Sep 7 2018

AFA’s Executive Director Ken Wu steps down to start new organization, the Endangered Ecosystems Alliance, while remaining on AFA’s Board

It is with great excitement and sadness that we announce the departure of Ken Wu from his position as the Ancient Forest Alliance's Executive Director of eight years, since co-founding the organization in early 2010. Ken is moving on from the AFA in order to establish a new national organization, the Endangered Ecosystems Alliance, which will promote “ecosystem literacy” and the science-based protection of all native ecosystems in Canada. Read our press release for more details!

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Nahmint Valley, Port Alberni - Huge Tree Logging
Aug 28 2018

Hupacasath First Nation calls on BC Government to Halt Logging of Old-Growth Forest in Nahmint Valley on Vancouver Island

The Hupacasath First Nation has sent an open letter to the BC NDP government, calling for an end to old-growth logging in the Nahmint Valley, in their traditional territory near Port Alberni, where Canada's ninth-widest Douglas-fir tree was felled in May. The letter calls on the provincial government to extinguish existing old-growth cutblocks and to work collaboratively with the band to ensure the protection of the area’s old-growth forests, biggest trees, and monumental cedars.

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An aerial view of the intact McKelvie Valley near Tahsis
Aug 2 2018

Old-Growth Logging in the McKelvie Valley Opposed by Tahsis Village Council and Community Members

Tahsis Village Council and members of the Tahsis community are joining forces with conservationists to oppose planned logging by Western Forest Products in the McKelvie Watershed, the last unlogged watershed in the Tahsis region, located in Nuu-chah-nulth territory.

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Ancient Forest Alliance campaigner and photographer TJ Watt stands among towering old-growth Douglas-fir trees in Metchosin.
Jul 24 2018

Ancient Forest Alliance Commends BC NDP Government for Expanding Protection for Coastal Douglas-Fir Ecosystem

The AFA commends the BC NDP government for protecting nearly 1,000 hectares of endangered Coastal Douglas Fir ecosystem on southeast Vancoucer Island and the Gulf Islands and calls for a provincial land acquisition fund to purchase and protect endangered ecosystems on private lands (which constitute the vast majority of BC's Coastal Douglas Fir zone)

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Valerie Langer
Jul 5 2018

Conservationists Commemorate 25-Year Anniversary of Clayoquot Sound Mass Protests, Call on BC Government to Finally Do the Right Thing and Protect Old-Growth Forests

July 5th, 2018, marks 25 years since the launch of the Clayoquot Sound mass blockades against the logging of ancient forest in Clayoquot Sound on Vancouver Island in Nuu-chah-nulth First Nations territory. Today, conservationists reflect on the impact of the historic movement and are urging the BC government to finally end the main forestry conflicts in BC.

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Ancient yellow cedar slated for logging in Schmidt Creek
Jun 13 2018

BC Government Targets Another Old-Growth Rainforest Forest For Clearcut Logging

VICTORIA, Unceded Lekwungen Territories – After visiting and documenting Schmidt Creek, the next valley slated for logging by government agency B.C. Timber Sales (BCTS), environmental organizations and Indigenous leaders are ramping up the call for the agency to discontinue logging permits in remaining endangered old-growth rainforests. The documentation of new BCTS logging roads in Schmidt Creek follows the recent discovery by the Ancient Forest Alliance of BCTS logging of endangered rainforest in the Nahmint Valley, near Port Alberni, including near record-sized ancient giants, wider than the biggest Douglas-fir in Cathedral Grove.

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Ancient Forest Alliance campaigner TJ Watt stands next to Canada's 9th-widest Douglas-fir tree
May 30 2018

Canada’s Ninth-Widest Douglas-fir Cut Down in Old-Growth Forest Auctioned Off by BC Government’s Logging Agency

Check out our media release about the cutting of Canada's ninth-widest Douglas-fir tree in the Nahmint Valley near Port Alberni, despite BC Timber Sales – the BC government's logging agency which auctioned off the cutblock – having a policy which is meant to protect exceptionally large trees. The AFA is now redoubling its efforts to pressure the BC government to direct their logging agency to stop issuing old-growth cutblocks in BC, to implement a Big Tree Protection Order to protect BC’s biggest trees and grandest groves, and most importantly, to develop comprehensive, science-based legislation to protect endangered old-growth forest ecosystems across the province while ensuring a sustainable, value-added, second-growth forest industry.

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Ancient Forest Alliance campaigner Andrea Inness walks beside an enormous
May 18 2018

Massive Cutting of Canada’s Grandest Old-Growth Forests Coordinated by BC Government’s Logging Agency – Near Record-Sized Douglas-firs Found in Nahmint Valley on Vancouver Island

Check out our media release about BC Timber Sales issuing cutblocks in some of Earth's grandest old-growth forest. Hundreds of hectares are being logged at breakneck speeds right now in the Nahmint Valley near Port Alberni, including thousands of old-growth western redcedars - some 4.3 meters (14 feet) in diameter - and exceptionally large Douglas-firs. BC's 5th and 9th widest Douglas-fir trees, according to the BC Big Tree Registry, were found on the expedition to the area.  

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Former co-Leader of the Green Party of Aotearoa New Zealand (1995 to 2009) Jeanette Fitzsimons
May 3 2018

New Zealand Shows the Way for BC to End Old-Growth Logging

Check out this news media release where the former co-leader of the Green Party of Aotearoa New Zealand (1995 to 2009), Jeanette Fitzsimons, who successfully worked for an old-growth logging ban in that country by 2001, says the same can and should be done in British Columbia. This follows AFA's Executive Director Ken Wu's recent trip to New Zealand in April after speaking at a series of forestry and green building conferences about the importance of protecting BC's endangered old-growth forests while halting the importation of old-growth wood from BC into New Zealand.

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Port Alberni Watershed Forest-Alliance activist Jane Morden surveys old-growth logging by Island Timberlands on McLaughlin Ridge in the China Creek drinking watershed of Port Alberni.
Feb 20 2018

Conservationists Disappointed the BC NDP’s Budget Fails to Allocate Land Acquisition Funding for Endangered Ecosystems and Old-Growth Forests

Check out our media release in response to today's BC Budget announcement, regarding the lack of funding for a provincial land acquisition fund to purchase and protect endangered old-growth forests and ecosystems on private lands. Despite repeated requests from conservation groups and thousands of concerned citizens, the NDP government has yet to prioritize the urgent need for a dedicated fund to purchase private lands of high conservation and recreational value and add them to the province's protected area system.

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