Port Renfrew, Vancouver Island – Conservationists with the Ancient Forest Alliance (AFA) are outraged that the BC government’s logging agency, BC Timber Sales, is currently auctioning off 109 hectares of old-growth forest adjacent to Juan de Fuca Provincial Park on Vancouver Island. The area, located northeast of Botanical Beach and south of Port Renfrew in Pacheedaht First Nation territory, borders one of the most spectacular sections of the Juan de Fuca Marine Trail with impressive old-growth forests and stunning waterfalls.
The seven planned cutblocks, of which two come to within 50 metres of the Juan de Fuca Provincial Park boundary, would see an estimated 55,346 cubic metres of old-growth – the equivalent of over 1,300 logging trucks – leave the region known as the “Tall Tree Capital of Canada.”
An aerial photo of the old-growth forests where B.C. Timber Sales has seven pending cutblocks totalling 109 hectares. Juan de Fuca Provincial Park is along the coast and the town of Port Renfrew in the background. Photograph By TJ WATT[/caption]
“It’s outrageous that BC Timber Sales has approved the clearcutting of an area more than two Avatar Groves in size so close to one of Vancouver Island’s most popular provincial parks,” stated Ancient Forest Alliance campaigner Andrea Inness. “People come from all over the world to hike the Juan de Fuca Marine Trail. The clearcutting will further degrade and fragment the forest that buffers the park which helps protect the park’s outstanding ecological and recreational values. This is a clear-cut example that BC Timber Sales cannot be trusted to maintain, or even consider, the ecological importance of BC’s ancient forests in its planning.”
BC Timber Sales (BCTS) is the notorious BC government logging agency which manages 20% of the province’s allowable annual cut and 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 and in Manning Provincial Park’s “donut hole.” Earlier this month, Sierra Club BC and Sunshine Coast-based environmental organization Elphinstone Logging Focus revealed that BCTS plans to auction off more than 1,300 hectares of cutblocks in old-growth forests across Vancouver Island in 2019. (See their joint press release)
“BC Timber Sales is going after some of the most significant tracts of the province’s remaining ancient forests despite the fact that, today, they are worth more standing than they are on logging trucks,” stated Ancient Forest Alliance campaigner and photographer TJ Watt. “Port Renfrew, a former logging town, has successfully re-branded itself in recent years as the “Tall Tree Capital of Canada” and is seeing a huge increase in eco-tourism, greatly benefiting local businesses. We’re concerned about the impact the logging would have on Port Renfrew’s reputation as an eco-tourism destination in addition to the impact on the environment.”
Falling-boundary tape in one of the seven old-growth cutblocks that were proposed by B.C. Timber Sales near Juan de Fuca Provincial Park. Photograph By TJ WATT
There are also concerns that logging and the construction of over 10 kilometres of new road could impact nearby businesses, such as Soule Creek Lodge, located just 500 metres from one of the cutblocks.
“My business relies heavily on tourists coming to Port Renfrew to admire big trees and old-growth forests and to visit Botanical Beach and other parts of Juan de Fuca Provincial Park,” stated Soule Creek Lodge owner John Cash. “I’m deeply concerned that all the noise from months of logging operations is going to drive customers away. People come here for peace and quiet and to connect with nature, not to listen to blasting, chainsaws, and trees crashing in the distance.”
“Instead of facilitating old-growth clearcutting right up to a provincial park boundary, the BC government should be helping rural communities like Port Renfrew transition to more diverse and sustainable economies. In this case, the government needs to use its control over BCTS to cancel the old-growth timber sales before the closing date of April 26th and expand the protected area system to buffer the Juan de Fuca Provincial Park,” stated Watt.
“We need to see leadership and vision from Forests Minister Doug Donaldson, not more status quo old-growth clearcutting. He and the BC government must stop using misleading statistics that hide the fact that old-growth forests are endangered on Vancouver Island and start implementing a science-based plan to protect them where they’re endangered across the province,” stated Watt.
Watt recently explored the old-growth forest within one of the proposed cutblocks and found old-growth redcedar trees measuring six to seven feet in diameter with one cedar measuring ten feet, nine inches in diameter, making it eligible for protection under BC Timber Sales’ Coastal Legacy Tree Policy which aims to retain ‘legacy trees’ that exceed certain size thresholds. However, a BCTS representative stated in an email that the agency had conducted a review of the proposed cutblocks and that “no legacy trees were identified.”
Ancient Forest Alliance campaigner and photographer TJ Watt stands beside a massive redcedar measuring 10’9″ in diameter in one of the cutblocks that was proposed by BC Timber Sales near Port Renfrew.
“BCTS’ Legacy Tree Policy failed to prevent the ninth widest Douglas-fir tree in Canada from being felled in the Nahmint Valley last year,” stated Inness. “Not only does the policy leave big trees standing alone in clearcuts with no buffer zones, BCTS clearly can’t be trusted to fully implement it. The BC government needs to quickly implement its long-overdue Big Tree Protection Order originally meant to protect BC’s biggest trees with buffer zones and which the Ministry of Forests, Lands, Natural Resource Operations and Rural Development has been working to develop since 2012.”
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 productive old growth forests are protected in parks and Old Growth Management Areas.
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.” Port Renfrew boasts access not only to the popular West Coast and Juan de Fuca trails, but also some of BC’s most popular ancient forest destinations including Avatar Grove, the Central Walbran Valley, Big Lonely Doug (Canada’s 2nd largest Douglas-fir), the Red Creek Fir (the world’s largest Douglas-fir), the San Juan Spruce (previously Canada’s largest Sitka spruce until the top broke off in 2017), 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.
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 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.
The Ancient Forest Alliance is calling on the BC government to implement a series of policy changes to protect endangered old-growth forests, including an interim halt to logging in old-growth “hotspots” – areas of high conservation value, such as the Nahmint Valley – to ensure the largest and best stands of remaining old-growth forests are kept intact; a comprehensive, science-based plan to protect endangered old-growth forests across the province; conservation financing support for First Nations communities in lieu of old-growth logging; and a provincial land acquisition fund to purchase and protect endangered ecosystems on private lands.
http://15.223.158.206/wp-content/uploads/2019/04/BCTS-JDF-Aerial-16x19.jpg6751200TJ Watthttps://staging.ancientforestalliance.org/wp-content/uploads/2014/10/cropped-AFA-Logo-1000px.pngTJ Watt2019-04-18 16:53:102024-10-10 11:19:25Conservationists condemn BC NDP Government’s plans to log old-growth forest adjacent to Juan de Fuca Provincial Park
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.
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://staging.ancientforestalliance.org/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.
http://15.223.158.206/wp-content/uploads/2019/04/EmbersandtheGiants_full-Art-Video-Piece.jpg10312032TJ Watthttps://staging.ancientforestalliance.org/wp-content/uploads/2014/10/cropped-AFA-Logo-1000px.pngTJ Watt2019-04-16 19:18:182024-07-30 16:29:17New IMAX Film by Renowned Canadian Video Artist to Highlight Vancouver Island’s Endangered Old-Growth Forests
What: A fun and historic event to celebrate the 35th anniversary of The Meares Island Tribal Park Declaration of 1984, hosted by the Iisaak Olam Foundation When: Wednesday, April 17th, from 6pm-9pm Where:White Eagle Hall , Victoria B.C. Tickets: General Admission- $35, Student |Low-income- $20
35 years ago, Tla-o-qui-aht First Nation Chief Moses Martin declared Meares Island in Clayoquot Sound a “Tribal Park” during a blockade to stop logging by MacMillan Bloedel in the island’s spectacular ancient forests. This was the first protest against old-growth logging in Canadian history and a remarkable display of solidarity between the Tla-o-qui-aht and Ahousaht First Nations and local environmentalists. As a result of this historic event, Meares Island’s extraordinary natural and cultural heritage remains safeguarded to this day and the Tribal Park has also provided a model that has inspired a movement to establish new Tribal Parks and Indigenous Protected and Conserved Areas in Canada and increasingly around the world.
Join us in celebrating this monumental event on Wednesday April 17th at the White Eagle Polish Hall from 6pm until 9pm. Guest speakers include: Tla-o-qui-aht Chief Moses Martin, Dr. David Suzuki, and Mr. Miles Richardson from the Haida Nation.
The event is co-hosted by the Iisaak Olam Foundation, T’souke Nation Chief Gordon Planes, and Melissa Quesnelle of Kainai Nation with musical performances by Art Napoleon, award-winner Indigenous singer/songwriter and host of the international food show “Moosemeat & Marmalade,” and Tom van Deursen from Kalso BC band Small Town Artillery!
To learn more about the declaration of Meares Island Tribal Park, check out this video featuring Iisaak Olam Foundation founder Eli Enns.
http://15.223.158.206/wp-content/uploads/2019/04/Screen-Shot-2019-04-05-at-1.40.35-PM.png221446TJ Watthttps://staging.ancientforestalliance.org/wp-content/uploads/2014/10/cropped-AFA-Logo-1000px.pngTJ Watt2019-04-13 00:49:142023-04-06 19:07:17Join us for the 35th Anniversary Celebration of the Meares Island Tribal Park!
Check out this Global News piece about conservationists’ disappointment with the BC NDP and their plans to auction off 1,300 hectares of old-growth on Vancouver Island, featuring Sierra Club BC’s Jens Wieting, and footage by AFA’s TJ Watt.
Keep in mind the statistics stated by the government are misleading. The BC government is combining the old-growth stats from Vancouver Island/South Coast – where very little has been protected (about 6% of Vancouver Island and 8% of the SW Mainland’s productive forests are in parks) with the Great Bear Rainforest, the northern rainforest where 85% of all the forests are off-limits due to a massive campaign of boycotts, protests, and negotiations for over two decades. To lump together the northern rainforest where regulations are strong (and where the trees are smaller and the forests are different) with the southern rainforest where the old-growth protections are sparse (and where the trees are much larger and the forests are generally more diverse) is disingenuous. When they say ‘55% of the old-growth forests on the coast are protected’ – the vast majority of that is in the Great Bear Rainforest, not on Vancouver Island where the conflict rages and old-growth logging occurs at a scale of about 11,000 hectares a year (in 2016) and where the forests are more highly endangered.
http://15.223.158.206/wp-content/uploads/2015/01/aerial-klanawa-valley-clearcuts.jpg9411500TJ Watthttps://staging.ancientforestalliance.org/wp-content/uploads/2014/10/cropped-AFA-Logo-1000px.pngTJ Watt2019-04-07 18:58:242023-04-06 19:07:17Plan to allow logging of old growth forests draws criticism
From now until Earth Day (April 22nd, 2019), we’re giving away our Big Tree poster set featuring the San Juan Spruce, Canada’s Gnarliest Tree, and the Cheewhat Giant (valued at $25) for FREE! Pick up your poster set by visiting our Victoria office (303-620 View St) on Tuesday, Wednesday, or Thursday from 11am to 4:30pm, order online (S&H fee applies), or call us at 250 896 4007 to arrange for shipping.
2. Get your 2019 Calendars – NOW ONLY $15!
There’s also still time to order your 2019 AFA calendar featuring spectacular photos of the Nahmint Valley, Meares and Flores Islands, the McKelvie and Caycuse watersheds, wildlife, and more – all taken by the AFA’s TJ Watt. We’ve dropped the price from $25 to $15, with all proceeds going toward our ancient forest campaigns!
3. Celebrate Earth Day with our AFA T-shirt photo challenge
Our new AFA t-shirts are a big hit and we want to see photos of you wearing yours in the great outdoors!
Snap a photo in a forest wearing your AFA t-shirt and share it on or before Earth Day (Monday, April 22nd) on Facebook, Instagram, or Twitter using the hashtag #AFAEarthDay2019 (and make sure your post is public).
Order your t-shirt online by Tuesday, April 16th to allow time for shipping before Earth Day or stop by our office to pick one up in person.
http://15.223.158.206/wp-content/uploads/2015/01/cheewhat-cedar-vancouver-island-bc.jpg10001500TJ Watthttps://staging.ancientforestalliance.org/wp-content/uploads/2014/10/cropped-AFA-Logo-1000px.pngTJ Watt2019-04-05 19:30:482024-10-10 10:44:003 ways to celebrate & support ancient forests this month
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.
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).
http://15.223.158.206/wp-content/uploads/2018/08/Edinburgh-Mt-Sept-2016-Stump.jpg533800TJ Watthttps://staging.ancientforestalliance.org/wp-content/uploads/2014/10/cropped-AFA-Logo-1000px.pngTJ Watt2019-03-21 16:47:232024-11-14 11:52:53On International Day of Forests, conservation groups call on B.C. government to immediately halt logging of last intact old-growth areas
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!
http://15.223.158.206/wp-content/uploads/2018/02/jurassic-grove-redcedar-tj-watt-1.jpg10711500TJ Watthttps://staging.ancientforestalliance.org/wp-content/uploads/2014/10/cropped-AFA-Logo-1000px.pngTJ Watt2019-02-28 22:16:282024-07-30 16:24:05ACTION ALERT: Send a message and help protect spectacular Jurassic Grove!
Victoria, BC – The Ancient Forest Alliance is disappointed the NDP government’s provincial budget, released yesterday, fails to allocate urgently needed funding for the protection of endangered old-growth forests.
“Despite the ecological and climate crisis engulfing BC’s productive ancient forests, the NDP government’s 2019 budget is bereft of meaningful solutions,” stated Forest Campaigner Andrea Inness. “For example, the budget lacks even modest funding for a desperately-needed provincial land acquisition fund to protect endangered old-growth forests and other ecosystems on private lands.”
Many of BC’s most endangered and biologically rich ecosystems, including old-growth forests, drinking watersheds, and areas of high scenic and recreation value, are found on private lands, which make up only five percent of BC’s land base, including over 20 percent of Vancouver Island.
Without dedicated, annual provincial funding to acquire private lands and add them to the province’s protected area system, ancient temperate rainforests such as the mountainside above the world-famous Cathedral Grove, along with hundreds of other endangered forests, wetlands, and grasslands across the province, remain vulnerable to development.
“The NDP government has a unique opportunity right now to obtain matching funds from the federal government’s $1.3 billion investment in conservation partnerships and protected area expansion, announced last year,” stated Inness. “This money could go to purchasing private lands or expanding protected areas on Crown lands, but no additional funding is allocated for conservation in Budget 2019. The BC government is missing out on a first-rate opportunity.”
“We’re encouraged by the government’s commitment in last week’s throne speech to implementing the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples and by their new, three-year $297 million revenue sharing agreement with BC First Nations, which includes support for environmental protection, although much of that funding will go to investments in infrastructure, health, and housing for First Nations communities.”
“A much greater funding commitment is needed to enable the sustainable development and diversification of First Nations economies while adequately supporting land-use planning processes and Indigenous protected areas that include old-growth forests.”
Background information The Ancient Forest Alliance is proposing the BC government create a dedicated provincial land acquisition fund, starting with an initial $44 million annual commitment and rising to an annual $100 million through $10 million increases each year, to enable the timely purchase of significant tracts of endangered private lands of high conservation, scenic, and recreation value to add to BC’s parks and protected areas system. The group is asking the province to explore dedicated funding mechanisms, such as redirecting the province’s unredeemed bottle deposit funds (worth an estimated $5 to $15 million/year) toward private land acquisition.
The AFA is also calling on the BC government to implement a series of policy changes to protect endangered old-growth forests on Crown lands, including a comprehensive, science-based plan similar to the ecosystem-based management approach used in the Great Bear Rainforest; conservation financing support for First Nations communities in lieu of old-growth logging; and regulations and incentives to accelerate the transition to a sustainable, value-added, second-growth forest industry in BC.
http://15.223.158.206/wp-content/uploads/2018/08/Cortes_Island_Old_Growth-141.jpg533800TJ Watthttps://staging.ancientforestalliance.org/wp-content/uploads/2014/10/cropped-AFA-Logo-1000px.pngTJ Watt2019-02-20 21:14:072023-04-06 19:07:17Conservationists disappointed Budget 2019 fails to prioritize protection of endangered old-growth forests
Victoria City Council unanimously adopted a resolution on Thursday calling on the BC government to protect Vancouver Island’s endangered old-growth forests, starting with a moratoria on old-growth logging, and to work with First Nations, local communities, labour organizations, and industry to pursue a transition to a sustainable, second-growth forest industry! Council endorsed the resolution for consideration at this year’s annual convention of the Association of Vancouver Island and Coastal Communities (AVICC), representing 53 municipalities and regional districts along BC’s coast, which passed a similar resolution on old-growth forest protection in 2016.
The AFA commends Victoria Council for this decision, which adds to the growing list of municipalities, chambers of commerce, businesses, unions, and recreation and conservation groups across BC who have signed resolutions or statements, urging the BC government to increase protection for BC’s endangered old-growth forests.
http://15.223.158.206/wp-content/uploads/2019/02/Avatar-Grove-Jan-2019-20.jpg8001200TJ Watthttps://staging.ancientforestalliance.org/wp-content/uploads/2014/10/cropped-AFA-Logo-1000px.pngTJ Watt2019-01-31 23:31:582023-04-06 19:07:17Victoria City Council unanimously adopts resolution calling for the protection of Vancouver Island’s old-growth forests
CHEK News:Conservationists are asking the provincial government to protect what they are calling Canada’s “most magnificent” old-growth forest near Port Renfrew. Ceilidh Millar reports.
It may remind some of a prehistoric-creature, but even Hollywood would be hard-pressed to re-create a sight as spectacular as “Mossome Grove.”
“It’s the most magnificent and beautiful forest in the country,” said Ken Wu with the Endangered Ecosystems Alliance.
Short for “mossy and awesome” Mossome Grove is a 13-hectare old-growth grove located along the San Juan River near Port Renfrew.
The conservation group recently identified the area, and say it is home to some of the top ten widest trees in the province including a Sitka spruce with a diameter of 3.1 metres.
There is also a giant Bigleaf maple, nicknamed the “Woolly Giant,” which has produced a branch measuring 76-feet in length.
Wu says it could the longest horizontal branch on any tree in B.C.
“They are also very old,” Wu explained. “I would estimate the spruce are as young as 300 or 400-years-old and maybe as old as 800-years-old.”
They aren’t revealing its exact location, for fear it will be logged as the grove is on mostly unprotected land.
The grove is situated on Crown land in the unceded territory of the Pacheedaht First Nation band.
“It’s a mishmash of different jurisdictions but most of it could be logged,” Wu said.
Conservationists say the province needs a more protective old-growth policy.
“They are logging about 10,000 hectares which is over 10,000 football fields of old-growth every year on Vancouver Island alone,” explained Wu.
The B.C. Ministry of Forests said in a statement that the grove is contained in a woodlot operated by Pacheedaht Forestry Ltd., and there is no imminent logging planned.
“The Ancient Forest Alliance supplied the ministry with an updated map of the grove area yesterday, so ministry staff are currently reviewing the map to determine what protections exist in the area,” it said.
Under the Vancouver Island Land Use Plan, more than 13 per cent of Vancouver Island will never be logged, including 520,000 hectares of old growth forests, the statement said.
However, a proper protection policy can’t come soon enough for those fighting to save our forests.
“Let’s leave these ancient trees,” explained Wu. “Especially these magnificent valley bottom giants like this for future generations of all creatures.”
http://15.223.158.206/wp-content/uploads/2019/01/Screen-Shot-2019-01-14-at-2.22.11-PM.png355639TJ Watthttps://staging.ancientforestalliance.org/wp-content/uploads/2014/10/cropped-AFA-Logo-1000px.pngTJ Watt2019-01-13 22:05:372024-07-30 17:23:17Canada’s ‘most magnificent old-growth forest’ near Port Renfrew
Conservationists condemn BC NDP Government’s plans to log old-growth forest adjacent to Juan de Fuca Provincial Park
/in Media ReleasePort Renfrew, Vancouver Island – Conservationists with the Ancient Forest Alliance (AFA) are outraged that the BC government’s logging agency, BC Timber Sales, is currently auctioning off 109 hectares of old-growth forest adjacent to Juan de Fuca Provincial Park on Vancouver Island. The area, located northeast of Botanical Beach and south of Port Renfrew in Pacheedaht First Nation territory, borders one of the most spectacular sections of the Juan de Fuca Marine Trail with impressive old-growth forests and stunning waterfalls.
The seven planned cutblocks, of which two come to within 50 metres of the Juan de Fuca Provincial Park boundary, would see an estimated 55,346 cubic metres of old-growth – the equivalent of over 1,300 logging trucks – leave the region known as the “Tall Tree Capital of Canada.”
Photograph By TJ WATT[/caption]
“It’s outrageous that BC Timber Sales has approved the clearcutting of an area more than two Avatar Groves in size so close to one of Vancouver Island’s most popular provincial parks,” stated Ancient Forest Alliance campaigner Andrea Inness. “People come from all over the world to hike the Juan de Fuca Marine Trail. The clearcutting will further degrade and fragment the forest that buffers the park which helps protect the park’s outstanding ecological and recreational values. This is a clear-cut example that BC Timber Sales cannot be trusted to maintain, or even consider, the ecological importance of BC’s ancient forests in its planning.”
BC Timber Sales (BCTS) is the notorious BC government logging agency which manages 20% of the province’s allowable annual cut and 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 and in Manning Provincial Park’s “donut hole.” Earlier this month, Sierra Club BC and Sunshine Coast-based environmental organization Elphinstone Logging Focus revealed that BCTS plans to auction off more than 1,300 hectares of cutblocks in old-growth forests across Vancouver Island in 2019. (See their joint press release)
“BC Timber Sales is going after some of the most significant tracts of the province’s remaining ancient forests despite the fact that, today, they are worth more standing than they are on logging trucks,” stated Ancient Forest Alliance campaigner and photographer TJ Watt. “Port Renfrew, a former logging town, has successfully re-branded itself in recent years as the “Tall Tree Capital of Canada” and is seeing a huge increase in eco-tourism, greatly benefiting local businesses. We’re concerned about the impact the logging would have on Port Renfrew’s reputation as an eco-tourism destination in addition to the impact on the environment.”
Falling-boundary tape in one of the seven old-growth cutblocks that were proposed by B.C. Timber Sales near Juan de Fuca Provincial Park.
Photograph By TJ WATT
There are also concerns that logging and the construction of over 10 kilometres of new road could impact nearby businesses, such as Soule Creek Lodge, located just 500 metres from one of the cutblocks.
“My business relies heavily on tourists coming to Port Renfrew to admire big trees and old-growth forests and to visit Botanical Beach and other parts of Juan de Fuca Provincial Park,” stated Soule Creek Lodge owner John Cash. “I’m deeply concerned that all the noise from months of logging operations is going to drive customers away. People come here for peace and quiet and to connect with nature, not to listen to blasting, chainsaws, and trees crashing in the distance.”
“Instead of facilitating old-growth clearcutting right up to a provincial park boundary, the BC government should be helping rural communities like Port Renfrew transition to more diverse and sustainable economies. In this case, the government needs to use its control over BCTS to cancel the old-growth timber sales before the closing date of April 26th and expand the protected area system to buffer the Juan de Fuca Provincial Park,” stated Watt.
“We need to see leadership and vision from Forests Minister Doug Donaldson, not more status quo old-growth clearcutting. He and the BC government must stop using misleading statistics that hide the fact that old-growth forests are endangered on Vancouver Island and start implementing a science-based plan to protect them where they’re endangered across the province,” stated Watt.
Watt recently explored the old-growth forest within one of the proposed cutblocks and found old-growth redcedar trees measuring six to seven feet in diameter with one cedar measuring ten feet, nine inches in diameter, making it eligible for protection under BC Timber Sales’ Coastal Legacy Tree Policy which aims to retain ‘legacy trees’ that exceed certain size thresholds. However, a BCTS representative stated in an email that the agency had conducted a review of the proposed cutblocks and that “no legacy trees were identified.”
Ancient Forest Alliance campaigner and photographer TJ Watt stands beside a massive redcedar measuring 10’9″ in diameter in one of the cutblocks that was proposed by BC Timber Sales near Port Renfrew.
“BCTS’ Legacy Tree Policy failed to prevent the ninth widest Douglas-fir tree in Canada from being felled in the Nahmint Valley last year,” stated Inness. “Not only does the policy leave big trees standing alone in clearcuts with no buffer zones, BCTS clearly can’t be trusted to fully implement it. The BC government needs to quickly implement its long-overdue Big Tree Protection Order originally meant to protect BC’s biggest trees with buffer zones and which the Ministry of Forests, Lands, Natural Resource Operations and Rural Development has been working to develop since 2012.”
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 productive old growth forests are protected in parks and Old Growth Management Areas.
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.” Port Renfrew boasts access not only to the popular West Coast and Juan de Fuca trails, but also some of BC’s most popular ancient forest destinations including Avatar Grove, the Central Walbran Valley, Big Lonely Doug (Canada’s 2nd largest Douglas-fir), the Red Creek Fir (the world’s largest Douglas-fir), the San Juan Spruce (previously Canada’s largest Sitka spruce until the top broke off in 2017), 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.
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 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.
The Ancient Forest Alliance is calling on the BC government to implement a series of policy changes to protect endangered old-growth forests, including an interim halt to logging in old-growth “hotspots” – areas of high conservation value, such as the Nahmint Valley – to ensure the largest and best stands of remaining old-growth forests are kept intact; a comprehensive, science-based plan to protect endangered old-growth forests across the province; conservation financing support for First Nations communities in lieu of old-growth logging; and a provincial land acquisition fund to purchase and protect endangered ecosystems on private lands.
New IMAX Film by Renowned Canadian Video Artist to Highlight Vancouver Island’s Endangered Old-Growth Forests
/in Media ReleaseThe 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.
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.”
“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://staging.ancientforestalliance.org/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:
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.
Join us for the 35th Anniversary Celebration of the Meares Island Tribal Park!
/in AnnouncementsWhat: A fun and historic event to celebrate the 35th anniversary of The Meares Island Tribal Park Declaration of 1984, hosted by the Iisaak Olam Foundation
When: Wednesday, April 17th, from 6pm-9pm
Where: White Eagle Hall , Victoria B.C.
Tickets: General Admission- $35, Student |Low-income- $20
35 years ago, Tla-o-qui-aht First Nation Chief Moses Martin declared Meares Island in Clayoquot Sound a “Tribal Park” during a blockade to stop logging by MacMillan Bloedel in the island’s spectacular ancient forests. This was the first protest against old-growth logging in Canadian history and a remarkable display of solidarity between the Tla-o-qui-aht and Ahousaht First Nations and local environmentalists. As a result of this historic event, Meares Island’s extraordinary natural and cultural heritage remains safeguarded to this day and the Tribal Park has also provided a model that has inspired a movement to establish new Tribal Parks and Indigenous Protected and Conserved Areas in Canada and increasingly around the world.
Join us in celebrating this monumental event on Wednesday April 17th at the White Eagle Polish Hall from 6pm until 9pm. Guest speakers include: Tla-o-qui-aht Chief Moses Martin, Dr. David Suzuki, and Mr. Miles Richardson from the Haida Nation.
The event is co-hosted by the Iisaak Olam Foundation, T’souke Nation Chief Gordon Planes, and Melissa Quesnelle of Kainai Nation with musical performances by Art Napoleon, award-winner Indigenous singer/songwriter and host of the international food show “Moosemeat & Marmalade,” and Tom van Deursen from Kalso BC band Small Town Artillery!
To learn more about the declaration of Meares Island Tribal Park, check out this video featuring Iisaak Olam Foundation founder Eli Enns.
Full event details here
Get your tickets here
Plan to allow logging of old growth forests draws criticism
/in News CoverageCheck out this Global News piece about conservationists’ disappointment with the BC NDP and their plans to auction off 1,300 hectares of old-growth on Vancouver Island, featuring Sierra Club BC’s Jens Wieting, and footage by AFA’s TJ Watt.
Keep in mind the statistics stated by the government are misleading. The BC government is combining the old-growth stats from Vancouver Island/South Coast – where very little has been protected (about 6% of Vancouver Island and 8% of the SW Mainland’s productive forests are in parks) with the Great Bear Rainforest, the northern rainforest where 85% of all the forests are off-limits due to a massive campaign of boycotts, protests, and negotiations for over two decades. To lump together the northern rainforest where regulations are strong (and where the trees are smaller and the forests are different) with the southern rainforest where the old-growth protections are sparse (and where the trees are much larger and the forests are generally more diverse) is disingenuous. When they say ‘55% of the old-growth forests on the coast are protected’ – the vast majority of that is in the Great Bear Rainforest, not on Vancouver Island where the conflict rages and old-growth logging occurs at a scale of about 11,000 hectares a year (in 2016) and where the forests are more highly endangered.
See the original clip here
3 ways to celebrate & support ancient forests this month
/in Announcements1. Big Tree Poster Giveaway
From now until Earth Day (April 22nd, 2019), we’re giving away our Big Tree poster set featuring the San Juan Spruce, Canada’s Gnarliest Tree, and the Cheewhat Giant (valued at $25) for FREE! Pick up your poster set by visiting our Victoria office (303-620 View St) on Tuesday, Wednesday, or Thursday from 11am to 4:30pm, order online (S&H fee applies), or call us at 250 896 4007 to arrange for shipping.
2. Get your 2019 Calendars – NOW ONLY $15!
There’s also still time to order your 2019 AFA calendar featuring spectacular photos of the Nahmint Valley, Meares and Flores Islands, the McKelvie and Caycuse watersheds, wildlife, and more – all taken by the AFA’s TJ Watt. We’ve dropped the price from $25 to $15, with all proceeds going toward our ancient forest campaigns!
3. Celebrate Earth Day with our AFA T-shirt photo challenge
Our new AFA t-shirts are a big hit and we want to see photos of you wearing yours in the great outdoors!
Snap a photo in a forest wearing your AFA t-shirt and share it on or before Earth Day (Monday, April 22nd) on Facebook, Instagram, or Twitter using the hashtag #AFAEarthDay2019 (and make sure your post is public).
Order your t-shirt online by Tuesday, April 16th to allow time for shipping before Earth Day or stop by our office to pick one up in person.
On International Day of Forests, conservation groups call on B.C. government to immediately halt logging of last intact old-growth areas
/in Media ReleaseVICTORIA, 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.
“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.”
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.
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!
/in Take ActionThank 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 disappointed Budget 2019 fails to prioritize protection of endangered old-growth forests
/in Media ReleaseFor immediate release
February 20, 2019
Victoria, BC – The Ancient Forest Alliance is disappointed the NDP government’s provincial budget, released yesterday, fails to allocate urgently needed funding for the protection of endangered old-growth forests.
“Despite the ecological and climate crisis engulfing BC’s productive ancient forests, the NDP government’s 2019 budget is bereft of meaningful solutions,” stated Forest Campaigner Andrea Inness. “For example, the budget lacks even modest funding for a desperately-needed provincial land acquisition fund to protect endangered old-growth forests and other ecosystems on private lands.”
Many of BC’s most endangered and biologically rich ecosystems, including old-growth forests, drinking watersheds, and areas of high scenic and recreation value, are found on private lands, which make up only five percent of BC’s land base, including over 20 percent of Vancouver Island.
Without dedicated, annual provincial funding to acquire private lands and add them to the province’s protected area system, ancient temperate rainforests such as the mountainside above the world-famous Cathedral Grove, along with hundreds of other endangered forests, wetlands, and grasslands across the province, remain vulnerable to development.
“The NDP government has a unique opportunity right now to obtain matching funds from the federal government’s $1.3 billion investment in conservation partnerships and protected area expansion, announced last year,” stated Inness. “This money could go to purchasing private lands or expanding protected areas on Crown lands, but no additional funding is allocated for conservation in Budget 2019. The BC government is missing out on a first-rate opportunity.”
“We’re encouraged by the government’s commitment in last week’s throne speech to implementing the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples and by their new, three-year $297 million revenue sharing agreement with BC First Nations, which includes support for environmental protection, although much of that funding will go to investments in infrastructure, health, and housing for First Nations communities.”
“A much greater funding commitment is needed to enable the sustainable development and diversification of First Nations economies while adequately supporting land-use planning processes and Indigenous protected areas that include old-growth forests.”
Background information
The Ancient Forest Alliance is proposing the BC government create a dedicated provincial land acquisition fund, starting with an initial $44 million annual commitment and rising to an annual $100 million through $10 million increases each year, to enable the timely purchase of significant tracts of endangered private lands of high conservation, scenic, and recreation value to add to BC’s parks and protected areas system. The group is asking the province to explore dedicated funding mechanisms, such as redirecting the province’s unredeemed bottle deposit funds (worth an estimated $5 to $15 million/year) toward private land acquisition.
The AFA is also calling on the BC government to implement a series of policy changes to protect endangered old-growth forests on Crown lands, including a comprehensive, science-based plan similar to the ecosystem-based management approach used in the Great Bear Rainforest; conservation financing support for First Nations communities in lieu of old-growth logging; and regulations and incentives to accelerate the transition to a sustainable, value-added, second-growth forest industry in BC.
Victoria City Council unanimously adopts resolution calling for the protection of Vancouver Island’s old-growth forests
/in AnnouncementsVictoria City Council unanimously adopted a resolution on Thursday calling on the BC government to protect Vancouver Island’s endangered old-growth forests, starting with a moratoria on old-growth logging, and to work with First Nations, local communities, labour organizations, and industry to pursue a transition to a sustainable, second-growth forest industry! Council endorsed the resolution for consideration at this year’s annual convention of the Association of Vancouver Island and Coastal Communities (AVICC), representing 53 municipalities and regional districts along BC’s coast, which passed a similar resolution on old-growth forest protection in 2016.
The AFA commends Victoria Council for this decision, which adds to the growing list of municipalities, chambers of commerce, businesses, unions, and recreation and conservation groups across BC who have signed resolutions or statements, urging the BC government to increase protection for BC’s endangered old-growth forests.
Canada’s ‘most magnificent old-growth forest’ near Port Renfrew
/in News CoverageWatch video news coverage here
CHEK News: Conservationists are asking the provincial government to protect what they are calling Canada’s “most magnificent” old-growth forest near Port Renfrew. Ceilidh Millar reports.
It may remind some of a prehistoric-creature, but even Hollywood would be hard-pressed to re-create a sight as spectacular as “Mossome Grove.”
“It’s the most magnificent and beautiful forest in the country,” said Ken Wu with the Endangered Ecosystems Alliance.
Short for “mossy and awesome” Mossome Grove is a 13-hectare old-growth grove located along the San Juan River near Port Renfrew.
The conservation group recently identified the area, and say it is home to some of the top ten widest trees in the province including a Sitka spruce with a diameter of 3.1 metres.
There is also a giant Bigleaf maple, nicknamed the “Woolly Giant,” which has produced a branch measuring 76-feet in length.
Wu says it could the longest horizontal branch on any tree in B.C.
“They are also very old,” Wu explained. “I would estimate the spruce are as young as 300 or 400-years-old and maybe as old as 800-years-old.”
They aren’t revealing its exact location, for fear it will be logged as the grove is on mostly unprotected land.
The grove is situated on Crown land in the unceded territory of the Pacheedaht First Nation band.
“It’s a mishmash of different jurisdictions but most of it could be logged,” Wu said.
Conservationists say the province needs a more protective old-growth policy.
“They are logging about 10,000 hectares which is over 10,000 football fields of old-growth every year on Vancouver Island alone,” explained Wu.
The B.C. Ministry of Forests said in a statement that the grove is contained in a woodlot operated by Pacheedaht Forestry Ltd., and there is no imminent logging planned.
“The Ancient Forest Alliance supplied the ministry with an updated map of the grove area yesterday, so ministry staff are currently reviewing the map to determine what protections exist in the area,” it said.
Under the Vancouver Island Land Use Plan, more than 13 per cent of Vancouver Island will never be logged, including 520,000 hectares of old growth forests, the statement said.
However, a proper protection policy can’t come soon enough for those fighting to save our forests.
“Let’s leave these ancient trees,” explained Wu. “Especially these magnificent valley bottom giants like this for future generations of all creatures.”