Ancient Forest Alliance
FIND A PAGEFIND A PAGE
  • Home
  • About Us
        • The six AFA team members stand beside each other in front of an old-growth Douglas-fir tree.
        • Our Mission & Team
        • History & Successes
        • Work With Us
        • Contact Us
  • Our Work
    • Campaigns
    • Building Alliances
    • Activity Reports
  • Ancient Forests
    • Hiking Guides
    • Old-Growth Forests in BC: FAQs
    • Before & After Old-Growth Maps
    • Myths & Facts
    • Directions to Avatar Grove
    • Port Renfrew Big Trees Map
    • Old-Growth 101
  • Recent News
    • Recent News
    • Media Releases
    • Research & Reports
    • Publications
    • Educational
  • Photos & Media
        • Map of Gallery Locations
        • Themes
          • Biggest Trees
          • Biggest Stumps
          • Low Productivity Old-Growth
        • Videos
        • Vancouver Island North
          • East Creek Rainforest
          • Klaskish Inlet
          • Quatsino
            • Grove of Giant Cedars Clearcut in Quatsino Sound
            • Quatsino Old-Growth Under Threat 2023
            • Mahatta River Logging
          • Spruce Bay
          • Tsitika Valley
          • White River Provincial Park
        • Vancouver Island Central
          • Barkley Sound
            • Vernon Bay
          • Clayoquot Sound
            • Canada’s Most Impressive Tree – Flores Island
            • Flores Island
            • Meares Island
          • Cortes Island
            • Children’s Forest
            • Squirrel Cove Ancient Forest
          • Nootka Island
          • Port Alberni
            • Cameron Valley Firebreak
            • Cathedral Grove Canyon
            • Juniper Ridge
            • Katlum Creek
            • Nahmint Valley
            • Nahmint Logging 2024
            • McLaughlin Ridge
            • Mount Horne
            • Taylor River Valley
          • Tahsis
            • McKelvie Valley
            • Tahsis: Endangered Old-Growth Above Town
        • Vancouver Island South
          • Carmanah
            • Climbing the Largest Spruce in Carmanah
            • Carmanah Research Climb
          • Caycuse Watershed
            • Before & After Logging – Caycuse Watershed
            • Before and After Logging Caycuse 2022
            • Caycuse Logging From Above
            • Lower Caycuse River
            • Massive Trees Cut Down
          • Klanawa Valley
          • Koksilah
          • Mossy Maples
            • Mossy Maple Gallery
            • Mossy Maple Grove
          • Port Renfrew
            • Avatar Boardwalk
            • Avatar Grove
            • Big Lonely Doug and Clearcut
            • Bugaboo Ridge Ancient Forest
            • Eden Grove
            • Exploring & Climbing Ancient Giants
            • Fairy Creek Headwaters
            • Granite Creek Logging
            • Jurassic Grove
            • Loup Creek
            • Mossome Grove
            • Mossome Grove Tree Climb
          • Walbran Valley
            • Castle Grove
            • Central Walbran Ancient Forest
            • Hadikin Lake
            • Walbran Headwaters At Risk
            • Walbran Overview
            • Walbran Logging
        • Haida Gwaii
        • Sunshine Coast
          • Day Road Forest
          • Mt. Elphinstone Proposed Park Expansion
          • Powell River
            • Eldred River Valley
            • Mt. Freda Ancient Forests
          • Roberts Creek Headwaters
          • Stillwater Bluffs
        • Inland Rainforest
          • Ancient Forest/ Chun T’oh Whudujut Provincial Park
          • Parthenon Grove
        • Mainland
          • Echo Lake
          • Kanaka Bar IPCA Proposal
  • Take Action
    • Send A Message to the BC Government
    • Sign Petition
    • Sign a Resolution
  • Store
  • Donate
  • Click to open the search input field Click to open the search input field Search
  • Menu Menu
  • Store
  • Donate
News Coverage
A man in a blue jacket stands inside the base of a logged western redcedar in the middle of a massive clearcut on northern Vancouver Island.May 11 2023

The Guardian: Images of felled ancient tree a ‘gut-punch’, old-growth experts say

May 11 2023/News Coverage

May 11, 2023
The Guardian
By Leyland Cecco

Shocking photos of chopped-down tree in western Canada highlights flaws in plan to protect forest from loggers, activists say

Stark images of an ancient tree cut down in western Canada expose flaws in the government’s plan to protect old-growth forests, activists have said, arguing that vulnerable ecosystems have been put at risk as logging companies race to harvest timber.

As part of an effort to catalogue possible old growth forests, photographer TJ Watt and Ian Thomas of the environmental advocacy group Ancient Forest Alliance travelled to a grove of western red cedars on British Columbia’s Vancouver Island. But then they arrived to the forest in Quatsino Sound, they found hundreds of trees that has recently been logged.

“It’s absolutely gut-wrenching to see a tree lying on the ground, and to think that it had lived for more than 500 years and then it can be gone in the blink of an eye, never to be seen again,” said Watt, who photographed the forest as part of a grant from the Trebek Initiative, a partnership between the National Geographic Society and the Royal Canadian Geographical Society named after the late Jeopardy host.

A man in a blue jacket stands beside a fallen western redcedar.

AFA researcher Ian Thomas stands beside a massive fallen western redcedar

Watt’s images have been used previously to highlight the dramatic change to landscapes after an old-growth forest is cleared.

In November 2021, amid mounting public frustration over the destruction of old-growth trees, the British Columbia government deferred logging in 2.6 million hectares within the most at-risk forests. The BC government has also pledged to protect 30% of the province’s land area by 2030, part of broader efforts within Canada to meet biodiversity preservation goals.

Since outlining its planned deferrals, however, less than half of the proposed areas have been agreed upon by the province and First Nations communities, whose consent is required. A number of First Nations are actively involved in the logging industry and would see a drop in revenues if logging in their territory was halted. Groups such as the Ancient Forest Alliance say more funding is needed to help offset lost forestry revenues among First Nations.

A man in a red jacket stands beside the base of a fallen western redcedar among a giant clearcut of hundreds other old-growth trees.

AFA photographer TJ Watt stands beside a fallen western redcedar, thought to be 500+ years old.

Critics of the province’s deferral plans also say there are problems in the original recommendations, including an admission from the technical advisory panel that a number of forests are likely been incorrectly classified. In the case of the cutblock found by Watt and Thomas, held by Western Forest Products and logged in late 2022, it was classified as 210 years, younger than the province’s 250-year-old threshold for being considered old-growth. The company did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

“It just underscores the fact that the logging industry is racing to cut the biggest and best trees while they still can,” said Watt. “Tree-planting does not replicate a complex old-growth forest ecosystem. Knowing this forest could potentially have been left standing, had it been identified properly by the province, is also another punch to the gut.”

A man in a red jacket lies down on the fallen western redcedar, providing scale for the sheer size of the monumental tree.

AFA photographer TJ Watt provides some scale by lying down on the trunk of an old-growth western redcedar tree recently cut by Western Forest Products in Quatsino Sound.

Currently, there are no mechanisms in place for the public or industry to flag forests with trees older than those the province has identified.

“The province admitted the data was going to be somewhat imperfect. We’ve said that citizens and scientists should be able to identify and point out areas missed for deferral. Logging companies should be required when they’re doing their planning and surveys to compare it to that criteria,” said Watt.

Timber companies are not obliged to cut down all trees within an approved cutblock. In 2011, logger Dennis Cronin famously stumbled upon a towering Douglas fir, likely more than 1,000 years old, on the west coast of Vancouver Island. The rest of the forest was logged, but Big Lonely Doug was spared.

“Progress is being made, but clearly there are still loopholes. We need to make sure that the province is following through on all of their commitments to protect these endangered ecosystems, and not letting anything slip through the cracks,” said Watt.

“There’s no argument that can be made, when you see these trees that are centuries old, that they should be cut down.”

See the original article here.

Share this entry
  • Share on Facebook
  • Share on X
  • Share on WhatsApp
  • Share on Pinterest
  • Share on LinkedIn
  • Share on Reddit
  • Share by Mail
https://ancientforestalliance.org/wp-content/uploads/2023/05/old-growth-logging-quatsino-vancouver-island-1024-1.jpg 1365 2048 TJ Watt https://ancientforestalliance.org/wp-content/uploads/2014/10/cropped-AFA-Logo-1000px.png TJ Watt2023-05-11 15:21:452023-05-12 10:57:11The Guardian: Images of felled ancient tree a ‘gut-punch’, old-growth experts say
Search Search

Recent News

  • Western TrilliumApr 10 2025
  • SOLD OUT: AFA’s 15th Anniversary Celebration and Fundraiser on May 1st!Apr 9 2025
  • What are Ecosystem-Based Protection Targets, and why does BC need them?Apr 2 2025
View All Posts

Categories

Archive

Find us on

  • Link to Facebook
  • Link to Instagram
  • Link to Youtube
  • Link to TikTok
  • Link to Bluesky
  • Link to Reddit

Take Action Template

Take action by sending an instant message to protect old-growth forests!

Related Posts

My Cowichan Valley Now: Conservationists call for BC forestry industry to be modernized

Mar 24 2025
Conservationists call for BC’s forestry industry to be modernized amid ongoing US tariff threats.
Read more
News Coverage
https://ancientforestalliance.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/03/3-Eden-Grove-Ken-Wu-1536x1024-1.jpg 1024 1536 TJ Watt https://ancientforestalliance.org/wp-content/uploads/2014/10/cropped-AFA-Logo-1000px.png TJ Watt2025-03-24 16:23:282025-03-24 16:24:21My Cowichan Valley Now: Conservationists call for BC forestry industry to be modernized

Toronto Star: The best place to go forest bathing? The ancient groves of Vancouver Island offer a meditative journey back in time

Mar 21 2025
British Columbia is home to some of the most enormous trees on the planet. Credit for the rise of tall-tree tourism here goes to the Ancient Forest Alliance, a charitable organization that advocates for protecting B.C.’s endangered old-growth forests.
Read more
News Coverage
https://ancientforestalliance.org/wp-content/uploads/2022/02/1-Avatar-Grove-Tourists-1.jpg 1200 1800 TJ Watt https://ancientforestalliance.org/wp-content/uploads/2014/10/cropped-AFA-Logo-1000px.png TJ Watt2025-03-21 11:20:502025-03-21 11:27:17Toronto Star: The best place to go forest bathing? The ancient groves of Vancouver Island offer a meditative journey back in time
Two people stand on a rock by the Fraser River in Kanaka Bar territory.

VIDEO: Inside Kanaka Bar’s Conservation Plan: Protecting Rare Ecosystems & Indigenous Culture

Feb 21 2025
We're excited to share an amazing new video with you featuring the Kanaka Bar Indian Band's proposed T’eqt’aqtn Indigenous Protected and Conserved Area (IPCA).
Read more
News Coverage
https://ancientforestalliance.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/02/Inside-Kanaka-Bar-Video-Thumbnail-scaled.jpg 1440 2560 TJ Watt https://ancientforestalliance.org/wp-content/uploads/2014/10/cropped-AFA-Logo-1000px.png TJ Watt2025-02-21 14:04:192025-02-28 17:05:19VIDEO: Inside Kanaka Bar’s Conservation Plan: Protecting Rare Ecosystems & Indigenous Culture

VIDEO: Old-Growth Policy Update: February 2025

Feb 19 2025
WATCH our update on BC’s Old-Growth & Protected Areas Policies as of February 2025 following the release of Premier David Eby's mandate letters.
Read more
News Coverage
https://ancientforestalliance.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/12/Nahmint-Valley-Before-After-Cedar-1-scaled.jpg 1916 2560 TJ Watt https://ancientforestalliance.org/wp-content/uploads/2014/10/cropped-AFA-Logo-1000px.png TJ Watt2025-02-19 16:49:402025-02-28 17:03:56VIDEO: Old-Growth Policy Update: February 2025
See All Posts

Take Action

 Donate

Support the Ancient Forest Alliance with a one-time or monthly donation.
How to Give

 Send a Message

Send an instant message to key provincial decision-makers.
Take Action

Get in Touch

Phone

(250) 896-4007 (Mon-Fri 9am-5pm)

Address

205-620 View Street
Victoria, B.C. V8W 1J6

Privacy Policy

  • Link to Facebook
  • Link to Instagram
  • Link to Youtube
  • Link to TikTok
  • Link to Bluesky
  • Link to Reddit

Resources

  • Recent News
  • Old Growth FAQs
  • Research & Reports
  • Photos & Media
  • Videos
  • Hiking Guides
  • Old-Growth 101

Who We Are

  • Our Mission & Team
  • History & Successes
  • Activity Reports
  • Contact
Ancient Forest Alliance

The Ancient Forest Alliance (AFA) is a registered charitable organization working to protect BC’s endangered old-growth forests and to ensure a sustainable, value-added, second-growth forest industry.

AFA’s office is located on the territories of the Lekwungen Peoples, also known as the Songhees and Esquimalt Nations.
Copyright © 2025 Ancient Forest Alliance • All Rights Reserved
Earth-Friendly Web Design by Fairwind Creative
Scroll to top

We use cookies to help you navigate efficiently and perform certain functions. You will find detailed information about all cookies under each consent category under Settings. You may choose to enable or disable some or all of these cookies but disabling some of them may affect your browsing experience.

Accept settingsHide notification onlySettings

Cookie and Privacy Settings



How we use cookies

We may request cookies to be set on your device. We use cookies to let us know when you visit our websites, how you interact with us, to enrich your user experience, and to customize your relationship with our website.

Click on the different category headings to find out more. You can also change some of your preferences. Note that blocking some types of cookies may impact your experience on our websites and the services we are able to offer.

Essential Website Cookies

These cookies are strictly necessary to provide you with services available through our website and to use some of its features.

Because these cookies are strictly necessary to deliver the website, refusing them will have impact how our site functions. You always can block or delete cookies by changing your browser settings and force blocking all cookies on this website. But this will always prompt you to accept/refuse cookies when revisiting our site.

We fully respect if you want to refuse cookies but to avoid asking you again and again kindly allow us to store a cookie for that. You are free to opt out any time or opt in for other cookies to get a better experience. If you refuse cookies we will remove all set cookies in our domain.

We provide you with a list of stored cookies on your computer in our domain so you can check what we stored. Due to security reasons we are not able to show or modify cookies from other domains. You can check these in your browser security settings.

Google Analytics Cookies

We also use third-party cookies that help us analyze how you use this website, store your preferences, and provide the content and advertisements that are relevant to you. These cookies will only be stored in your browser with your prior consent.

These cookies collect information that is used either in aggregate form to help us understand how our website is being used or how effective our marketing campaigns are, or to help us customize our website and application for you in order to enhance your experience.

If you do not want that we track your visit to our site you can disable tracking in your browser here:

Other external services

We also use different external services like Google Webfonts, Google Maps, and external Video providers. Since these providers may collect personal data like your IP address we allow you to block them here. Please be aware that this might heavily reduce the functionality and appearance of our site. Changes will take effect once you reload the page.

Google Webfont Settings:

Google Map Settings:

Google reCaptcha Settings:

Vimeo and Youtube video embeds:

Privacy Policy

You can read about our cookies and privacy settings in detail on our Privacy Policy Page.

Privacy Policy
Accept settingsHide notification only
Ancient Forest AllianceLogo Header Menu
  • Home
  • About Us
    • Our Mission & Team
    • History & Successes
    • Work With Us
    • Contact Us
  • Our Work
    • Our Work
    • Activity Reports
    • Building Alliances
    • Campaigns
  • Ancient Forests
    • Hiking Guides
    • Old-Growth Forests in BC: FAQs
    • Before & After Old-Growth Maps
    • Myths & Facts
    • Directions to Avatar Grove
    • Port Renfrew Big Trees Map
    • Old-Growth 101
  • Recent News
    • Recent News
    • Research & Reports
    • Media Releases
    • Publications
    • Educational
  • Photos & Media
    • Map of Gallery Regions
    • Themes
      • Biggest Trees
      • Biggest Stumps
      • Low Productivity Old-Growth
    • Videos
    • Inland Rainforest
      • Ancient Forest/ Chun T’oh Whudujut Provincial Park
      • Parthenon Grove
    • Mainland
      • Echo Lake
      • Kanaka Bar IPCA Proposal
    • Haida Gwaii
    • Sunshine Coast
      • Day Road Forest
      • Mt. Elphinstone Proposed Park Expansion
      • Roberts Creek Headwaters
      • Stillwater Bluffs
    • Sunshine Coast: Powell River
      • Eldred River Valley
      • Mt. Freda Ancient Forests
    • Vancouver Island South
      • Climbing the Largest Spruce in Carmanah
      • Carmanah Research Climb
      • Klanawa Valley
      • Koksilah
    • VI South: Caycuse Watershed
      • Before & After Logging – Caycuse Watershed
      • Before and After Logging Caycuse 2022
      • Caycuse Logging From Above
      • Lower Caycuse River
      • Massive Trees Cut Down
    • VI South: Mossy Maples
      • Mossy Maple Gallery
      • Mossy Maple Grove
    • VI South: Port Renfrew
      • Avatar Boardwalk
      • Avatar Grove
      • Big Lonely Doug and Clearcut
      • Bugaboo Ridge Ancient Forest
      • Eden Grove
      • Exploring & Climbing Ancient Giants
      • Fairy Creek Headwaters
      • Granite Creek Logging
      • Jurassic Grove
      • Loup Creek
      • Mossome Grove
      • Mossome Grove Tree Climb
    • VI South: Port Alberni
      • Cameron Valley Firebreak
      • Cathedral Grove Canyon
      • Juniper Ridge
      • Katlum Creek
      • Nahmint Valley
      • Nahmint Logging 2024
      • McLaughlin Ridge
      • Mount Horne
      • Taylor River Valley
    • VI South: Walbran Valley
      • Castle Grove
      • Central Walbran Ancient Forest
      • Hadikin Lake
      • Walbran Headwaters At Risk
      • Walbran Overview
      • Walbran Logging
    • Vancouver Island Central
      • Barkley Sound: Vernon Bay
      • Nootka Island
    • VI Central: Clayoquot Sound
      • Canada’s Most Impressive Tree – Flores Island
      • Flores Island
      • Meares Island
    • VI Central: Cortes Island
      • Children’s Forest
      • Squirrel Cove Ancient Forest
    • VI Central: Tahsis
      • McKelvie Valley
      • Tahsis: Endangered Old-Growth Above Town
    • Vancouver Island North
      • East Creek Rainforest
      • Klaskish Inlet
      • Mahatta River Logging
      • Quatsino
      • Spruce Bay
      • Tsitika Valley
      • White River Provincial Park
  • Take Action
    • Send a Message
    • Sign Petition
    • Sign a Resolution
  • Store
  • Donate