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Thank You to the Mountain Equipment Co-op (MEC)!

The Ancient Forest Alliance is most grateful to the Mountain Equipment Co-op (MEC) for their major support provided through their Community Contributions grant program. This funding support will allow the AFA to fully complete the Avatar Grove Boardwalk as a model for sustainable eco-tourism promoting old-growth forest conservation. See MEC's website at: www.MEC.ca

Logging company takes heat for cutting old growth trees in the Great Bear Rainforest

TimberWest has been fragmenting the extremely rare forest types in the southern Great Bear Rainforest which include stands of endangered old-growth Douglas-firs, and is being criticized by enviro-groups.

Return to Sonora: TimberWest in the Great Bear Rainforest

Here's a blog by Greenpeace campaigner Eduardo Sousa about TimberWest logging endangered forest types in the Great Bear Rainforest.

Old-growth logging in Walbran could trigger protests: group

The Teal Jones Group has drawn logging plans for potential logging in the heart of the unprotected Central Walbran Ancient Forest. While they have not applied for any cutting or road-building permits yet from the Forest Service, they have surveyed some potential cutblocks and roads as part of their proposal.

B.C. forest wake-up call: Heavy carbon losses hit 10 year mark

A new Sierra Club of BC report on logging and climate change in BC: "While B.C.’s forest carbon loss has been made worse by the Mountain Pine Beetle outbreak and a number of serious wildfire years, the biggest factor remains poor forest management. In particular, destructive logging practices like clear-cutting, especially of old-growth rainforest, and slash-burning are huge contributors to the carbon emissions from B.C. forests."  

A hollowed out western redcedar stands amongst a sea of green ferns, salal, and other foliage in Goldstream Provincial Park.

JUNE 24: Old-Growth, Carbon & Climate – Rainforest Walk in Goldstream Park

Date: Wednesday, June 24 Time: 7:00-8:30pm Location: Goldstream Provincial Park - Meet at the first parking lot Difficulty: Easy walk All dogs must be on a leash **By donation** All participants will be required to sign a waiver to join the hike. Join AFA’s co-founder Ken Wu and Sierra Club of BC’s forest and climate campaigner Jens Wieting for a rainforest walk in Victoria's Goldstream Provincial Park. See some of the largest old-growth trees in BC, learn about the plants and ecology there, and about the state of BC’s globally endangered coastal temperate rainforest. Wieting will also explain the progress in protecting the Great Bear Rainforest and Clayoquot Sound, and the lack of forest stewardship in most of the province. Hear about what we must do to ensure that our forests provide long-term benefits instead of short-term profit and what climate change means for the future of our forests. In particular, learn how our forests have shifted from storing carbon to being a net emitter into the atmosphere and what we must do to reverse that trend, making our forests a central mechanism in fighting climate change and building a climate-friendly, low carbon future.

‘Old Growth of BC’ Slideshow by AFA’s Ken Wu at Big Tree Weekend!

Date: Saturday June 20th Time: 6:30-8:00pm Location: Meet at the Stanley Park Ecology office, 610 Pipeline Road Cost: $5 members/$10 non-members Explore the ecology and conservation status of the most spectacular temperate rainforests in Canada with Ken Wu from the Ancient Forest Alliance.  Photographer TJ Watt will share his striking images of old growth forests - and the biggest trees and grandest groves - at this presentation.   Register here

Big Trees Weekend in Stanley Park

Vancouver, BC – Journey to the top of some of the biggest trees in Stanley Park during a weekend-long celebration of trees…really BIG trees! Stanley Park Ecology Society (SPES), the BC Big Tree Committee and the Vancouver Aquarium host this June 20-21 event which offers unique insiders’ perspectives on these living giants. Catch a bird’s eye view from an arborist’s head cam as he climbs some of the Park’s biggest trees; hear tall tree tales from renowned ecologist and BC Big Tree Committee Chair, Andy MacKinnon; learn secrets of Stanley Park’s famous Hollow Tree, and witness the resiliency of the forest in a tour of the 2006 windstorm-affected areas. **Details, schedule and registration at: https://stanleyparkecology.ca/education/public-programs/big-trees-weekend/

Giant trees in the Lower Avatar Grove

JUNE 14: Avatar Grove Ancient Forest Walk with Dr. Andy MacKinnon

Date: Sunday, June 14 Time/Location: Meet at 1:00pm at the Coastal Kitchen Café in Port Renfrew, then go in convoy to Avatar Grove. Hike from 2:00-4:00pm Difficulty: Moderate. *All participants will be required to sign a waiver to join the hike All dogs must be on a leash Cost: Sliding scale $20 to $100 Come join Dr. Andy MacKinnon, one of Canada's foremost forest ecologists and co-author of the best-selling 'Plants of Coastal BC,' for an interpretive walk through Avatar Grove. Learn about the plants, fungi, lichens, trees, and ecology of old-growth forests. The AFA's Ken Wu and TJ Watt will also talk about the ecology and status of BC's old-growth forests and the AFA's campaigns to protect these forests. Also see the progress on the Avatar Boardwalk so far and learn about what upgrades and sections need to be finished.  This is a boardwalk fundraiser for the AFA to finish the last sections of boardwalk in the Avatar Grove - thank you for your generosity!

A hollowed out western redcedar stands amongst a sea of green ferns, salal, and other foliage in Goldstream Provincial Park.

JUNE 11: Goldstream Ancient Forest Walk with Dr. Andy MacKinnon

Date: Thursday, June 11 Time: 7:00-8:30pm  Location: Goldstream Provincial Park ~ Meet at the first (main) parking lot off of Highway 1 Difficulty: Easy walk All dogs must be on a leash **By donation** All participants will be required to sign a waiver to join the hike Join renowned forest ecologist Andy MacKinnon, co-author of the best-selling 'Plants of Coastal BC,' and the AFA's Ken Wu and TJ Watt, for a nature walk to learn about the plants, trees, lichens, mosses, fungi, ecology, and status of BC's old-growth forests.  Find out what you can do to help the Ancient Forest Alliance protect them!