"You're going to see some of the grandest forest left not only in Canada but on planet Earth. To have these 14-15 foot wide trees here is a very rare thing, these trees can be 1,000 years old," said Ken Wu, executive director of the Ancient Forest Alliance.
“If you were to arrive at Avatar Grove, you’ll find a one-kilometre trail with hundreds of metres of high-quality boardwalk that takes you through one of the most spectacular ancient forests in the country,” said TJ Watt, Avatar Grove boardwalk co-ordinator with the Ancient Forest Alliance. The boardwalk protects the tree roots and vegetation from excessive trampling and provides safe public access to the forest, he said. “It allows people to spend more time looking at the trees and less time looking at their feet.”
Now it's open the Ancient Forest Alliance's Ken Wu says it's been great for eco-tourism. "That is a message for other rural communities to stand up for the ancient forest in your area. Maybe take a page out of Costa Rica's book and take a step towards a sustainable economy and instead log second growth forest sustainably instead of logging the last of our ancient forests as well."
After four years of work, the boardwalk at Avatar Grove is officially finished and ready to be enjoyed by the public. On Thursday, the Ancient Forest Alliance held a grand opening ceremony in Port Renfrew in celebration of the effort put in to building the boardwalk.
"Hundreds of people have come out to help, to carry buckets of gravel up through the trail, to carry heavy boardwalk planks, hammering thousands of nails and swatting a million mosquitos," said T.J. Watt, boardwalk coordinator for the group. Port Renfrew has long relied on forestry and commercial fishing as main industries. But outdoor recreation and eco-tourism are a growing part of the economy.
This weekend the boardwalk in the Avatar Grove will finally be finished construction after four years. For the finishing touches, volunteers with the Ancient Forest Alliance (AFA) will be building a new platform, stairs, steps, and walkways, and install signage, on the major project. “The Avatar Grove’s real significance is that it serves as an example to other communities that protecting old-growth forests benefits the economy by hugely bolstering local businesses and jobs,” said Ken Wu, executive director of the Ancient Forest Alliance.“In helping to revitalize Port Renfrew’s economy, it has clearly counteracted the old, false narrative that saving old-growth forests harms the local economy. The Avatar Grove and its boardwalk have been the most important catalyst for B.C.’s ancient forest movement in recent times and have helped to shape the fate of endangered forests across the province.” See full article in the Sooke News Mirror: https://www.sookenewsmirror.com/news/avatar-grove-boardwalk-construction-to-be-finished-this-weekend/
The first Green-Social Democrat governing agreement in North American history has just been landed in British Columbia. In many nations, particularly in Europe, Green-Social Democrat coalitions have been central in pushing through vast progress for environmental and climate sustainability, social justice, and the expansion of the clean tech and renewable energy industries. In New Zealand, a Green-Social Democrat alliance ended old-growth logging there in 1999 - the Ancient Forest Alliance will work hard with this government to help them achieve this goal, which is in the BC Green's platform and which the NDP's platform includes the framework to allow this to happen. Congrat's to Andrew Weaver and John Horgan for concluding successful negotiations! Though more details are yet to come... See article here: https://beta.theglobeandmail.com/news/british-columbia/greens-announce-support-in-legislature/article35147472/
Vancouver Island's Chinese-language newspaper has run a story about the Ancient Forest Alliance, the Jurassic Grove, and our campaigns to protect old-growth forests, including using our big tree and stump photos. Take note that our Mandarin old-growth ecology walks are just getting underway in the Lower Mainland for the half a million Chinese-language speakers there, but sometime in the future, we hope to get it going on Vancouver Island too. See the article: https://issuu.com/viweekly/docs/vi_weekly_170524_-_015_-_online_ver
Here's an article by the Sierra Club of BC's Alys Granados, featuring a photo by the Ancient Forest Alliance's TJ Watt of recent old-growth clearcutting in the Klanawa Valley on Vancouver Island, in the Georgia Straight. See article here: https://www.straight.com/news/912886/alys-granados-we-have-protect-all-worlds-rainforests-not-just-tropical-rainforests
Here is a new article about the spectacular Jurassic Grove, a stunning old-growth redcedar forest between Jordan River and Port Renfrew not far off Highway 14 in Pacheedaht territory on Crown land. While much of the grove's 130 hectares is protected within a Marbled Murrelet Wildlife Habitat Area, there is an unprotected 40 hectare tract of giant redcedars (no logging plans for now), and the grove would be a natural protected area addition to buffer the existing Juan de Fuca Marine Trail Park and as a vitally important, extremely rare lowland old-growth stand in its own right. See the article from Sooke News Mirror: https://www.sookenewsmirror.com/news/stunning-grove-of-unprotected-old-growth-trees-located-near-port-renfrew/
Donate
Send a Message
