Ancient Forest Alliance

The WestShore Chamber of Commerce Supports Port Renfrew’s Call for the Protection of the Central Walbran Valley’s Old-Growth Forest

Conservationists are delighted that the WestShore Chamber of Commerce, representing almost 400 businesses in the western suburbs of Victoria has issued a letter in support of the Port Renfrew Chamber of Commerce’s request to the province of British Columbia that it protect the Central Walbran Valley from old-growth logging.

Media Release

Old-Growth Momentum Grows as Businesses, City Councils, and Naturalists Speak Up & Renowned Filmmaker Comes to Port Renfrew

Interest and concern for the fate of Vancouver Island’s endangered old-growth forests is on the rise, as a renowned filmmaker and his crew arrived earlier this week from the US to do a piece about the old-growth forests around Port Renfrew. In addition, a growing and diverse base of businesses, municipal councils, and natural history associations have joined the chorus of concerned citizens calling on the province to protect the endangered old-growth forest in the Central Walbran Valley on Vancouver Island near Port Renfrew.

Media Release
Port Alberni Watershed Forest-Alliance's Jane Morden stands amongst old-growth Douglas-fir trees in the Cameron Valley Firebreak

Support Grows Among Major Conservation Groups for a Provincial Fund to Buy New Parks

Momentum is growing as 16 major BC conservation and recreational groups have now signed onto the call for the BC government to establish a dedicated provincial fund that can be used to purchase and protect endangered private lands of high environmental and recreational significance.

Media Release

Port Renfrew Chamber of Commerce Calls for the Protection of the Central Walbran Valley’s Old-Growth Forest

Great news! The Port Renfrew Chamber of Commerce, representing 73 businesses, is calling for the protection of the Central Walbran Valley's old-growth forests! See here for today's media release.

Media Release

Conservationists Call for Innovative Fund to Buy New Parks

Victoria, BC – Conservationists are calling on the BC government to establish a Natural Lands Acquisition Fund. In a new report (https://www.elc.uvic.ca/wordpress/wp-content/uploads/2015/12/FindingMoneyForParks-2015-02-08-web.pdf) prepared for the Ancient Forest Alliance, the UVic Environmental Law Centre (ELC) is calling on the Province to establish an annual $40 million Natural Lands Acquisition Fund to purchase and protect endangered ecosystems on private lands.

Media Release
AFA's Ken Wu measuring the Tolkien Giant in the Central Walbran Valley. It appears to come in as the 9th widest western redcedar in BC

Conservationists Measure Near Record-Size Cedar in the Endangered Central Walbran Valley

Conservationists with the Ancient Forest Alliance have located and measured two huge western redcedar trees, one of which makes it into the top 10 widest redcedars in BC, in the endangered Central Walbran Valley on Vancouver Island. The “Tolkien Giant” comes in as the 9th widest western redcedar in BC, according to the BC Big Tree Registry.

Media Release
Screenshot from the new video clip which used drones to helped capture footage in the Central Walbran Valley

Drones used in BC’s Old-Growth Forest Campaigns – Walbran Valley conflict escalates

Conservationists are employing a new tool in the battle to protect BC’s endangered old-growth forests – remotely-piloted drones. The Ancient Forest Alliance (AFA) is using a small drone equipped with a GoPro camera to monitor and document the endangered old-growth forests of the Central Walbran Valley on Vancouver Island. This has allowed the organization to capture aerial video footage of old-growth forests threatened by logging on steep, rugged terrain that otherwise would take hours to hike to. 

Media Release
A Marbled Murrelet floats on the sea.

Audio Recording of the Threatened Marbled Murrelet, an Old-Growth Dependent Seabird, taken in the Endangered Central Walbran Valley

Two new recordings of the calls of a threatened, old-growth dependent seabird, the Marbled Murrelet, have been taken in the endangered Central Walbran Valley recently and were submitted last Friday to BC’s Ministry of Environment in hopes the new findings will halt logging plans in Canada’s grandest old-growth temperate rainforest.
Media Release
Ancient Forest Alliance's Jackie Korn stands amongst incredible old-growth redcedar trees in proposed cutblock 4412 in the Central Walbran Ancient Forest.

Canada’s Two Grandest Old-Growth Forests Under Logging Threat by the Teal-Jones Group!

Port Renfrew –  Surrey-based forestry company, the Teal-Jones Group, is aggressively moving forward with plans to log and build roads into Canada’s two most magnificent old-growth forests, the Central Walbran Ancient Forest (about 500 hectares) and the Edinburgh Mountain Ancient Forest (about 1500 hectares) on southern Vancouver Island. The company is planning eight new cutblocks (clearcuts) and a new road in the Central Walbran, and two new cutblocks and a new road on Edinburgh Mountain. The Walbran Valley is home to perhaps Canada’s finest stand of old-growth redcedars, the Castle Grove, while Edinburgh Mountain is where “Big Lonely Doug” (discovered last year by Ancient Forest Alliance activists to be Canada’s 2nd largest Douglas-fir tree – alas, completely surrounded by a 2012 clearcut) still stands and where the threatened "Christy Clark Grove" (ie. Lower Edinburgh Grove) is located in the Gordon River Valley.

Media Release
Port Alberni Watershed Forest-Alliance's Jane Morden stands with giant Douglas-fir trees on McLaughlin Ridge

BC Government Must Protect Old-Growth Forests in Port Alberni’s Drinking Watershed

Conservationists call on BC Government to help purchase endangered old-growth forests on Island Timberlands’ deregulated lands, including McLaughlin Ridge in Port Alberni’s drinking watershed,  following BC Teachers Federation motion, Port Alberni city council resolution, and now Island Timberlands’ potential interest in selling McLaughlin Ridge.

Media Release