A sea of green old-growth in the Central Walbran Valley

Recent Updates on Old-Growth Deferrals in BC

/in /by

Great news — thanks to the leadership of the Pacheedaht, Ditidaht, and Huu-ay-aht First Nations, the logging deferral in the Central Walbran valley was extended last year until March 2024 and the deferral at Fairy Creek (excluding the surrounding watersheds) has now been extended as well until February 2025.

Logging deferrals are interim protection measures that safeguard old-growth forests in the short-term, while long-term land-use plans (which may include new protected areas) are developed by First Nations.

When seeking to understand how old-growth forests can ultimately be protected, it’s vital to note that the BC government cannot just “save the old growth” by unilaterally creating new legislated protected areas, as First Nations support is a legal necessity, and First Nations consent for logging deferrals is an important precursor to building the trust for potential future protected areas.

However, the BC government can and should be advocates for old-growth protection after its failed policies have led to today’s ecological emergency. The province must also use its vast resources (much of which came from the exploitation of old-growth forests) to ensure that First Nations have an equitable choice when being asked whether they want to defer or protect old-growth on their unceded territories.

The government must do this by supporting First Nations with funding for sustainable economic alternatives to their logging jobs and revenues, due to many (even most) nations in BC relying heavily on the old-growth logging industry — an economic dependency fostered by successive BC governments.

Across BC, over a million hectares of at-risk old-growth forests are now under temporary deferral, but millions more have no protection at all. What’s needed now from the province — beyond major conservation financing funds — are ecosystem-based targets set by science and informed by Traditional Ecological Knowledge that prioritize the most at-risk ecosystems (such as those with big trees vs. stunted subalpine and bog forests) for protection.

Send a message to the BC government calling for funding.

Read about the newest Fairy Creek deferrals here.

A man in a red jacket stands beside a massive western redcedar trunk in an old-growth forest.

CanGeo: “Big tree hunters: saving the last untouched* areas of the planet”

/in /by

May 26, 2023
Canadian Geographic
By Madigan Cotterill

How a niche British Columbia-based community is working to bring attention to the importance of old-growth forests

Amanda Lewis stands completely alone on the edge of British Columbia’s Stewart-Cassiar Highway, contemplating her next step as she confronts a wall of dense, dark trees. Will she venture into the woods unaccompanied, potentially risking her life to reach her destination? Or will she decide to wait for the company of others, knowing there is safety in numbers?

It’s a cloudy summer day, and Lewis is searching for one of Canada’s largest trees, a subalpine fir initially located in 1987. It is already late in the day, and it would take Lewis at least 30 minutes of trekking through the bush to reach the tree. An occasional car passes her on the highway — the only sign of human life as she debates her next move.

If she runs into trouble deep in the forest, Lewis knows that finding her would be difficult as no marked path leads to her destination. “Am I overthinking,” she asks herself. “Should I just zip in and get to this tree?”

She texts her sister, an archeologist with experience in the forest, who points out the danger of going in alone. She makes the tough decision to wait until she is in the company of others before embarking on her quest.

Lewis, who has been a big-tree hunter since 2018, has been on a mission to visit each of the 43 champion trees in the BC Big Tree registry and chronicle that journey through her memoir, Tracking Giants. Like many big-tree hunters, Lewis’ passion for the environment continues to bring her back to the forest where ancient trees have stood for hundreds, sometimes even thousands, of years. But as each day passes, more ancient trees in BC disappear, felled by logging.

Old-growth forests have significant ecological value and play a key role in climate resilience and biodiversity. They are home to many animals, including grizzly bears, black bears, coastal wolves and black-tailed deer, which all rely on these ancient forests for survival. Old-growth forests contain about 90 per cent more shrubs and forbs than second-growth environments, resulting in a complex heterogeneous canopy with light pouring into the understudy. Great reservoirs of biodiversity, old-growth forests also boast an unparalleled ability to keep carbon out of the atmosphere. Yet, with each passing day, these ancient ecosystems continue to vanish, felled by intense logging.

An interactive map released by Conservation North, a science-based conservation organization, shows how much of BC’s last primary forests have been disturbed. A sea of red makes it obvious just how much of the province’s forests have been disturbed. According to the province, BC has about 11.1 million hectares of old-growth forest, 10 million of which are protected or not economical to harvest. However, despite the government’s promise to maintain these forests, logging continues apace, with companies such as Drax Global, the UK’s largest renewable energy company, moving in, wiping large expanses of primary forest.

Conservation photographer and big-tree hunter TJ Watt has been using his camera to document the disappearance of ancient trees in a powerful Before & After series. Watt hopes to draw viewers’ attention to their destruction by highlighting the incredible grandeur of old-growth ecosystems. A Trebek Initiative grantee, Watt often photographs himself beside a tree, using his body to provide a perspective on just how magnificent these ancient giants are. He reshoots the same image after the tree has been logged, a massive stump is all that remains.

“I’m trying to remind people that unless we speak up and advocate for the permanent protection of endangered old-growth forests, which will happen through conservation financing for First Nations to support sustainable economic development in those communities while also offsetting lost logging revenues when old-growth is deferred and protected, then we will continue losing ancient ecosystems that are second in grandeur only to the redwoods of California,” says Watt. “These trees take many centuries or even 1,000 years to grow, and nobody’s waiting around for them to come back again.”

Deep in the forest, there is no cell reception, designated trail or signage indicating you are on the right path. In the middle of the woods, everything is up to instinct and the natural inclination that something larger than life is just around the corner. When it comes to big-tree tracking, hunters have an inherent desire to be in the presence of something giant.

They feel an emotional connection to each ancient tree. For them, being with such a tree is akin to visiting a relic like Stonehenge or the Parthenon. This spiritual relationship often drives hunters to risk their lives to locate these giants in some of the last untouched* areas of the planet.

It’s late June 2022 in Lynn Headwaters Regional Park, BC, and two friends are about to make the discovery of a lifetime. Both experienced outdoorsmen, Ian Thomas and Colin Spratt have been big-tree hunters for about three years. “Nature is where I feel at peace,” says Spratt. “It’s my therapy.”

On this midsummer day, they hike into the Lynn Valley under a blanket of fog. Moving at a snail’s pace, the two tree-hunters clamber over logs and under branches, driven by the thought of “What if?”

After about 10 hours of bushwhacking, they find it — the North Shore Giant.

A man in a grey shirt sits beside the North Shore Giant among green old-growth trees and shrubbery

Ian Thomas beside the North Shore Giant. (Photo: Colin Spratt)

“Oh my god, this is the biggest tree I have ever found!” says Thomas. Spratt is frozen, unable to believe his eyes as he watches Thomas approach the tree, seeming to shrink as his body is dwarfed by the enormous tree. Named by Spratt and Thomas, the North Shore Giant is thought to be about 2,000 years old and is estimated at 5.8 metres in diameter, making it Canada’s fourth-widest tree. For Spratt, big-tree hunting is not just a Guinness Book of World Records pursuit; it is a way to experience the last untouched areas of the planet while making the point that if these areas are not protected, thousands of years of biodiversity, ecology and significant ecosystems will be lost.

Hundreds of massive logs continue to be hauled out of BC’s forests. A 2019 report from the Sierra Club of BC found that 3.6 million hectares of forest was clear-cut between 2005 and 2017, a combined area larger than Vancouver Island. Once cut, these areas become “sequestration dead zones” that release more carbon than they absorb.

A forest technologist with British Columbia Timber Sales, Greg Herringer is a knowledgeable big-tree hunter who helps to manage a legacy big-tree program that reserves large trees in the area he supervises. Herringer’s job requires him to target the best places for harvesting. “I walk a tightrope,” he says. “I am conflicted most of the time between satisfying the needs of what British Columbia Timber Sales is mandated to do and my ethics and moral values.”

Herringer explains that his supervisors view him as a “pain in the ass” because his job is to advocate for reserving trees in certain areas. He often explores with fellow big-tree hunters, as well as experienced outdoors people like Mick Bailey.

For more than 40 years, Bailey has searched the forests for big trees and documented his experiences on his blog, BCtreehunter. He wants more people to be aware of the consequences of cutting down these giants. As a mentor to younger big-tree hunters, he hopes their use of social-media platforms like Instagram will allow them to connect with like-minded individuals and reach a wider audience of concerned people. He often gets together with other tree hunters to venture into the woods. “We call ourselves the ‘tree crew,’” says Lewis. “I enjoy tree tracking a lot more now. Going out with a group is way more fun.”

By going in and ground truthing areas of BC far from the public eye, big-tree hunters show communities what is still standing and what needs to be saved. “By getting out in the forest, by being the sort of boots on the ground, finding these incredibly rare ancient trees, we’re able to effectively advocate for their protection,” says Thomas.

“It’s up to us to ensure these trees are protected, and I encourage people to safely get out there and explore the landscapes themselves,” says Watt. “Reconnect with nature and see what you might find.”

*Although old-growth forests may have been “untouched” by logging, they were used by First Nations peoples for millennia and often still bear the markings of cultural use, be that bark stripping on trees, test holes, or even old canoes in the forest.

See the original article with more photos here.

Nurse Logs

/in /by

Life and death are inextricably linked in the old-growth forest and nowhere is this more evident than in the important role of nurse logs. A nurse log is a fallen tree that serves as the growing site for young plants. Nurse logs are especially important for western hemlocks and Sitka spruce as they provide an elevated platform for the seedlings to grow free from the dense competition of shrubs and forbs already established on the forest floor. In fact, seedling densities may be nearly five times as high on nurse logs as on the ground and nurse logs may support nearly three times as many species of moss as the surrounding forest floor.

The influence of nurse logs continues for centuries after they rot away, you can often find “colonnades” of immense Sitka spruces growing in a clear line deep in the rainforest. These enormous rows of pillars appear to be more the product of human architecture than natural occurrences. This is because centuries ago each of these spruces would have germinated on a fallen tree. Though the original log has long since rotted away, the positions of these giant trees still reflect the straight beam of that long-ago nursery.

It’s not only trees that these nurse logs support, but also a huge range of rainforest creatures: fungi mine the dead wood for nutrients, insects burrow under the bark, pacific wrens nest in the huge upturned root-wads, and salamanders take shelter under the logs. These incredible forest nurseries are a hallmark of the old-growth forest, where the slow death of ancient trees is the mechanism of forest renewal and rebirth.

A man in a blue jacket stands beside a fallen western redcedar.

Old-growth cedars harvested because of database errors, says environmental group

/in /by

Thursday, May 11, 2023
My Comox Valley Now
By: Grant Warkentin

An environmental group is urging the province to protect more old growth forests, after documenting a recent clear cut on northern Vancouver Island.

On May 10 the Ancient Forest Alliance published photos and drone footage of 25 hectares of forest in Quatsino Sound, which was logged in 2022. Members of the group visited the site last year, finding fallen western red cedars up to 10 feet wide.

Photographer TJ Watt says groves of big trees are extremely rare after 100 years of logging. He says the grove was cut down because of errors in the provincial forestry database, incorrectly identifying the age of the trees.

The group is calling on government to fix the errors by sending people to visually inspect forests, making sure they are correctly identified.

They also say the government needs to come up with hundreds of millions of dollars in funding to protect old forests.

“At least $120 million in ‘solution space’ funding is needed immediately to help facilitate logging deferrals by ensuring that First Nations communities aren’t forced to choose between setting aside at-risk old growth and generating revenue for their communities,” says Watt in an Ancient Forest Alliance press release. “In the longer term, at least $300 million in conservation financing is needed from the province and another $300 million more from the feds, as well as hundreds of millions more from private donors, to support First Nations’ sustainable economic development, stewardship jobs, and creation of new Indigenous Protected and Conserved Areas (IPCAs) linked to protecting the most at-risk old-growth forests and ecosystems.”

The BC government has committed to protect 30 per cent of BC’s land area by 2030, and develop a conservation financing mechanism to support Indigenous Protected and Conserved Areas by the end of June, with protection for the most biodiverse areas.

The environmental group’s work was supported by a grant from the Trebek Initiative.

Read the original article here.

A man in a red jacket lays on a monumental western redcedar among hundreds of other fallen old-growth trees in a clearcut on northern Vancouver Island.

TJ Watt lays on a giant western redcedar after it’s been felled in Quatsino Territory

A man in a blue jacket stands inside the base of a logged western redcedar in the middle of a massive clearcut on northern Vancouver Island.

The Guardian: Images of felled ancient tree a ‘gut-punch’, old-growth experts say

/in /by

May 11, 2023
The Guardian
By Leyland Cecco

Shocking photos of chopped-down tree in western Canada highlights flaws in plan to protect forest from loggers, activists say

Stark images of an ancient tree cut down in western Canada expose flaws in the government’s plan to protect old-growth forests, activists have said, arguing that vulnerable ecosystems have been put at risk as logging companies race to harvest timber.

As part of an effort to catalogue possible old growth forests, photographer TJ Watt and Ian Thomas of the environmental advocacy group Ancient Forest Alliance travelled to a grove of western red cedars on British Columbia’s Vancouver Island. But then they arrived to the forest in Quatsino Sound, they found hundreds of trees that has recently been logged.

“It’s absolutely gut-wrenching to see a tree lying on the ground, and to think that it had lived for more than 500 years and then it can be gone in the blink of an eye, never to be seen again,” said Watt, who photographed the forest as part of a grant from the Trebek Initiative, a partnership between the National Geographic Society and the Royal Canadian Geographical Society named after the late Jeopardy host.

A man in a blue jacket stands beside a fallen western redcedar.

AFA researcher Ian Thomas stands beside a massive fallen western redcedar

Watt’s images have been used previously to highlight the dramatic change to landscapes after an old-growth forest is cleared.

In November 2021, amid mounting public frustration over the destruction of old-growth trees, the British Columbia government deferred logging in 2.6 million hectares within the most at-risk forests. The BC government has also pledged to protect 30% of the province’s land area by 2030, part of broader efforts within Canada to meet biodiversity preservation goals.

Since outlining its planned deferrals, however, less than half of the proposed areas have been agreed upon by the province and First Nations communities, whose consent is required. A number of First Nations are actively involved in the logging industry and would see a drop in revenues if logging in their territory was halted. Groups such as the Ancient Forest Alliance say more funding is needed to help offset lost forestry revenues among First Nations.

A man in a red jacket stands beside the base of a fallen western redcedar among a giant clearcut of hundreds other old-growth trees.

AFA photographer TJ Watt stands beside a fallen western redcedar, thought to be 500+ years old.

Critics of the province’s deferral plans also say there are problems in the original recommendations, including an admission from the technical advisory panel that a number of forests are likely been incorrectly classified. In the case of the cutblock found by Watt and Thomas, held by Western Forest Products and logged in late 2022, it was classified as 210 years, younger than the province’s 250-year-old threshold for being considered old-growth. The company did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

“It just underscores the fact that the logging industry is racing to cut the biggest and best trees while they still can,” said Watt. “Tree-planting does not replicate a complex old-growth forest ecosystem. Knowing this forest could potentially have been left standing, had it been identified properly by the province, is also another punch to the gut.”

A man in a red jacket lies down on the fallen western redcedar, providing scale for the sheer size of the monumental tree.

AFA photographer TJ Watt provides some scale by lying down on the trunk of an old-growth western redcedar tree recently cut by Western Forest Products in Quatsino Sound.

Currently, there are no mechanisms in place for the public or industry to flag forests with trees older than those the province has identified.

“The province admitted the data was going to be somewhat imperfect. We’ve said that citizens and scientists should be able to identify and point out areas missed for deferral. Logging companies should be required when they’re doing their planning and surveys to compare it to that criteria,” said Watt.

Timber companies are not obliged to cut down all trees within an approved cutblock. In 2011, logger Dennis Cronin famously stumbled upon a towering Douglas fir, likely more than 1,000 years old, on the west coast of Vancouver Island. The rest of the forest was logged, but Big Lonely Doug was spared.

“Progress is being made, but clearly there are still loopholes. We need to make sure that the province is following through on all of their commitments to protect these endangered ecosystems, and not letting anything slip through the cracks,” said Watt.

“There’s no argument that can be made, when you see these trees that are centuries old, that they should be cut down.”

See the original article here.

A man in a red jacket stands beside the base of a fallen western redcedar among a giant clearcut of hundreds other old-growth trees.

Ancient Forest Alliance renews call for provincial funds to defer old-growth logging

/in /by

May 11, 2023
CHEK News
By Dean Stoltz

See drone footage of the massive clearcut and subsequent destruction and an interview with AFA campaigner and photographer TJ Watt here.

The Ancient Forest Alliance is renewing its call on the BC government to commit hundreds of millions of dollars to protect old-growth forests.

The latest call for funding comes after conservationists with the group found a clear cut of ancient forest in Quatsino Sound.

They say they were exploring northwest Vancouver Island late last summer when they stumbled across a cut block that left them speechless.

“Yeah, some of the trees that we saw when we were out there had been standing earlier that day. It’s a gut-wrenching feeling to see a tree that’s lived for 500 or maybe even 1000 years can just be gone in a blink of an eye,” said TJ Watt, an AFA photographer and campaigner.

Watt says the logged area was equivalent to about 50 football fields and that hundreds of old-growth red cedars had been cut down, some up to three metres wide.

An aerial image of a patchwork of clearcuts in Quatsino Territory.

An aerial image of a patchwork of clearcuts after the old-growth forests there had been logged in Quatsino Territory.

“Old-growth forests are a non-renewable resource under BC’s current system of forestry,” he added.

“You may replant trees, but they’re re-logged every 50 to 60 years, never to become old growth again, so we have one chance and one chance only to protect these endangered ecosystems.”

The AFA has been calling for at least $300 million from the province that could be added to hundreds of millions of dollars of available federal money in the forthcoming Canada Nature Agreement. Watt says roughly $800 million to $1 billion is needed to defer old-growth logging.

“The province has committed to creating a conservation financing fund by the end of June but so far has not publicly committed any of their own money towards it. They said they’re going to rely on private and philanthropic donations,” Watts said.

The money would be used for conservation financing and go toward economically sustainable alternatives for communities and First Nations.

“It’s up to the province to use its vast resources to help with reconciliation and to provide economic alternatives for these communities,” he said.

Watt added that the BC’s Independent Science Panel recommended big tree forests like this be saved but that it was missed because it was “misclassified as being younger than it really was.”

The full release can be found here.

The Ministry of Forests did not respond to CHEK News’ request for comment before our deadline.

See the original article here.

A man in a red jacket lays on a monumental western redcedar among hundreds of other fallen old-growth trees in a clearcut on northern Vancouver Island.

Clearcutting of Grove of Forest Giants on Northern Vancouver Island – Photos and Videos Document the Destruction

/in /by

For Immediate Release
May 10, 2023

Shocking photos and drone footage reveal the destruction of rare, big-tree old-growth forests on northern Vancouver Island in Quatsino Sound, highlighting the urgent need for dedicated funding to enable both temporary logging deferrals and permanent, Indigenous-led protected areas initiatives.

Conservationists with the Ancient Forest Alliance have documented with photos and video the clearcutting of a magnificent ancient forest in Quatsino Sound and are urging the BC government to immediately commit funding for old-growth protection to help prevent further loss of the most endangered old-growth forests in BC, plus identify at-risk old-growth forests for deferral that were missed due to mapping errors in the original process.

Ancient Forest Alliance (AFA) members TJ Watt and Ian Thomas came across the fallen remains of a grove of enormous western redcedars — some measuring upwards of 10 feet (3 metres) wide, on a field expedition in 2022. The 25-hectare old-growth cutblock, an area equivalent to over 50 football fields, is located on public lands in Tree Farm Licence 6, which is held by logging company Western Forest Products in Quatsino territory.

AFA’s TJ Watt provides some scale by lying down on the trunk of an old-growth western redcedar tree recently cut by Western Forest Products in Quatsino Sound.

“This was a superlative ancient forest,” stated AFA photographer and campaigner, TJ Watt. “I was floored by the sheer number of monumental redcedars that had been cut down. It was the most shocking example of industrial old-growth logging I’ve witnessed since the logging in the Caycuse and Nahmint Valleys. Dozens of centuries-old trees littered the ground, trees that were taller on their side than I was standing beside them. Some of them were alive earlier that day. After more than a century of high-grade logging in BC, groves of unprotected giants like these are extremely rare to find. To lose another one as special as this is heartbreaking.”

In November 2021, the BC government agreed to implement temporary logging deferrals in 2.6 million hectares of the most at-risk old-growth forests in BC. These priority deferrals were identified by an independent old-growth science panel, the Technical Advisory Panel (TAP), to prevent irreversible biodiversity loss while long-term land use plans are developed. To date, about 1.2 million hectares, or 46%, of priority deferral areas have been agreed upon by First Nations (whose consent and support are a necessity for any new deferrals or protected areas). More than half the areas recommended are still open to logging.

Despite being home to scores of giant trees, many of which would have been 500+ years old, this particular grove — and likely hundreds of others — was not included in the TAP’s original deferral recommendations due to the forest being incorrectly labelled as 210 years old in the province’s forest inventory database (40 years younger than the province’s 250-year-old threshold for being considered old-growth on the coast and to be included in deferral mapping).

A massive old-growth redcedar tree logged on Vancouver Island in Quatsino Sound

The TAP specifically mentioned the issue of inventory errors in their report (see pages 9, 10, 13), making clear recommendations to the BC government that on-the-ground assessments should be used to identify and defer big-tree old-growth forests that were missed in their preliminary analysis. Thus far, it appears the BC government has only used field verification to remove deferral areas that don’t meet the TAP criteria (which are to then be replaced with those that do) in order to facilitate logging, but they are not actively working to identify key old-growth stands that were missed during the TAP analysis due to mapping or inventory errors.

“Knowing that this irreplaceable ancient forest could potentially still be standing today if the BC government was using field verification to identify and defer old-growth forests missed due to mapping errors is a punch in the gut,” stated Watt. “We’ve continually raised this issue with the BC government but so far our concerns have been brushed aside. They only want to subtract old-growth from the priority most-risk category and not add any, even when it is their mistake. Citizens and scientists should be able to submit the locations of old-growth forests that meet the criteria for priority deferral but that have been missed for various reasons. Forest companies should also be obligated to field-verify cutblocks against the TAP deferral criteria before getting approval for logging. These images highlight the devastating impacts on the landscape due to provincial policy and funding gaps.”

A man in a blue jacket stands inside the base of a logged western redcedar in the middle of a massive clearcut on northern Vancouver Island.

AFA’s Ian Thomas stands inside a nearly 10 ft (3 m) wide stump of a fallen western redcedar.

Conservationists argue that without significant funding, it will be nearly impossible to secure the full suite of priority old-growth logging deferrals and their eventual permanent protection, especially in the highest-value old-growth forests with the biggest trees that are most coveted by industry.

“The BC government must come to the table with immediate funding, both in the short and long term, for the deferral and protection of old-growth forests,” explained Watt. “At least $120 million in ‘solution space’ funding is needed immediately to help facilitate logging deferrals by ensuring that First Nations communities aren’t forced to choose between setting aside at-risk old growth and generating revenue for their communities. In the longer term, at least $300 million in conservation financing is needed from the province and another $300 million more from the feds, as well as hundreds of millions more from private donors, to support First Nations’ sustainable economic development, stewardship jobs, and creation of new Indigenous Protected and Conserved Areas (IPCAs) linked to protecting the most at-risk old-growth forests and ecosystems. This can include new land-use planning, Indigenous guardians programs, and the development of sustainable economic alternatives to old-growth logging such as tourism, clean energy, sustainable seafood harvesting, non-timber forest products, and value-added, second-growth forestry.

A man in a red jacket stands among towering western redcedars in Quatsino Territory.

TJ stands beside a massive redcedar tree growing unprotected adjacent to the cutblock in Quatsino Sound.

Under pressure, the province recently committed to creating a new conservation financing mechanism by the end of June to be filled with philanthropic and private contributions but has yet to publicly commit any of its own funding towards the initiative. The long-awaited BC Canada Nature Agreement and the recent multi-billion dollar provincial budget surplus provide excellent avenues for securing the estimated $800-$1B+ in overall funding necessary to protect the majority of endangered old-growth ecosystems across BC

The Quatsino region on Vancouver Island has historically been hit hard by industrial logging, with less than 25% of its productive (big tree) old-growth forests remaining. Conservation biologists agree that when ecosystems fall below 30% of their original extent, they are at high risk of irreversible biodiversity loss. Despite this ecological emergency, nearby old-growth groves, including some forests specifically recommended for deferral are currently flagged for logging

“Driving to this ancient forest, one must pass through mile after mile of industrial tree farms that have replaced the once magnificent old-growth rainforests of Quatsino Sound. This grove was one of the last fragments of rich old-growth forest remaining in the area, a crucial reservoir of biodiversity and ecological resilience in a damaged landscape,” stated Watt. “Witnessing the disappearance of the last unprotected stands of old-growth forests on Vancouver Island leaves one with a profound sense of ecological grief. The BC government can and must use its vast resources to help pave the path toward the protection of what still remains.”

The BC government has committed to protect 30% of BC’s land area by 2030, to develop a conservation financing mechanism to support Indigenous Protected and Conserved Areas by the end of June, and to target protection for the most biodiverse areas — major commitments that the Ancient Forest Alliance commends. However, missing still is the immediate funding to facilitate deferrals among First Nations, provincial funding for conservation financing (not just a commitment to seek philanthropic funds), and ecosystem-based protected areas targets that include forest productivity distinctions.

This series of images and video is part of work Watt has created with support from the Trebek Initiative, a grantmaking partnership between the National Geographic Society and the Royal Canadian Geographical Society that supports emerging Canadian explorers, scientists, photographers, geographers, and educators with a goal of using storytelling to ignite “a passion to preserve” in all Canadians. Watt was among the first round of grant recipients in 2021 and was named a National Geographic Explorer and Royal Canadian Geographical Society Explorer.

Old-growth forests are vital to support endangered species, First Nations cultures, the climate, clean water, wild salmon, and tourism. Under BC’s current system of forestry, second-growth tree plantations are typically re-logged every 50–60 years, never to become old-growth again.

An aerial image of a patchwork of clearcuts in Quatsino Territory.

25 hectares (roughly 50 football fields) of prime old-growth forests were clearcut here in total by Western Forest Products.

 

 

 

Motion for Old-Growth Fund & Export Ban Introduced by MP Patrick Weiler

/in /by

For Immediate Release
May 5, 2023

MP Patrick Weiler Introduces Motion to Launch the $82 million Old-Growth Protection Fund ($164 million with BC matching funds) and to End Old-Growth Log and Wood Product Exports

The Ancient Forest Alliance (AFA) and the Endangered Ecosystems Alliance (EEA) give great thanks to Member of Parliament Patrick Weiler (West Vancouver-Sunshine Coast-Sea to Sky Country) for his new motion to help protect old-growth forests in BC and Canada.

Weiler has crafted a motion, introduced into federal Parliament yesterday, calling for the $82 million BC Old-Growth Protection Fund (increased from $50 million previously, and contingent on matching BC funding that would bring it to $164 million), to end the international export of old-growth raw logs and wood products from across Canada as quickly as possible (and by no later than 2030), and to protect old-growth on federal lands on Department of National Defense and National Park lands from any destructive infrastructure developments.

If implemented, these motions will be significant contributions to help protect old-growth forests in BC and across Canada, where the main “War in the Woods” over old-growth forests has taken place over half a century.

“We welcome this motion by MP Patrick Weiler. $82 million dedicated to old-growth protection in BC, when matched by the province for a total of $164 million, is no small sum. It would result in a major leap forward to protect old-growth forests here, along with a much larger federal-provincial BC Nature Agreement fund — as would a rapid phase-out on the export of old-growth wood products across Canada with an emphasis on second- and third-growth wood products instead. We commend Weiler for taking the initiative here to help keep the ball rolling for old-growth protection,” stated TJ Watt, Ancient Forest Alliance campaigner and photographer.

Ancient Forest Alliance campaigner & photographer TJ Watt stands beside a giant old-growth redcedar growing unprotected on northwestern Vancouver Island in Quatsino territory.

“The Biden administration in the US is now creating a pathway that could end old-growth logging on their federal public lands across the country, and BC and Canada need to do the same. MP Patrick Weiler is starting this process, and I hope his positive motion pushes the province to really get on track — as the province is directly in charge of provincially-managed Crown lands where the vast majority of old-growth forests stand, along with the local First Nations whose unceded territories it is. Premier Eby’s recent move to embrace the 30% by 2030 target and to undertake a conservation financing mechanism to fund First Nations IPCA plans should be applauded. However, there is still significant space for spin and sophistry to keep the status quo of old-growth forest liquidation safeguarded as new provincial policies are being developed. I can see many of the same old actors from the old-growth timber industry and old timber bureaucracy at work in this regard right now, and they are both pervasive and clever,” stated Ken Wu, Endangered Ecosystems Alliance executive director.

There are elements in the provincial government that appear to be employing a number of different strategies in an attempt to contain change and extend the life of the destructive status quo of old-growth liquidation, including efforts to minimize the centrality of fully protected areas — and instead to emphasize better old-growth logging rather than no logging of old-growth as the first consideration, as well as “conservation” areas that keep the door open for commercial old-growth logging. Other apparent strategies include minimizing ecosystem-based protected areas targets, including failing to distinguish between big-treed vs small-treed old-growth forests (forest productivity distinctions); minimizing the role of science and scientists in developing ecosystem-based targets in conjunction with Traditional Ecological Knowledge holders; and making conservation financing primarily about capacity and stewardship funding rather than about sustainable economic development funding to supplant the old-growth logging dependency in many First Nations communities.

Ancient Forest Alliance Campaigner & Photographer TJ Watt stands atop the stump of an old-growth redcedar tree cut in 2022 the Klanawa Valley on Vancouver Island in Huu-ay-aht territory.

The federal government has been offering significant funding for years of several hundred million dollars, contingent on an agreement for matching funds from BC — to drastically expand the protected areas system across the province as part of Canada’s commitment to protect 25% of the country’s land area by 2025 and 30% by 2030 (BC has committed to the latter target). Currently 15% of BC is in legislated protected areas. Negotiations over a BC Nature Fund between the federal and provincial governments have been ongoing for two and a half years (since January of 2021), and now include First Nations, and an agreement is expected in the not distant future.

Endangered Ecosystems Alliance executive director Ken Wu stands beside a giant old-growth redcedar tree growing unprotected on Nootka Island in Mowachaht/ Muchalaht territory.

The provincial government has also stated that they will have a conservation financing mechanism in place by the end of June, and the EEA and AFA are encouraging the province to ensure that they bring in both provincial and federal contributions into that fund (not just private donations) which can be used to help ensure both old-growth logging deferrals and protected areas, including by providing the needed funds to First Nations for their capacity, stewardship, and sustainable business development needs linked to new Indigenous Protected and Conserved Areas (typically legislated via Provincial Conservancy and various Protected Areas designations provincially).

The original sum of $50 million for a BC Old-Growth Fund has now been increased by MP Weiler and his colleagues to $81.9 million. If matched by provincial funds, it would be $164 million to help First Nations and other parties to specifically protect some of the grandest and most endangered old-growth forests in BC, with an emphasis on protecting Coastal and Inland old-growth rainforests and Interior Douglas-fir forests. Weiler also noted that additional federal protected areas funds are available from the $2.3 billion in terrestrial protected areas funding, as well as from the several billion dollar Nature Smart Climate Fund, that would also help protect old-growth forests in BC as part of the overall effort to expand protected areas in the province and across the country.

Old-growth forests across BC are on the unceded territories of diverse First Nations, whose consent is a legal necessity for the establishment of new protected areas on Crown/unceded First Nations lands (ie. the provincial government cannot unilaterally just protect old-growth forests in BC — the support of the local First Nations is needed, and the province should undertake the policy framework and provide key funding as part of the “enabling conditions” to facilitate interested First Nations to establish new protected areas). Across BC, many or most First Nations have a major economic dependency on timber revenues and jobs, including on old-growth forestry.

Land Guardian Domonique Samson with the Kanaka Bar Indian Band stands beside an old-growth Douglas-fir tree on a property recently purchased by the Nature-Based Solutions Foundation to be given back to the band with a conservation covenant.

“Conservation financing” refers to funding from governments and private sources for the development of sustainable economic alternatives in First Nations and other communities that enable the development of Indigenous businesses and jobs in eco- and cultural tourism, clean energy, sustainable seafood, non-timber forest products (eg. wild mushrooms) and other industries, linked to the establishment of new Indigenous Protected and Conserved Areas (IPCAs). In the Great Bear Rainforest, Haida Gwaii, and currently in Clayoqout Sound, major conservation financing funds from the federal and provincial governments, environmental groups, and carbon offset projects have enabled high levels of forest protection and conservation to move forward. The Endangered Ecosystems Alliance and the Ancient Forest Alliance, with our partner organization the Nature-Based Solutions Foundation, are now moving ahead with similar conservation financing projects to support old-growth protection initiatives and new IPCAs by the Kanaka Bar Indian Band near Lytton and the Salmon Parks initiative of the Mowachaht/ Muchalaht First Nation.

Over 80% of the medium to high productivity forest lands (places that typically grow the largest trees the fastest) in BC are now second-growth. With appropriate government incentives and regulations, old-growth forests can be protected while forestry employment levels could be enhanced with the development of a sustainable, value-added second-growth forest industry. This is particularly true if the extensive second-growth harvest (which currently is also unsustainable), which already contributes most of the cut in BC, is turned into higher end wood products in the province, rather than being shipped out as raw log exports. Eby is now starting to provide funding for a value-added transition for industry to manufacture smaller diameter (ie. mainly second-growth) logs, and we encourage him to continue this trajectory, while the federal government is also starting to support the value-added sector.

Old-growth forests are typically defined by the BC government as stands older than 250 years on the Coast and older than 140 years in BC’s Interior, although old-growth characteristics (canopy gaps, well-developed understories, multi-layered canopies, large woody debris) can develop in significantly younger stands in many areas.

Old-growth forests are vital to support endangered species, the climate, tourism and recreation, clean water, wild salmon, and diverse First Nations cultures whose unceded territories it is. Old-growth forests have unique characteristics that are not replicated in the ensuing second-growth tree plantations that they are being replaced with. Because they are re-logged every 50 to 60 years on BC’s coast and every 80 to 100 years in the Interior, they never become old-growth again. As a result, old-growth logging is not a sustainable activity under BC’s and Canada’s system of forestry but is more similar to “forest mining”.

A logging truck loaded with old-growth logs passes through the Klanawa Valley on Vancouver Island.

 

About 200 people listening intently as renowned forest ecologist Andy MacKinnon presents about old-growth forests vs. second-growth tree plantations

Earth Week Event 2023

/in /by

We’re still buzzing after such a well-attended Earth Week event in late April at St. Mary’s Church in Metchosin, where close to 200 of you joined us for an evening of knowledge-sharing, insight, and community-building with presentations from renowned forest ecologist Andy MacKinnon and AFA photographer & campaigner TJ Watt. Together, we raised almost $2000 through donations and sales, all of which will go toward protecting the remaining endangered ancient forests of BC!

Andy gave attendees a breakdown of the intricacies of an old-growth forest vs. the uniformity of a second-growth tree plantation, speaking to the value that BC’s endangered old-growth forests bring to overall ecosystem health and how they affect the planet’s well-being as well as our own.

Afterward, TJ gave the crowd a behind-the-scenes look into the trials and tribulations that accompany his trips out in the field documenting remote stands of old-growth forests as well as clearcuts in his presentation, “Exploring & Photographing Ancient Forests in BC”.

We’d like to give a special thank you shout-out to those who helped make the night a success: Janet Gray, organizer and refreshment-maker extraordinaire; harpist Allison Marshall, who greeted folks as they filed in with her beautiful music; poet Dan MacIsaac, who started the evening with his moving poem titled, “The Log in the Woods”; Heloise Nicholl for emceeing; five-year-old Margaret MacKinnon who is selling her crayon art and donating all proceeds to AFA; and Nicole Perron, Steve Gray, Wally Emer, and all the volunteers at St. Mary’s Parish for helping the evening run so smoothly.

We had such a great time connecting with everyone in person, and were reminded of what a generous, curious, and kind community we have standing with us! Couldn’t make it to the event but would still like to support our work? Click here to donate, Send a Message to the BC government using our online take-action tool, or visit our online store.

Devil’s Club

/in /by

Devil’s club is one of the most dreaded banes of the coastal bushwhacker. Towering to over 16 feet (5 metres) high, this plant sports huge, maple-esque leaves and wicked spines coated in irritating oils. Many bushwhackers would prefer to climb into a grizzly’s den than wade through a dense thicket of devil’s club.

This plant is, however, prized by bears who feast on its bright red berries, undeterred by the vicious spines. Related to ginseng, devil’s club is also highly valued by coastal First Nations for its myriad medicinal properties.

Devil’s club is also associated with old-growth forests due to the fact that it’s slow to spread, and so has trouble recolonizing areas that have been logged. It loves moist, nutrient-rich sites, the same environments that create big trees, and therefore its presence can be an indicator of nearby forest giants; for ardent big-tree hunters, devil’s club can be the dragon which guards the treasure they came to seek.