/ancient-forests/before-after-old-growth-maps/). Old-growth forests – with trees that can be 2000 years old – are a non-renewable resource under BC’s system of forestry, where second-growth forests are re-logged every 50 to 100 years, never to become old-growth again.

The BC government regularly spins the statistics on how much old-growth remains on Vancouver Island by:

  • Including vast tracts of marginal, low-productivity bog and subalpine forests with small stunted trees of low to no timber value; failing to include contextual stats on how much used to originally exist (ie. How much has already been logged…ie.80%) of the productive old-growth forests
  • Removing vast tracts of cut-over private corporate forest lands (still under provincial management) from their logging stats
  • Combining stats of Vancouver Island’s remaining old-growth forests of the milder, southern coast with the old-growth forests of the colder, northern coast (ie. the Great Bear Rainforest) which are different (eg’s. they lack most of the really big trees and some of the biodiversity and ecosystem types found farther south; are far more extensive due to a more recent history of logging and more rugged terrain; and have largely been protected in recent times as a result of massive international forest products boycotts by Greenpeace in the 1990’s followed by almost 2 decades of negotiations, which has not occurred for most of Vancouver Island’s forests).

In recent times, the voices for old-growth protection have been quickly expanding, including numerous Chambers of Commerce, mayors and city councils, forestry unions, conservation groups, and First Nations across BC who have been calling on the provincial government to expand protection for BC’s remaining old-growth forests.

The Endangered Ecosystems Alliance, Ancient Forest Alliance, and BC conservation groups are calling on the BC government to develop science-based legislation to protect old-growth forests, to enact regulations and incentives to ensure a sustainable, value-added second-growth forest industry, and to support First Nations land use plans and the sustainable economic development and diversification of the communities as an alternative to old-growth logging.

Ancient Forest Alliance Photographer & Campaigner TJ Watt stands atop an 8ft wide old-growth redcedar stump in a recent clearcut by Teal-Jones on Edinburgh Mt near Port Renfrew.

On International Day of Forests, conservation groups call on B.C. government to immediately halt logging of last intact old-growth areas

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VICTORIA, BC – Environmental organizations Ancient Forest Alliance, Sierra Club BC and the Wilderness Committee are calling on the B.C. government to stop issuing logging permits in B.C.’s last remaining intact old-growth forest “hotspots” and endangered old-growth ecosystems and to implement legislation to protect endangered ancient forests. The call coincides with the International Day of Forests (March 21), declared by the United Nations as a day on which to celebrate and raise awareness of the importance of Earth’s forests.

“The BC NDP government has stated that they’re working on a strategy to protect endangered old-growth forests and are making changes to forestry laws,” stated Ancient Forest Alliance campaigner Andrea Inness. “While we are looking forward to hearing about details and timelines, we’re extremely concerned that the business-as-usual liquidation of old-growth forests is continuing in the last remaining intact old-growth ‘hotspots’ with the greatest conservation, cultural, and recreational values.”

About two dozen hotspots have already been identified on Vancouver Island. These include the Nahmint Valley in Hupacasath and Tseshaht territories near Port Alberni, where the B.C. government has direct control over BC Timber Sales, the provincial agency responsible for planning and issuing logging permits. The Central Walbran Valley and Edinburgh Mountain in Pacheedaht territory close to Port Renfrew and East Creek rainforest in Quatsino territory on Vancouver Island’s northwest coast are also considered critical hotspots.

Ancient Forest Alliance campaigner & photographer TJ Watt stands on top of a giant redcedar stump in a clearcut on Edinburgh Mountain near Port Renfrew.

“After decades of destruction, ancient forests and the web of life that depends on them are close to the brink,” stated Sierra Club BC senior forest and climate campaigner Jens Wieting. “Business as usual will result in species loss and leave communities with ecologically, culturally, and economically degraded landscapes. We need a halt on logging in critical areas to allow options for land use planning and time to strengthen regulation before it’s too late.”

Recent research mapping by the Wilderness Committee revealed that, in just five months, the B.C. government approved 314 new logging cutblocks with a total area of 16,000 hectares in critical southern mountain caribou habitat in B.C.’s Interior. This is despite the Province simultaneously working on a conservation plan to protect the highly threatened species.

“A ‘talk-and-log’ scenario is unacceptable given the ecological emergency we’re currently facing in B.C. The B.C. government must stop issuing logging permits in critical old-growth areas before more species fall through the cracks,” said Wilderness Committee campaigner Torrance Coste. “The NDP government needs to quit dragging their heels and show they’re serious about mountain caribou and endangered old-growth forest protection. They need to come up with both immediate and long-term solutions while there are still intact ancient forests left to protect.”

 Ancient Forest Alliance campaigner & photographer TJ Watt stands next to a giant redcedar tree in Eden Grove on Edinburgh Mountain near Port Renfrew.

Old-growth forests are integral for their cultural values for many Indigenous Nations, as habitat for endangered species, and for climate stability, tourism, clean water and wild salmon. B.C.’s temperate rainforests represent the largest remaining tracts of a globally rare ecosystem covering just half a per cent of the planet’s landmass. Outside the Great Bear Rainforest, the vast majority of provincial old-growth forests have been reduced to small percentages of their original extent. Logging continues with little legal safeguards to ensure a minimum protection based on science. Yet the current rate of old-growth logging on Vancouver Island alone is more than three square metres per second, or about thirty-four soccer fields per day.

Ancient Forest Alliance campaigner Andrea Inness stands beside a freshly fallen old-growth redcedar tree in BC Timber Sales cutblock in the Nahmint Valley near Port Alberni.

The environmental organizations are calling on the B.C. government to implement a science-based plan to protect endangered old-growth forests, in line with the NDP’s 2017 election platform commitment to take “an evidence-based scientific approach and use the ecosystem-based management of the Great Bear Rainforest as a model,” support Indigenous Nations’ sustainable economic development and land use plans, and ensure long-term forestry jobs in improved second-growth forest management and value-added manufacturing.

Background information:
For detailed Vancouver Island old-growth mapping and statistics, see:
https://sierraclub.bc.ca/white-rhino-map-shows-vancouver-islands-most-endangered-old-growth-rainforests/

The B.C. government has often stated that “over 55% of Crown old-growth forests on B.C.’s coast are protected,” but fails to mention that the vast majority of coastal old-growth forests that are protected from logging are in the Great Bear Rainforest, not on Vancouver Island, where old-growth forests are highly endangered and old-growth logging continues at a scale of about 10,000 hectares a year.

The government also claims that “on Vancouver Island, over 40% of Crown forests are considered old-growth, with 520,000 hectares that will never be logged.” However, the government hides the fact that the majority of this total area is low-productivity forest (i.e. stunted, marginal forests that grow along the outer coast, in high elevation, or in bogs and are therefore not at risk of being logged).

These numbers also ignore heavily logged forests on private lands, which make up more than a quarter of Vancouver Island and which are largely managed under provincial authority.

Finally, the B.C. government fails to mention how much old-growth has previously been logged on Vancouver Island: almost 80% of the original productive old-growth forest and over 90% of the low elevation, high-productivity stands (e.g. the very rare, monumental old-growth stands currently being logged in the Nahmint Valley and other hotspot areas).

ACTION ALERT: Send a message and help protect spectacular Jurassic Grove!

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Thank you to everyone who made a written submission in support of expanding protections for the Jurassic Grove! The comment period has now closed. We will keep you up to date with any future developments. Thanks!

Conservationists locate what may be Canada’s most magnificent and photogenic old-growth forest on Vancouver Island

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The Ancient Forest Alliance’s campaigner and photographer TJ Watt by BC’s ninth widest bigleaf maple, the Woolly Giant, completely draped in hanging moss and ferns, in the Mossome Grove (short for “Mossy and Awesome” Grove) near Port Renfrew on Vancouver Island.

The “Mossome” Grove (short for “Mossy and Awesome” Grove) consists of giant, prehistoric-looking, shaggy bigleaf maples with tall, straight Sitka spruce, and is found near Port Renfrew

Conservationists in British Columbia have recently located what may very well be the most magnificent and awe-inspiring old-growth forest in the country on Vancouver Island. The spectacular, largely unprotected grove, with several near record-size trees, highlights the need for new policies by the BC government to protect BC’s biggest trees, grandest groves, and old-growth forest ecosystems. The BC government has recently stated that they are currently developing a new set of policies to manage BC’s old-growth forests but have not revealed any details yet.

The 13 hectare grove of immense old-growth Sitka spruce and bigleaf maples draped in hanging mosses and ferns, nicknamed the “Mossome Grove” (short for “Mossy and Awesome” Grove), was initially located in October and explored again in late December by conservationists Ken Wu of the Endangered Ecosystems Alliance and TJ Watt, Andrea Inness, and Rachel Ablack of the Ancient Forest Alliance. The grove is located on Crown land in the San Juan River Valley near Port Renfrew on southern Vancouver Island in the unceded territory of the Pacheedaht First Nation band. Most of the grove is unprotected, with a small portion, about four hectares, lying within an Old-Growth Management Area and in the riparian reserve along the San Juan River.

“This is perhaps the most magnificent and stunningly beautiful old-growth forest I’ve ever seen, and I’ve explored a lot of old-growth forests in my time,” stated Ken Wu, executive director of the Endangered Ecosystems Alliance and former executive director of the Ancient Forest Alliance and the Wilderness Committee’s Victoria office, who has 28 years’ experience exploring and campaigning to protect BC’s old-growth forests. “This is the first time in Canada we’ve located a prominent stand of this rare forest type, with old-growth spruce and maple trees growing together. The combination of giant Sitka spruce, as tall and straight as Roman pillars, and huge, ancient, bigleaf maples draped in hanging mosses and ferns, resembling prehistoric shaggy monsters, makes this perhaps the most photogenic forest in the country. Hollywood could not make a more stunning, picture-perfect forest than this one. This is the best example of ‘charismatic megaflora’ that I’ve ever seen. Of all of BC’s ancient forests, this one deserves protection not only due to the scarcity of its ecosystem type, but because of its sheer unique beauty.”

The Mossome Grove stands on Crown lands in the operating area of BC Timber Sales, with a portion within a Woodlot Licence allocated to the Pacheedaht band and the rest under the regulatory authority of BC Timber Sales. BC Timber Sales is the notorious BC government logging agency which has come under fire across the province for auctioning off old-growth forests to be clearcut in such places as the Nahmint Valley and Schmidt Creek on Vancouver Island, as well as in Manning Provincial Park’s “donut hole”.

Several of the Mossome Grove’s largest trees are near record-sized, including a Sitka spruce that would rank the ninth widest in comparison to those currently listed on the BC Big Tree Registry (with a diameter of 3.1 meters or 10 feet & 1 inch) and a bigleaf maple that would rank the ninth widest on the registry (with a diameter of 2.29 meters or 7 feet & 6 inches). The massive maple, nicknamed the “Woolly Giant”, also may very well have the longest horizontal branch of any tree in British Columbia, measuring 23.1 meters (76 feet) long – more than the height of many second-growth trees – and is covered in thick mats of hanging mosses and ferns, resembling a prehistoric monster.

The Ancient Forest Alliance’s campaigner Rachel Ablack by a huge Sitka spruce among then sword ferns in the Mossome Grove (short for “Mossy and Awesome” Grove) near Port Renfrew on Vancouver Island.

Along with its “charismatic megaflora”, the Mossome Grove is also home to “charismatic megafauna”, including significant numbers of Roosevelt elk, black-tailed deer, black bears, wolves, and cougars, who inhabit the productive San Juan River Valley. Old-growth forests on Vancouver Island in the area are also important habitat for the marbled murrelet, northern goshawk, pygmy owl, screech owl, Vaux’s swift, and long-eared bats.

Old-growth Sitka spruce and bigleaf maple stands are best known in the Hoh, Queets, and Quinault Valleys in the Olympic National Park in Washington State, where millions of tourists visit to marvel at the mossy giants. In Canada, such ancient spruce/maple stands are essentially unknown by the conservation movement and tourism industry for the simple reason they are virtually non-existent here, except for this newly-identified stand and possibly a few small patches scattered around southwestern Vancouver Island. At the time of European colonization in BC, there would have been more extensive but still limited old-growth Sitka spruce and bigleaf maples stands in the San Juan, Nitinat, and Fraser Valleys. However, virtually all have been logged or converted to agriculture or urban sprawl (in the case of the Fraser Valley where Vancouver stands today).

“This is like a combination of the monumental Sitka spruce stands of the Carmanah Valley and the gorgeous bigleaf maples of the Mossy Maple Grove that we popularized a few years ago near Lake Cowichan. The two combined are essentially the apex of the grandeur and beauty that could exist in a forest”, stated TJ Watt, Ancient Forest Alliance campaigner and photographer. “Photogenically, this grove should be a new poster child for BC’s endangered ancient forests – and the urgent need to protect their beauty. We need old-growth protection at all spatial scales at this time, to save the biggest trees, grandest groves, and old-growth forest ecosystems on a vaster scale.”

Due to its limited size, the scarcity of this forest type, and the fact that there are no trails, the Endangered Ecosystems Alliance and Ancient Forest Alliance are not publicly revealing the Mossome Grove’s location at this time until it can be safeguarded from excessive trampling, and most importantly, from future commercial logging.

The Ministry of Forests, Lands, and Natural Resource Operations and Rural Development since 2012 has been working to develop a “Big Tree Protection Order”, a policy originally aimed at protecting the largest trees and grandest groves in BC. Successive governments, including the NDP, have dragged out the policy’s development and implementation and appear to be leaving out the most important facets of the proposed policy, that is, to include buffer zones around the largest trees, to include the grandest groves (concentrations of exceptionally large trees), to make the threshold sizes for protection reasonable (instead of protecting only the very few largest trees), and to make the policy legally-binding rather than voluntary. Currently the policy is being piloted in selected parts of Vancouver Island and also in areas managed by BC Timber Sales, where it is called the “Coastal Legacy Tree” policy. The Coastal Legacy Tree policy recently failed to protect the ninth widest Douglas-fir tree in BC in the Nahmint Valley. See: https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/british-columbia/old-growth-logging-1.4689648

“Without buffer zones to surround and protect the largest trees, and without also protecting the grandest groves, the BC government’s currently proposed big tree protection policy is essentially a ‘Big Lonely Doug policy’ that will leave a few sad giants standing alone in clearcuts scattered around Vancouver Island,” stated Andrea Inness, Ancient Forest Alliance campaigner, referring to Canada’s 2ndlargest Douglas fir, nicknamed ‘Big Lonely Doug’ by AFA campaigners who identified the tree in 2014. “The largest trees and grandest groves are like the ‘icing on the cake’, while protecting old-growth ecosystems on a larger scale, that is, saving the ‘rest of cake’, is ultimately the most important task. But it would be a shame to lose the icing…without it, a cake is not quite the same.”

More background info

While an effective Big Tree Protection Order would be particularly important in cases like the Mossome Grove, more important would be science-based legislation to protect BC’s remaining old-growth forest ecosystems on a much more comprehensive scale. While new legislation and updated land use plans are being developed, moratoria on the most intact and highest conservation value old-growth forests like at the nearby Edinburgh Mountain and Upper Walbran Valley need to be implemented in places, while the BC government needs to also implement incentives and regulations for the development of a value-added, sustainable second-growth forest industry.

Conservation financing support from the provincial and federal governments is also needed for BC’s First Nations communities to help foster sustainable businesses and jobs in the communities based on eco- and cultural tourism, clean energy development, non-timber forest products (e.g. wild mushroom and berry harvests), sustainable seafood harvesting, and value-added second-growth forestry.

To ensure the protection of all ecosystem types, federal and provincial “Endangered Ecosystems Acts” are also needed to establish science-based protection and recovery targets for all ecosystems across Canada, including rare plant communities such as old-growth Sitka spruce and bigleaf maple groves like Mossome Grove.

In the interim, the federal government has committed to protecting 17% of Canada’s land and freshwater ecosystems by 2020 and must greatly step up its prioritization and activity to achieve this target (currently Canada is at 10.6% protection). In particular, most of the provinces, including British Columbia, must still commit to meeting the 17% target, and conservation groups will be lobbying the province to adopt this target shortly.

Old-growth forests are vital to sustaining unique endangered species, climate stability, tourism, clean water, wild salmon, and the cultures of many First Nations. On BC’s southern coast, satellite photos show that at least 75% of the original, productive old-growth forests have been logged, including well over 90% of the valley bottoms where the largest trees grow. Only about 8% of Vancouver Island’s original, productive old-growth forests are protected in parks and Old-Growth Management Areas. Old-growth forests, with trees up to 2,000 years old, are a non-renewable resource under BC’s system of forestry, where second-growth forests are re-logged every 50 to 100 years, never to become old-growth again.

The Ancient Forest Alliance is calling on the BC government to implement a comprehensive, science-based plan to protect all of BC’s remaining endangered old-growth forests while also ensuring a sustainable, value-added, second-growth forest industry.

Due to the popularity of nearby old-growth forests for large numbers of visitors from across the world, the former logging town of Port Renfrew has rebranded itself in recent years as the “Tall Trees Capital of Canada.” Not only is the town located near Mossome Grove, but is also near many of the province’s most popular ancient forest destinations including the Avatar Grove, Central Walbran Valley, Big Lonely Doug (Canada’s 2nd largest Douglas-fir), Red Creek Fir (the world’s largest Douglas-fir), Harris Creek Spruce (an enormous Sitka Spruce), San Juan Spruce (previously Canada’s largest spruce until the top broke off last year), Eden Grove, and Jurassic Grove. These ancient forests and trees attract hundreds of thousands of tourists from around the world, strengthening the economy of southern Vancouver Island. Environmental groups encourage visitors to stay in local accommodations, buy food and groceries in local stores, and camp in the Pacheedaht-run campground to help boost the local economy with eco-tourism dollars.

Various chambers of commerce, starting with the Port Renfrew Chamber of Commerce, have called for increased protection of BC’s ancient forests. The BC Chamber of Commerce, BC’s premier business lobby representing 36,000 businesses, passed a resolution in May of 2016, calling on the province to expand protection for BC’s old-growth forests to support the economy, after a series of similar resolutions passed by the Port Renfrew, Sooke, and WestShore Chambers of Commerce. See: www.ancientforestalliance.org/news-item.php?ID=1010

Both the Union of BC Municipalities (UBCM), representing the mayors, city and town councils, and regional districts across BC, and Association of Vancouver Island and Coastal Communities (AVICC), representing Vancouver Island local governments, passed a resolution in 2016 calling on the province to protect Vancouver Island’s remaining old-growth forests by amending the 1994 land use plan. See: https://16.52.162.165/media-release-ubcm-passes-old-growth-protection-resolution/

The Private and Public Workers of Canada (PPWC), formerly the Pulp, Paper, and Woodworkers of Canada, representing thousands of sawmill and pulp mill workers across BC, passed a resolution in 2017 calling for an end to old-growth logging on Vancouver Island. See: https://16.52.162.165/conservationists-applaud-old-growth-protection-resolution-by-major-bc-forestry-union/

See maps and stats on the remaining old-growth forests on BC’s southern coast at: www.ancientforestalliance.org/old-growth-maps.php

In order to placate public fears about the loss of BC’s endangered old-growth forests, the BC government’s PR-spin typically over-inflats the amount of remaining old-growth forests by including hundreds of thousands of hectares of marginal, low productivity forests growing in bogs and at high elevations with smaller, stunted trees, in with the productive old-growth forests, where the large trees grow (and where most logging takes place). See a rebuttal to some of the BC government’s PR-spin and stats about old-growth forests towards the BOTTOM of the webpage: https://16.52.162.165/action-alert-speak-up-for-ancient-forests-to-the-union-of-bc-municipalities-ubcm/

New Logging Operations Underway on Edinburgh Mountain, an Old-Growth Forest Environmental “Hotspot” near Port Renfrew on Vancouver Island

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Conservationists with the Ancient Forest Alliance are dismayed that new logging has commenced on Edinburgh Mountain, an old-growth “hotspot” of high conservation value near Port Renfrew in Pacheedaht territory on western Vancouver Island. A 15.6 hectare cutblock, featuring old-growth forest with monumental redcedars and Douglas-firs, is being logged by Teal Jones Group and adds to the over 75 hectares of old-growth forest the company has logged on Edinburgh Mountain since 2016.

Ancient Forest Alliance’s Rachel Ablack (left) and Endangered Ecosystems Alliance’s Ken Wu (right) sit atop the 2 metre (7 foot) wide stump of a freshly cut western redcedar tree on Edinburgh Mt. near Port Renfrew

Ancient Forest Alliance (AFA) campaigners visited the cutblock over the weekend and found scores of giant trees cut down, including two-meter (seven-foot) wide cedars and an extremely rare, two-meter-wide, old-growth Douglas-fir, which had previously been photographed by AFA campaigner TJ Watt while still standing.

“The Ancient Forest Alliance is highly concerned about the future of this magnificent area, which includes almost 1,500 hectares of intact old-growth forest,” stated AFA Campaigner and Photographer TJ Watt. “Edinburgh Mountain is one of the largest contiguous tracts of unprotected ancient rainforest on southern Vancouver Island south of Barkley Sound and, without legislated protection, this spectacular forest is being whittled away, clearcut by clearcut.”

The Edinburgh Mountain Ancient Forest, as it’s known by conservationists, is the location of Big Lonely Doug, Canada’s second largest Douglas-fir tree, which stands alone in a clearcut at the base of the mountain, and is important habitat for endangered northern goshawks and marbled murrelets. It also contains one of the finest and most endangered lowland, valley-bottom, old-growth forests left on Vancouver Island: the spectacular Eden Grove.

60 percent of Edinburgh Mountain is available for logging, with the remaining 40 percent in tenuous forest reserves such as Old Growth Management Areas, whose boundaries can be adjusted to allow logging companies access to commercially valuable forests as they run out of timber elsewhere. The government contends that the removal of such protections requires the protection of other, similar forests, but often it results in the protection of lower quality stands with smaller trees than the original stand.

Just 50 meters away from the active cutblock stands a Douglas-fir tree that is the 6th widest Douglas-fir tree on record, according to the BC Big Tree Registry, and the 7th widest when including the Alberni Giant in the Nahmint Valley. While the near record-sized tree is located within a Wildlife Habitat Area, it remains vulnerable to future logging, as the designation legally allows clearcut logging in almost 75% of the reserve. In fact, in 2010 and 2012, some of the largest trees in Canada were logged within this Wildlife Habitat Area.

“The logging of Edinburgh Mountain not only threatens the ecological integrity of the area, it also extinguishes future tourism opportunities for Port Renfrew, a former logging town that has rebranded itself as the Tall Tree Capital of Canada,” stated Watt. “Hundreds of thousands of tourists have come from around the world in recent years to visit ancient forest groves, such as Avatar Grove, and some of Canada’s largest trees near the town. These visitors expect to see ancient forests, not clearcuts. If kept intact, Edinburgh Mountain could offer spectacular and long-term tourism and recreation opportunities for those visitors. Once it’s logged, those economic opportunities disappear too.”

The new logging on Edinburgh Mountain comes at a time when conservationists are still waiting on the BC NDP government to formulate a plan to implement its 2017 election platform commitment to use the ecosystem-based management approach of the Great Bear Rainforest to sustainably manage old-growth forests across the rest of the province.

“Old-growth ‘hotspot’ areas of high conservation and recreational value, like Edinburgh Mountain, will be reduced to tattered fragments if immediate action isn’t taken,” stated AFA Campaigner Andrea Inness. “The government needs to place an interim halt on logging in hotspots to ensure the largest and best stands of remaining old-growth forests are kept intact, while developing comprehensive science-based legislation to protect BC’s endangered old-growth forests. The province’s long overdue Big Tree Protection Order must also be implemented to protect BC’s biggest trees with buffer zones and the province’s grandest groves. Finally, the government needs to create a provincial land acquisition fund to purchase and protect endangered ecosystems on private lands.”

 

Background Information:

Old growth forests are integral to British Columbia for ensuring the protection of endangered species, climate stability, tourism, clean water, wild salmon, and the cultures of many First Nations. At present, over 79% of the original productive old-growth forests on BC’s southern coast have been logged, including well over 90% of the valley bottoms where the largest trees grow. Only about 8% of Vancouver Island’s original old growth forests are protected in parks and Old Growth Management Areas.

See maps and stats on the remaining old-growth forests on BC’s southern coast at: www.ancientforestalliance.org/old-growth-maps.php

The AFA is calling on the BC NDP government to protect the ecological integrity of BC’s old-growth forests while maintaining jobs and supporting communities by: implementing a science-based plan to protect endangered old-growth forests; providing financial support for First Nations’ sustainable economic development as an alternative to old-growth logging and formally recognizing First Nations’ land use plans, tribal parks, and protected areas; and curbing raw log exports and providing incentives for the development of value-added, second-growth wood manufacturing facilities to sustain and enhance forestry jobs.

In 2016, The Port Renfrew Chamber of Commerce signed a resolution calling on the BC government to increase protection for old-growth forests to benefit the economy. The total flow of dollars spent in Port Renfrew in rental accommodations, restaurants, grocery stores, and businesses in general has increased with Big Tree Tourism. The Sooke and WestShore Chambers of Commerce have also spoken up for the protection of the old-growth forests in the Walbran Valley, while the BC Chamber of Commerce has passed a resolution calling for the increased protection of old-growth forests in BC to support the economy. The Union of BC Municipalities (UBCM), the Association of Vancouver Island and Coastal Communities (AVICC), the Wilderness Tourism Association of BC (WTABC) and the councils of Victoria, Metchosin, and Tofino have all passed resolutions for the protection of remaining old-growth forests on Vancouver Island or across BC.

Former co-Leader of the Green Party of Aotearoa New Zealand (1995 to 2009) Jeanette Fitzsimons

New Zealand Shows the Way for BC to End Old-Growth Logging

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New Zealand Shows the Way for BC to End Old-Growth Logging

The co-leader of the Green Party of Aotearoa New Zealand (1995 to 2009), Jeanette Fitzsimons, who successfully worked for an old-growth logging ban in that country by 2001, says the same can and should be done in British Columbia.

“After decades of protests, arrests, meetings, negotiations, and public mobilizations, New Zealanders by 1999 were sufficiently fed up with the logging of our old-growth forests. This made it possible that, once a new Labour government came to power tied to a governing agreement with the Green Party, we were finally able to implement a legislated ban on logging of our native forests on Crown lands, while directing the vast majority of the logging industry to focus on the tree plantations instead,” said Fitzsimons.

“I would encourage the new BC NDP government and the BC Green Party to put this issue front and centre, and work to swiftly bring an end to the logging of old-growth forests on Vancouver Island and in regions of your province where old-growth forests are endangered,” continued Fitzsimons.

Fitzsimons’ comments come after a recent trip to New Zealand by the Ancient Forest Alliance’s executive director, Ken Wu, who returned to Canada in April after speaking at a series of forestry and green building conferences about the importance of protecting BC's old-growth forests and halting the importation of endangered old-growth wood from BC into New Zealand. While in New Zealand, Wu chatted with Fitzsimons to learn how the New Zealanders’ experience could apply in BC.

“On my trip, I saw that New Zealanders overwhelmingly ‘get it’, that to log their last old-growth forests would be akin to shooting the last herds of elephants for ivory or harpooning the last blue whales. It makes no ethical or economic sense when there is an alternative, namely logging their extensive plantation forests. The alternative here in British Columbia is the fact that second-growth stands constitute most of our productive forests lands, and can be sustainably logged. If protecting ancient forests can be done in New Zealand, it can and should be done in British Columbia,” stated Ken Wu, Ancient Forest Alliance executive director.

Fitzsimons contributed to the development of legislation that finally ended old-growth logging on public (Crown) lands in 2001 and additional restrictions on logging native forests on private lands as co-leader of the New Zealand Green Party, which had a Confidence and Supply Agreement with the New Zealand Labour government between 1999 and 2002.

Similar to New Zealand, there is now a Confidence and Supply Agreement between the Greens and the labour-orientated New Democratic Party (NDP) government. The Ancient Forest Alliance believes the current situation presents the best opportunity in BC’s history to protect its endangered old-growth forests.

The BC Greens promised in their 2017 election platform and still today support an end to the logging of endangered old-growth in BC. The NDP promised in their 2017 platform to manage BC's old-growth based on ecosystem-based management approach of Great Bear Rainforest (BC's north and central coast where 85% of forests were protected based on science), but since then has not acted on this promise and has continued with the status quo of old-growth forest liquidation, as well as mass raw log exports to foreign mills. The Ancient Forest Alliance and other conservation groups are mobilizing the public to put pressure on the NDP government to implement legislative and policy changes to protect endangered old-growth forests while ensuring a sustainable, value-added, second-growth forest industry.

The Ancient Forest Alliance is calling for a science-based Old-Growth Protection Act, financing for First Nations’ sustainable economic development and diversification in lieu of old-growth logging, and incentives and regulations to develop a sustainable, second-growth forest industry. By logging second-growth forests that now dominate most of BC's productive forest lands and increasing the number of jobs within the province to manufacture the wood into value-added products, BC will be able to sustain and even enhance forestry employment levels while protecting its remaining endangered old-growth forests. See the 10-point recommendations for forest policies the AFA has sent to the BC government: https://16.52.162.165/news-item.php?ID=1183

“A full transition into an exclusively second-growth forest industry is inevitable in BC when the last of the unprotected old-growth forests groves are all logged,” said Wu. “What we're saying is let’s make that full transition sooner – much sooner, given the late hour for our ancient forests, before the logging industry has finished them off.”

On Vancouver Island and on BC's southern coast, about 25% of the region’s original, productive old-growth forests currently remain, with the other 75% now being second-growth forests. In terms of low-elevation, valley bottom old-growth forests where the biggest trees grow, well over 90% has been logged. Only 8% is protected in parks and Old-Growth Management Areas. See maps and stats from 2012 at: https://16.52.162.165/ancient-forests/before-after-old-growth-maps/

BC’s old-growth forests are vital to sustain unique endangered species, climate stability, tourism, clean water, wild salmon, and the cultures of many First Nations.

 

BACKGROUND INFORMATION

From the 1970’s through the 1990's, New Zealanders rallied, petitioned, wrote letters, climbed and sat in trees, negotiated with logging companies, and mobilized thousands of citizens to get their endangered old-growth beech, rimu, tötara and kauri forests protected. Most logging of publicly owned native forest was halted in the late 1980’s; however some logging of old-growth temperate rainforests continued on the South Island’s West Coast. By the late 1990's a major campaign spearheaded by the environmental group, the Native Forest Action Council, resulted in widespread public awareness and sympathy to end old-growth logging, while enclaves of opposition remained among some logging companies and their workers. The election of a Labour government in 1999, supported by the Greens in a Confidence and Supply Agreement, created the opportunity to get a legislated ban on old-growth logging.

By 2001, when the legislation took effect, some 6 million hectares of primary or old-growth forests remained in New Zealand, just over 40% of 14.2 million hectares of primary forests that covered the islands at the time of European colonization.

Today the New Zealand economy logs over 30 million cubic metres of wood each year (about 40% of BC's annual cut of 75 million cubic metres), almost exclusively from plantations established largely on agricultural and pasture lands, including Douglas-fir (a dominant species for BC's coastal logging industry), radiata pine (from California), and eucalyptus trees, largely non-native species. British Columbia’s second-growth forest industry could be substantially more environmentally-friendly than that of New Zealand’s if properly regulated with a sustainable rate of cut and higher forest practices standards, as our second-growth forests are comprised of native species (and should remain that way).

The ancient forest protection movement has also been around in BC since the 1970’s and hundreds of thousands of British Columbians have protested, written letters, been arrested and jailed, and put their time, energy, money, and freedom on the line to get these forests protected.

In recent times in BC, the voices for old-growth protection have been quickly expanding, including numerous Chambers of Commerce, mayors and city councils, forestry unions, and conservation groups across BC who have been calling on the provincial government to expand protection for BC’s remaining old-growth forests.

BC’s premier business lobby, the BC Chamber of Commerce, representing 36,000 businesses, passed a resolution in May of 2016 calling on the province to expand protection for BC’s old-growth forests to support the economy, after a series of similar resolutions passed by the Port Renfrew, Sooke, and WestShore Chambers of Commerce. See: https://16.52.162.165/media-release-historic-leap-for-old-growth-forests-bc-chamber-of-commerce-passes-resolution-for-expanded-protection/

Both the Union of BC Municipalities (UBCM), representing the mayors, city and town councils, and regional districts across BC, and Association of Vancouver Island and Coastal Communities (AVICC), representing Vancouver Island local governments, passed a resolution in 2016 calling on the province to protect the Vancouver Island’s remaining old-growth forests by amending the 1994 land use plan. See: https://16.52.162.165/media-release-ubcm-passes-old-growth-protection-resolution/

The Public and Private Workers of Canada (PPWC), formerly the Pulp, Paper, and Woodworkers of Canada, representing thousands of sawmill and pulp mill workers across BC, passed a resolution in 2017 calling for an end to old-growth logging on Vancouver Island. See: https://16.52.162.165/conservationists-applaud-old-growth-protection-resolution-by-major-bc-forestry-union/

In order to placate public fears about the loss of BC’s endangered old-growth forests, the government’s PR-spin typically over-inflates the amount of remaining old-growth forests by including hundreds of thousands of hectares of marginal, low productivity forests growing in bogs and at high elevations with small, stunted trees, together with the productive old-growth forests where the large trees grow (and where most logging takes place). They also leave out vast areas of largely overcut private managed forest lands – previously managed as if they were Crown lands for decades and still managed by the province under weaker Private Managed Forest Lands regulations – in order to reduce the basal area for calculating how much old-growth forest remains, thereby increasing the fraction of remaining old-growth forests. See a rebuttal to some of the BC government’s PR-spin and stats about old-growth forests towards the BOTTOM of the webpage: https://16.52.162.165/action-alert-speak-up-for-ancient-forests-to-the-union-of-bc-municipalities-ubcm/

Old-growth groves, such as at Cathedral Grove by Port Alberni, Meares Island and the Rainforest Trails in Clayoquot Sound by Tofino, Avatar Grove and the Walbran Valley by Port Renfrew, Prince George’s Ancient Forest Trail, Victoria’s Goldstream Provincial Park, and Vancouver’s Stanley Park, attract millions of tourists from around the world who come to marvel at the giants, which bolsters regional eco-tourism industries in BC. In fact, Port Renfrew, historically a logging town that now promotes eco-tourism, has been rebranded as the “Tall Trees Capital of Canada” in recent years due to its proximity to the Avatar Grove, Central Walbran Valley, Big Lonely Doug (Canada’s 2nd largest Douglas-fir), Eden Grove, Red Creek Fir (the world’s largest Douglas-fir), Harris Creek Spruce (an enormous Sitka spruce), and San Juan Spruce (previously Canada’s largest spruce until the top broke off last year). 

Speakers and Ralliers at Ancient Forest Event

“Tall Trees Tourism Corridor” Chambers of Commerce join Conservationists, Forestry Workers and First Nations at Rally for Old-Growth Forest Protection and Sustainable Forestry Jobs

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“Tall Trees Tourism Corridor” Chambers of Commerce join Conservationists, Forestry Workers and First Nations at Rally for Old-Growth Forest Protection and Sustainable Forestry Jobs

Representatives from the Port Renfrew, Sooke, and Westshore Chambers of Commerce, First Nations, local governments, and environmental groups spoke up at the Alix Goolden Hall in Victoria yesterday, calling on the new provincial government to enact policies to protect BC’s old-growth forests, ensure a sustainable, value-added, second-growth forest industry, and support First Nations land use plans and sustainable economic development.

Victoria, BC – A diverse chorus of business, labour, First Nations, and conservation groups began a mobilization last night in Victoria calling on the new BC government to protect the province’s endangered old-growth forests and ensure a sustainable, value-added, second-growth forest industry.

Speakers from the three chambers of commerce along the “Tall Trees Tourism Corridor” – the Sooke, Port Renfrew, and WestShore Chambers of Commerce – discussed the need to protect ancient forests due to the vital role they play in the province’s multi-billion dollar tourism industry. Businesses along the Highway 14 route from Victoria to Port Renfrew have benefited greatly from the flood of tourists from around the world who have been coming to visit the old-growth forests in the area in recent years, in particular the Avatar Grove, Walbran Valley, Big Lonely Doug (Canada’s 2nd largest Douglas-fir), Red Creek Fir (the world’s largest Douglas-fir), San Juan Spruce (Canada’s largest Sitka spruce until the top broke off in 2015), Harris Creek Spruce, and other old-growth forests around Port Renfrew.

“There is a reason we have branded Port Renfrew as the ‘Tall Trees Capital’ of Canada. Big tree tourism is a focal point and a staple of Port Renfrew's economy and growth. Old-growth forests are worth more to us standing,” stated Karl Ablack, Vice President of the Port Renfrew Chamber of Commerce.

“Every year tourists from around the world come to visit our old growth forests. This increasing eco-tourism generates revenue for the entire region and directly supports local business as visitors pay for meals, accomodation, transportation, and entertainment to and from old growth hotspots. By taking action now to preserve our old-growth forests, these valuable natural assets will continue to benefit our community for generations to come and contribute directly to a thriving local economy,” said Joshua Schmidt, Development Director at the WestShore Chamber of Commerce.

“The new NDP government, supported by the BC Greens, gives us the greatest opportunity in BC's history to finally end the decades-long ‘War in the Woods’ by protecting endangered old-growth forests and ensuring a sustainable, second-growth forest industry,” said Ken Wu, Executive Director of the Ancient Forest Alliance. “The NDP has sent some positive signals, but we need to see clear commitments and action. Large-scale old-growth logging is still underway in large parts of BC and, with less than 1% of the original, productive old-growth remaining in some ecosystem types, the BC government must act quickly to protect what remains.”

“We are excited to work constructively with this new government and hope to start seeing policy changes in the very near future,” said Andrea Inness, Ancient Forest Alliance campaigner. “In the province’s most significant old-growth ‘hot spots’, getting at least a temporary halt to logging is step one, so we’re not in a ‘talk and log’ situation where endangered old-growth forests are being logged while policy negotiations take place, limiting our options for protection.”

The Ancient Forest Alliance is asking for a series of policy changes that can be rolled out over both short- and longer-term timelines. This includes a comprehensive, science-based law to protect old-growth forests, partly modeled after the ecosystem-based management approach used in the Great Bear Rainforest, which protected 70% of all forests on BC’s north and central coast. It also includes financial support for sustainable economic development and diversification of First Nations communities, known as “conservation financing,” while supporting First Nations land use plans. While these longer-term solutions are being developed, an interim halt to logging in old-growth “hotspots” – areas of high conservation value – must be implemented to ensure the largest and best stands of remaining old-growth forests are kept intact while a larger plan is developed.

There are also a number of policies that can be readily implemented more quickly. For example, the BC government is currently finishing work on developing a Big Tree Protection Order as a policy option, which if implemented would protect the biggest trees on the coast with buffer zones. In addition, forest reserves such as many Old-Growth Management Areas that currently exist only on paper should be made legally binding, and the system should be quickly expanded to protect additional endangered old-growth forests. The NDP government should also direct BC Timber Sales (BCTS), the BC government’s logging agency, to discontinue issuance of old-growth cut blocks. Finally, annual funding needs to be directed to establish a park acquisition fund, which would allow the BC government to purchase and protect private lands of high conservation, cultural or recreational value.

“Last night’s gathering of concerned citizens and diverse sectors of society sends an unequivocal message to the NDP government that British Columbians want to see a major overhaul of BC’s unsustainable system of forestry,” said Ken Wu. “We look forward to seeing some concrete action in the coming months, especially during the February sitting of the legislature, where we expect the BC government to follow through on its 2017 election platform commitments.”

The NDP’s 2017 election platform states that “in partnership with First Nations and communities, we will modernize land-use planning to effectively and sustainably manage BC’s…forests and old growth. We will take an evidence-based scientific approach and use the ecosystem-based management of the Great Bear Rainforest as a model.” (see page 61 of their platform at: https://action.bcndp.ca/page/-/bcndp/docs/BC-NDP-Platform-2017.pdf). If taken literally and seriously, this would almost certainly result in the protection of the remaining old growth forest on BC’s southern coast and in the BC Interior, where old-growth forests are far scarcer and more endangered than in the Central and Northern Coast (Great Bear Rainforest) where 85% of the forests were set aside under the ecosystem-based management plan there.

Speakers at yesterday night’s event, where over 200 people attended, included Karl Ablack (Vice-President of the Port Renfrew Chamber of Commerce), Joshua Schmidt (Development Director of the WestShore Chamber of Commerce), Dr. Brian White (Spokesperson with the Sooke Chamber of Commerce), Arnold Bercov (President of the Public and Private Workers of Canada), Joe Martin (Tlaoquiaht canoe carver and Tribal Park advocate), Robert Morales (Chief Treaty Negotiator of the Hul’qumi’num Treaty Group), Jens Wieting (Campaigner with the Sierra Club of BC), Torrance Coste (Campaigner with the Wilderness Committee), TJ Watt (Campaigner and Photographer with the Ancient Forest Alliance), Andrea Inness (Campaigner with the Ancient Forest Alliance), and Ken Wu (Executive Director with the Ancient Forest Alliance).

More Background Information

Old-growth forests are vital to sustaining unique endangered species, climate stability, tourism, clean water, wild salmon, and the cultures of many First Nations. On BC’s southern coast, satellite photos show that at least 75% of the original, productive old-growth forests have been logged, including well over 90% of the valley bottoms where the largest trees grow. Only about 8% of Vancouver Island’s original, productive old-growth forests are protected in parks and Old-Growth Management Areas. Old-growth forests – with trees that can be 2000 years old – are a non-renewable resource under BC’s system of forestry, where second-growth forests are re-logged every 50 to 100 years, never to become old-growth again.

In recent times, the voices for old-growth protection have been quickly expanding, including numerous Chambers of Commerce, mayors and city councils, forestry unions, and conservation groups across BC who have been calling on the provincial government to expand protection for BC’s remaining old-growth forests.

BC’s premier business lobby, the BC Chamber of Commerce, representing 36,000 businesses, passed a resolution in May of 2016 calling on the province to expand protection for BC’s old-growth forests to support the economy, after a series of similar resolutions passed by the Port Renfrew, Sooke, and WestShore Chambers of Commerce. See: https://16.52.162.165/media-release-historic-leap-for-old-growth-forests-bc-chamber-of-commerce-passes-resolution-for-expanded-protection/

Both the Union of BC Municipalities (UBCM), representing the mayors, city and town councils, and regional districts across BC, and Association of Vancouver Island and Coastal Communities (AVICC), representing Vancouver Island local governments, passed a resolution last year calling on the province to protect the Vancouver Island’s remaining old-growth forests by amending the 1994 land use plan. See: https://16.52.162.165/media-release-ubcm-passes-old-growth-protection-resolution/

The Private and Public Workers of Canada (PPWC), formerly the Pulp, Paper, and Woodworkers of Canada, representing thousands of sawmill and pulp mill workers across BC, passed a resolution earlier this year calling for an end to old-growth logging on Vancouver Island. See: https://16.52.162.165/conservationists-applaud-old-growth-protection-resolution-by-major-bc-forestry-union/

The Ahousaht First Nation north of Tofino in Clayoquot Sound also announced early this year that 82% of their territory will be off-limits to commercial logging. They now need provincial legislation and funding to help make their vision a reality. See: [Original article no longer available]

The Ancient Forest Alliance calling on the BC government to implement a comprehensive science-based plan to protect all of BC’s remaining endangered old-growth forests, and to also ensure a sustainable, value-added second-growth forest industry. 

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's Campaigner and Photographer

Conservationists thank the Pacheedaht First Nation for extending protection over 18 hectares of “Jurassic Grove” near Port Renfrew on Vancouver Island

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The Ancient Forest Alliance is thanking the Pacheedaht First Nation band for proposing expanded protection for an 18 hectare portion of the stunning “Jurassic Grove”, a monumental old-growth forest of giant redcedars, Douglas-fir, and Sitka spruce trees located a 90 minute drive west of Victoria between Jordan River and Port Renfrew. The proposed expansion in the new management plan of Tree Farm Licence 61, partly owned by the Pacheedaht band, would protect about 30% of the 61 hectares that are still unprotected in the Jurassic Grove (total grove size is 130 hectares). The spectacular grove stands on Crown lands adjacent to the Juan de Fuca Provincial Park on Vancouver Island, in the unceded traditional territory of the Pacheedaht First Nation. See the original media release about Jurassic Grove, identified earlier this year as an exceptional old-growth grove by the Ancient Forest Alliance at: https://16.52.162.165/photos-media/jurassic-grove/ and a Times Colonist piece at: https://www.timescolonist.com/news/local/avatar-grove-the-sequel-introducing-jurassic-grove-1.18540489

“We want to thank the Pacheedaht First Nation for proposing the new protection, this is good news. This is an important step forward for the protection of Jurassic Grove, encompassing 18 hectares of some of the grandest ancient forests left on planet earth. Saving rare giants like these thousand year old trees is like protecting a herd of endangered elephants or rhinos these days – it needs to happen”, stated Ken Wu, Ancient Forest Alliance executive director.

“We encourage the Pacheedaht and the province to consider protecting the remaining portion of Jurassic Grove, as the additional 43 hectares includes the finest, most accessible parts of the grove on the flatter and gentler terrain – the areas that tourists would be able to readily visit. As many people know, we believe the long-term, sustainable economic future for the Port Renfrew region lies in large part in eco-tourism, which the region has greatly embraced in recent years, currently centred around the Avatar Grove – and perhaps the Jurassic Grove in the future”, stated TJ Watt, Ancient Forest Alliance photographer and campaigner.

“Lowland old-growth groves on southern Vancouver Island with the classic giants like this are about as rare as finding a Sasquatch these days, with over 95% of them having been logged on the South Island. This is one of the most magnificent unprotected groves in the world, and it’s even easier than the Avatar Grove to get to, along a major paved highway”, stated Andrea Inness, Ancient Forest Alliance campaigner.

The new management plan for Tree Farm Licence (TFL) 61, licenced to Pacheedaht Andersen Timber Holdings LP, shows a series of newly proposed Old-Growth Management Areas totaling about 18 hectares of the unprotected portions of the Jurassic Grove. The Jurassic Grove is an old-growth forest that is about 130 hectares in total size, with 70 hectares protected in a pre-existing Wildlife Habitat Area (for the threatened marbled murrelet, a seabird that only nests in old-growth trees), another 18 hectares of newly proposed protections by the Pacheedaht band, and another 43 hectares remaining on unprotected Crown lands which the Ancient Forest Alliance would also like to see protected through new Old-Growth Management Areas (and perhaps one day added to the adjacent Juan de Fuca Provincial Park, at which time “Jurassic Grove” will become “Jurassic Park”). Public comments for the Management Plan close on November 15.

The Ancient Forest Alliance believes that the Pacheedaht would greatly benefit from developing a cultural/eco-tourism industry that showcases ancient forests like the Jurassic Grove, which is one of the grandest (with trees that are 16 feet or 5 metres wide) and most accessible (near the main highway, near Jordan River, with key sections on gentle flat terrain) old-growth forests in Pacheedaht territory. Earlier this year, the Pacheedaht band expanded and upgraded their ocean-front campground where many visitors to the Avatar Grove stay, and they have now completed construction of a new gas station in Port Renfrew which just opened yesterday (see https://www.sookenewsmirror.com/news/new-port-renfrew-gas-station-promotes-community-growth/ and https://www.timescolonist.com/news/local/jack-knox-port-renfrew-community-reborn-and-it-s-a-gas-1.23090134) and which the Ancient Forest Alliance is encouraging all “tall tree tourists” who visit the area to gas-up at.

In the Great Bear Rainforest and Haida Gwaii, conservation groups along with the provincial and federal governments have been helping to finance the sustainable economic development and diversification of First Nation communities to develop tourism and other businesses compatible with the expanded protection of old-growth forests in those regions, with about $120 million in conservation financing provided along with millions of dollars of additional carbon offsetting funds. The AFA and other BC environmental groups are asking that the BC government also look at conservation financing options for other First Nations in BC who may be interested in expanding protection for old-growth forests in their territories.

The Ancient Forest Alliance has been discussing conservation and access issues regarding the Jurassic Grove with the Pacheedaht First Nation band. While the dialogue is underway, the organization is not yet encouraging the public to try visiting the grove, most of which has no trails, has an extremely dense understory, and which is punctuated with steep ravines that are treacherous to traverse.

Jurassic Grove’s easy to access location makes it a potential first rate ancient forest attraction that can help to raise the awareness of all endangered old-growth forests and bolster the regional eco-tourism industry. Port Renfrew, historically a logging town that now promotes eco-tourism and has been dubbed the “Tall Trees Capital of Canada” in recent years due to its proximity to the Avatar Grove, Central Walbran Valley, Big Lonely Doug (Canada’s 2ndlargest Douglas-fir), Eden Grove, Red Creek Fir (the world’s largest Douglas-fir), Harris Creek Spruce (an enormous Sitka spruce), and San Juan Spruce (previously Canada’s largest spruce until the top broke off last year), now has the Jurassic Grove as potentially another first rate addition to its roster of big tree attractions. Thousands of tourists from around the world now come to visit the old-growth trees around Port Renfrew, hugely bolstering the regional economy of southern Vancouver Island. The Ancient Forest Alliance is encouraging people who visit the area to stay in local accommodations, buy food and groceries in local stores, buy gas from the new Pacheedaht-owned gas station in town, and camp in the Pacheedaht campground to help boost the local economy with eco-tourism dollars.

The Ancient Forest Alliance calling on the BC government to implement a comprehensive science-based plan to protect BC’s endangered old-growth forests, and to also ensure a sustainable, value-added second-growth forest industry.

The Green Party, which holds the balance of power for the NDP minority government, is in favour of protecting BC’s endangered old-growth forests, while the NDP’s 2017 election platform states that “In partnership with First Nations and communities, we will modernize land-use planning to effectively and sustainably manage BC’s ecosystems… forests and old growth…We will take an evidence-based scientific approach and use the ecosystem-based management of the Great Bear Rainforest as a model.” (see page 61 of their platform at: https://action.bcndp.ca/page/-/bcndp/docs/BC-NDP-Platform-2017.pdf). If taken literally and seriously, this would almost certainly result in the protection of the remaining endangered old-growth forest on BC’s southern coast and in the BC Interior, where old-growth forests are far scarcer and more endangered than in the Central and Northern Coast (Great Bear Rainforest) where 85% of the forests (including the vast majority of the old-growth) were set aside in protected areas and under the ecosystem-based management.

More Information on Old-Growth Forests

In recent times, the voices for old-growth protection have been quickly expanding, including numerous Chambers of Commerce, mayors and city councils, forestry unions, and conservation groups across BC who have been calling on the provincial government to expand protection for BC’s remaining old-growth forests.

BC’s premier business lobby, the BC Chamber of Commerce, representing 36,000 businesses, passed a resolution in 2016 calling on the province to expand protection for BC’s old-growth forests to support the economy, after a series of similar resolutions passed by the Port Renfrew, Sooke, and WestShore Chambers of Commerce. See: https://16.52.162.165/media-release-historic-leap-for-old-growth-forests-bc-chamber-of-commerce-passes-resolution-for-expanded-protection/

Both the Union of BC Municipalities (UBCM), representing the mayors, city and town councils, and regional districts across BC, and Association of Vancouver Island and Coastal Communities (AVICC), representing Vancouver Island local governments, passed a resolution last year calling on the province to protect the Vancouver Island’s remaining old-growth forests by amending the 1994 land use plan. See: https://16.52.162.165/media-release-ubcm-passes-old-growth-protection-resolution/

The Private and Public Workers of Canada (PPWC), formerly the Pulp, Paper, and Woodworkers of Canada, representing thousands of sawmill and pulp mill workers across BC, passed a resolution earlier this year calling for an end to old-growth logging on Vancouver Island. See: https://16.52.162.165/conservationists-applaud-old-growth-protection-resolution-by-major-bc-forestry-union/

The Ahousaht First Nation band north of Tofino in Clayoquot Sound announced earlier this year that 82% of their territory will be off-limits to commercial logging. They now need provincial legislation and funding to help make their vision a reality.

Old-growth forests are vital to sustain unique endangered species, climate stability, tourism, clean water, wild salmon, and the cultures of many First Nations. On BC’s southern coast, satellite photos show that at least 75% of the original, productive old-growth forests have been logged, including well over 90% of the valley bottoms where the largest trees grow. Only about 8% of Vancouver Island’s original, productive old-growth forests are protected in parks and Old-Growth Management Areas. Old-growth forests – with trees that can be 2000 years old – are a non-renewable resource under BC’s system of forestry, where second-growth forests are re-logged every 50 to 100 years, never to become old-growth again.

See maps and stats on the remaining old-growth forests on BC’s southern coast at: www.ancientforestalliance.org/old-growth-maps.php

In order to placate public fears about the loss of BC’s endangered old-growth forests, the logging industry’s PR-spin typically over-inflates the amount of remaining old-growth forests by including hundreds of thousands of hectares of marginal, low productivity forests growing in bogs and at high elevations with smaller, stunted trees, lumped in with the productive old-growth forests where the large trees grow (and where most logging takes place), while at the same time failing to include vast tracts of cut-over corporate-owned forest lands (which were managed as if they were public lands until recent years) which along with other private lands constitute about 800,000 hectares or ¼ of Vancouver Island, in their stats. See a rebuttal to some of the industry PR-spin and stats about old-growth forests towards the BOTTOM of the webpage: https://16.52.162.165/action-alert-speak-up-for-ancient-forests-to-the-union-of-bc-municipalities-ubcm/

The Ancient Forest Alliance calling on the BC government to implement a comprehensive science-based plan to protect all of BC’s remaining endangered old-growth forests, and to also ensure a sustainable, value-added second-growth forest industry.

Ancient Forest Alliance

Shaw TV: Walbran Valley Update

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Direct link to video: https://youtu.be/A3X9NEoKtpg

Check out the latest Shaw TV news piece on the Walbran Valley, Castle Grove, and Eden Grove ancient forests near Port Renfrew on Vancouver Island in Pacheedaht First Nation territory, and what a new provincial government could mean for BC's endangered old-growth forests! It features an interview with the Ancient Forest Alliance's executive director Ken Wu and video footage (including drone footage) and photos taken by the AFA's photographer and campaigner TJ Watt. Thanks to Lorraine Scollan and Heather Leary of Shaw TV for covering these local old-growth forest issues again!