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TJ Watt2026-03-03 09:07:112026-03-04 14:36:34NOW HIRING: Forest CampaignerRelated Posts
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TJ Watt2026-03-03 09:07:112026-03-04 14:36:34NOW HIRING: Forest Campaigner
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TJ Watt2026-02-26 11:49:362026-02-26 11:49:36It’s AFA’s 16th Birthday!
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TJ Watt2026-02-20 16:43:192026-02-20 16:45:09Budget 2026 Shortchanges Nature Protection and Sustainable Forestry Transition At a Critical Time for British Columbia
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TJ Watt2026-02-20 11:35:152026-02-20 13:08:24Welcome, Zeinab, our new Vancouver Canvass Director!Take Action
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VIDEO: Canada’s most impressive tree?
/in News CoverageJuly 28, 2023
CTV News
Check out this VIDEO on CTV News covering what we believe to be the most impressive tree in Canada. Dubbed ‘The Wall’, or or ‘ʔiiḥaq ḥumiis’, meaning ‘big redcedar’ in the Nuu-chah-nulth language, this massive tree measures over 17 ft (5 m) wide near its base and 151 ft (46 m) tall and stands in a remote location on Flores Island near Tofino in Ahousaht Territory.
AFA campaigner and photographer notes that of all the trees he’s seen over his big tree hunting career, this one is by far the most mind-blowing. “It’s a literal wall of wood. Your brain can’t compute the scale when you stand below it,” he says. “The first time I arrived, from a distance I thought it had to be two trees because of how wide the trunk and limbs are. It defies words.”
The scale of the tree is a reminder of the importance of protecting old-growth forest ecosystems that support biodiversity.
Luckily, there are no current logging plans for this area, and the Ahousaht First Nation’s Land Use Vision (currently in the late stages of negotiations with the BC government) calls for the protection of 80% of their territory, including the ancient forest where this tree is found. This would happen through the creation of new Indigenous Protected and Conserved Areas (IPCAs) to be legislated as Provincial Conservancies by the province.
To ensure that forests like these remain standing across the province, Premier Eby must remove any barriers to protection from within his government and link conservation funding for First Nations to sustainable economic development and protecting the biggest and best old-growth stands vs. saving the least endangered ecosystems.
Read the full media release here.
Watch CTV News’ full video coverage here.
Existence of massive, ‘mind-blowing’ old-growth tree revealed in Clayoquot Sound
/in News CoverageJuly 27, 2023
The National Observer
By Clayton Keim
An enormous old-growth cedar tree has been identified in Vancouver Island’s Clayoquot Sound, possibly dating back over a millennium.
The western redcedar reaches a towering height of 46 metres and stands five metres wide at its base.
It is currently the sixth largest redcedar in Canada, according to the BC Big Tree Registry. TJ Watt, a photographer with the Ancient Forest Alliance, was awed when he initially encountered the tree. “It was absolutely mind-blowing.
“It didn’t even look like a tree at first from a distance; it looks more like a rock wall,” he said. “It really defies words, and it stands in a class of its own.”
The Ahousaht Nation, whose territory encompasses many old-growth forests including those on Clayoquot Sound, has been aware of the tree for some time. The decision to highlight its existence was made, in part, to promote the protection of old-growth trees across B.C. “We need to do more to protect these types of forests because there are fewer and fewer left,” said Tyson Atleo, hereditary representative for the Ahousaht Nation.
“We know that we are causing significant destruction of old-growth rainforests that we are really collectively dependent on as a species for the biodiversity that they uphold, as well as for carbon sequestration.”
Many comparable old-growth cedars in B.C. are widest at the base, gradually tapering off as they grow larger. Watt was shocked when this tree inverted the structure of comparable trees. “The trunk expands ever wider as it goes up into this sprawling, fortress-like canopy,” he said, going on to describe it as “the most impressive tree in Canada given its size.”
Cedar trees hold a unique significance to the Ahousaht Nation due to their versatility and abundance; they are used for housing, cooking and transportation. Bark that is stripped and soaked in water becomes soft and pliable, and is used for clothing.
“Cedar is really the tree of life to our people, as it provides us with the materials to live a healthy and happy life in this region,” said Atleo.
Research into old-growth forests has applications for both medicine and ecological conservation. “The canopy of this tree is filled with various types of epiphytes [moss, ferns and lichens], other trees, moss maps and canopy soils,” explained Watt. “Undoubtedly, there are new species to be found suspended up above the forest floor.” For those discoveries to take place, however, old-growth forests must be protected.
Conservation groups are calling for the B.C. government to recognize the importance of arboreal protection. “If they skirt around the forests that are most at risk and only protect those that were not truly at risk of logging to begin with, then it won’t be doing justice to these forests,” Watt said.
Read the original article here.
See VIDEO of Canada’s Most Impressive Tree!
/in VideoThis is huge — literally! We’re thrilled to share a video of what may very well be Canada’s most impressive tree. This gargantuan redcedar measures over 17 ft (5 m) wide near its base and 151 ft (46 m) tall. However, unlike most other trees, its trunk gets wider going upwards, culminating in a sprawling fortress-like crown of wooden spires akin to a massive wooden wall of an ancient castle.
This giant could possibly have the largest or near largest timber volume of any tree in Canada for about the first 50 feet of its trunk — the part you see and experience from the ground. This would make it, experientially, perhaps the most impressive tree in Canada, despite other cedars being taller or ranking higher overall.
It grows in a remote region of Flores Island in Ahousaht territory in Clayoquot Sound, BC, and has so far garnered the nickname ‘The Wall’, or ‘ʔiiḥaq ḥumiis’, meaning ‘big redcedar’ in the Nuu-chah-nulth language. The exact location has been asked to be kept private at this time.
AFA Photographer & Campaigner TJ Watt first located and photographed the tree in 2022 with his friend Nathaniel Glickman before returning in the spring of 2023 with Tyson Atleo, Hereditary Representative of the Ahousaht Nation and the Natural Climate Solutions Program Director of Nature United, and members of the Maaqutusiis Hahoutlhee Stewardship Society (MHSS).
Thankfully, the incredible Land Use Vision from the Ahousaht Nation, currently in the late stages of negotiations with the BC government, calls for the protection of 80% of Ahousaht territory, including the ancient forest where this tree is found. This would happen through the creation of new Indigenous Protected and Conserved Areas (IPCAs) to be legislated as Provincial Conservancies by the province.
The BC government must fully fund and support Indigenous-led protection of old-growth across BC, including in the remaining monumental old-growth stands and those identified as most at risk by the province’s science panel, the Technical Advisory Panel.
AFA commends the Ahousaht Nation for continuing to be such incredible stewards of their lands, which thankfully still harbour some of the most magnificent ancient forests, trees, and wildlife on Earth.
When visiting Ahousaht territory, visitors are encouraged to participate in their voluntary Stewardship Fee. Revenues from the Stewardship Fee directly fund the MHSS Stewardship Guardian Program which works on restoration, monitoring, infrastructure maintenance, and visitor engagement for the Ahousaht. Stewardship Fees can be paid online or at their office at 9-368 Main Street in Tofino. Also be sure to check out Ahous Adventures.
Thank you to the Trebek Initiative for helping make this expedition work possible.
▶️ Read our full media release here!
? Take a look at our photo gallery here!
? And don’t forget to SPEAK UP! Send-a-Message calling on the province to commit funding and set ecosystem-based targets for protecting the last monumental old-growth forests across BC.