About
Welcome to the Ancient Forest Alliance
The Ancient Forest Alliance (AFA) is a registered non-profit organization working to protect BC’s endangered old-growth forests and to ensure a sustainable, value-added, second-growth forest industry.
Our Mission
The AFA is calling on the BC government to:
- Implement a science-based plan to protect the endangered old-growth forests in the province.
- Ensure the sustainable logging of second-growth forests, which now constitute the majority of forest lands in southern BC.
- Support First Nations land use planning and sustainable economic development and diversification in lieu of old-growth logging.
- End the export of BC raw logs to foreign mills in order to ensure a guaranteed log supply for BC mills and value-added processing facilities.
- Implement incentives for the retooling and development of BC mills and value-added facilities to handle second-growth logs.
The Ancient Forest Alliance:
- Defends the intrinsic value of all ecosystems and species, including humanity, to flourish for their own sake within the context of ecological harmony.
- Supports First Nations cultures, rights and title to the land.
- Supports environmental policies that also entail practical economic solutions and substantial support for the thousands of forestry workers in BC.
The Ancient Forest Alliance:
- Works to inform and mobilize the public and diverse constituencies, including non-traditional allies, to protect ancient forests and forestry jobs. An educated and active citizenry exerts the ultimate lobby pressure on governments.
- Focuses mainly on solutions, including ensuring viable economic alternatives, to the destructive status quo.
- Recognizes and supports the centrality of First Nations in determining land use activities in their unceded territories and aims to work cooperatively with diverse First Nations in BC everywhere possible.
- Retains the right to support and/or criticize all levels of government based on their environmental policies in regards to ancient forests and forestry jobs.
- Works within the law.
The Ancient Forest Alliance:
- Explores and documents endangered ancient forests, record-sized heritage trees, and areas impacted by old-growth logging with professional photos and videos.
- Educates the public through the news media, social media, our own publications, and through direct interaction at events, booths, and door to door.
- Engages with and supports diverse First Nations communities within BC to develop old-growth conservation initiatives and land use plans that sustain their cultures and ancient forests.
- Focuses on outreach with non-traditional allies to expand and broaden the conservation spectrum, including with businesses, unions, forestry workers, scientists, faith groups, and diverse cultural groups.
- Undertakes research and develops solutions for policy makers.
- Organizes public forums, slideshows, rallies, protests, hikes, campouts, petition drives, and letter-writing campaigns to build widespread grassroots support.
- Works with other like-minded conservation organizations to coordinate and strengthen our impact.
- Empowers, trains, and supports local activists to build campaigns in their own communities.
- Engages key government decision-makers, civil servants, and politicians/ political parties regarding BC forest policies.
