The campaign to protect BC�s old-growth forests is about to get an unprecedented level of global exposure! Al Jazeera, one of the largest TV news networks on Earth that reaches 220 million homes in over 100 countries, will feature a news piece tomorrow (Saturday) about the Ancient Forest Alliance�s campaign to protect British Columbia�s endangered old-growth forests and the Avatar Grove on Vancouver Island.
Al Jazeera English is actually available to 220 million homes in more than 100 countries around the world, which is what has local environmentalists excited.
An Al-Jazeera news crew toured the endangered Avatar Grove, the San Juan Spruce (Canada’s largest spruce tree), and clearcuts near the town of Port Renfrew on southern Vancouver Island last week with Ancient Forest Alliance activists Ken Wu and TJ Watt, and subsequently interviewed BC’s Forests Minister Pat Bell.
"This will be the biggest international news hit for the old-growth campaign in a long time," Ken Wu of the Ancient Forest Alliance said Thursday. "There is a strong international market for environmental issues, particularly one that is very charismatic."
Speaking on CFAX 1070 with Dave Dickson Thursday, the Alliance’s spokesperson Ken Wu explains how the network found out about Avatar Grove
Bell’s announcement came on the heels of a similar recommendation released by the Forest Practices Board, an independent advisory group for the B.C. government.
Watt earned first place in Outdoor Photography Canada magazine’s “human impact on the environment” photo contest. The image is of a lone man standing on the stump of an ancient tree in the middle of a clear cut in Gordon River valley, near Port Renfrew.
�Somehow a century of industrial logging has actually increased the amount of old-growth forests on Vancouver Island, according to the BC government. Maybe the Ancient Forest Alliance should take up logging to increase the amount of old-growth forests in BC!� joked Ken Wu, Ancient Forest Alliance (AFA) executive director.
Bell, who has previously emphasized that B.C. has ample protection for old-growth trees, said the change is driven by the public mood.
“Certainly we have been hearing the message . . . that we should be considering some tools, perhaps new tools that we could use when particularly unique trees are identified. They may be individual trees or small areas like the Avatar Grove that provide incremental value over and above the timber resource value,” Bell told media.
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