San Juan Spruce tree and the Red Creek Fir - some of the Canada's largest trees found right nearby!
May 29 2010

Reinventing Renfrew

When members of the Ancient Forest Alliance asked Port Renfrew restaurant owner Jessica Hicks to host a public meeting about a stand of old growth trees dubbed Avatar Grove, Hicks thought she might use the event as a fundraiser for the fledgeling environmental group. Then, reflecting on her Coastal Kitchen Cafe’s place in the community and the smouldering tension between environmentalists and B.C.’s logging towns, Hicks decided a simple information session might ruffle fewer feathers.

Read more
Ancient Forest Alliance
May 27 2010

Discover Sooke Blog – Avatar Grove in Port Renfrew

From the Discover Sooke tourism website: "Over the long weekend, Mrs. Discover Sooke and I, made the trek west from Sooke to Port Renfrew to visit the much talked about piece of land with a few remaining first growth forest trees standing on it. This piece of land has been dubbed “Avatar Grove”, after the movie, for its large and gnarly trees."

Read more
Ancient Forest Alliance
May 27 2010

Ancient Forest Alliance Avatar Grove Trip March 2010

On March 28th 2010, the Ancient Forest Alliance lead its first public hike to help save the Avatar Grove and to raise awareness about Vancouver Island's rapidly vanishing old-growth ecosystems. 80 people made the trip in the wet weather to see the spectacular forest. Filmed and edited by Nic Vandergugten.

Read more
Lower Avatar Grove
May 21 2010

Ancient Forest Alliance Applauds CRD Parks for Considering Public Input

A group who's mission is to save the island's old growth forests is giving CRD Parks a pat on the back, this for hosting a number of public input meetinsg over the past two weeks.

Read more
"Canada's gnarliest tree" grows in Avatar Grove
May 20 2010

Peace in the forest an elusive goal in B.C.

Across northern Canada, environmentalists are high-fiving one another over Tuesday's landmark declaration of peace in the woods. No more logging in an Italy-sized swath of boreal forest stretching from coast to coast. The war is over. Hooray. Meanwhile, Wu watches Vancouver Island's old growth disappear like Gordon Campbell during the HST debate.

Read more
Old-growth forests store 2-3 times more carbon per hectare than the ensuing second-growth tree plantations but are still threatened by logging in BC.
May 19 2010

Old-Growth Forest Slideshow Comes to Saltspring Island on Thursday, May 27

An informative and spectacular slideshow presentation of the largest trees in Canada including the Red Creek Fir, San Juan Spruce, Cheewhat Cedar and the newly-discovered Avatar Grove, and the politics and ecology of BC's old-growth forests and forestry jobs, will be presented on Thursday, May 27 (7:00-8:30 pm, Central Hall on Fulford-Ganges Rd., by donation) by Ken Wu and TJ Watt of the newly formed Ancient Forest Alliance (AFA).

Read more
May 18 2010

Last stand for Europe’s remaining ancient forest as loggers prepare to move in

Europe's last major old-growth forest, the famous Bialowieza old-growth forest in eastern Poland, home to the European bison, is imminently threatened with commercial logging.

Read more
San Juan Spruce tree and the Red Creek Fir - some of the Canada's largest trees found right nearby!
May 18 2010

CRD Parks Public Input Process Presents Golden Opportunity to Protect Canada’s Most Magnificent Old-Growth Forests

A first rate opportunity towards ending the war in the woods on southern Vancouver Island is currently being presented through the Capital Regional District Parks public input process. The public input process involves a series of Community Engagement Sessions held in a variety of CRD communities between May 6 through 19 and online written feedback until an unspecified date (see https://www.crd.bc.ca/parks/planning/strategicplan.htm). The public input will be used by the CRD Parks Committee to determine the strategic direction of the regional parks and trails in the area on southern Vancouver Island.

Read more
AFA gift giving rally at BC Liberal MLA Ida Chong's office in Oak Bay
May 14 2010

Noon Hour Protest Against Old-Growth Logging Targets MLA Ida Chong

[Original BC Local News article no longer available]

Read more
A giant 14ft diameter old-growth redcedar stump sits among dozens more in the clearcut near Port Renfrew
May 14 2010

Old-growth forest ‘a sea of stumps’

Massive stumps found on Crown land near Port Renfrew are arousing fears that logging companies are taking the biggest and best old-growth trees -- at the same time as the local chamber of commerce is trying to promote giant-tree tourism.

Read more