At COP15, Indigenous leaders to show how their conservation efforts can shape global biodiversity agreement

Indigenous leaders are hoping COP15 will be an opportunity to showcase how Indigenous-led conservation can be at the heart of a new global biodiversity agreement. Over the past few years, Indigenous-led conservation has picked up momentum in Canada and abroad, reflecting a growing body of research that highlights the connections between traditional Indigenous territories and biodiversity.

Before-and-after images of old-growth logging in the lower Caycuse Valley, captured by AFA conservation photographer TJ Watt.

Giant trees still fall amid old-growth funding lag for BC First Nations

November 27, 2022 The Canadian Press By Brenna Owen British Columbia has asked First Nations if they want old-growth forests set aside from logging, allowing time for long-term planning of conservation and sustainable development, but it has yet to fund the process on a large scale, advocates say. In the meantime, some of the biggest […]

Before and after photos show devastating effects of intensive logging on BC’s old-growth forests

November 22, 2022 Canadian Geographic  By Madigan Cotterill  Conservation photographer TJ Watt advocates for the protection of old-growth ecosystems by documenting the loss of giant trees For hundreds of years, British Columbia’s old-growth forests have stood as markers of time; storing carbon, supporting biodiversity, providing habitat and performing other ecosystem services. But intensive logging is […]

Businesses join environmentalists to push BC’s premier to protect biodiversity

November 21, 2022 Vancouver Sun By Rochelle Baker  Federal government is willing to spend millions to reach its international commitments to products natural areas Businesses are urging the BC government to capitalize on Ottawa’s offer to spend hundreds of millions to save threatened ecosystems in the run-up to the UN Biodiversity Conference in Montreal next […]

BC hasn’t taken $50 million federal offer for old-growth forest protections

November 9, 2022 The Narwhal By Sarah Cox In August, as Minister of Environment and Climate Change Steven Guilbeault prepared to visit an old-growth forest park in West Vancouver, his office drafted a news release for the occasion. It was never sent out. The federal government had committed up to $50 million to permanently protect […]

Conservation group calls for protection of old-growth on Vancouver Island (PHOTOS)

October 18, 2022 Victoria Buzz By Curtis Blandy A new series of photos has been released by the Ancient Forest Alliance to call for conservation of old-growth forests that are being affected by logging. The series was captured between 2020 and 2022 by photographer TJ Watt near Lake Cowichan and on the Ditidaht First Nation’s […]

Conservation group buys stand of majestic old-growth as gift for First Nation

October 11th National Observer By Dani Penaloza  A rare section of diverse old-growth forest in BC, where the coastal rainforest meets the dry interior, has been purchased by a conservation organization and handed back to the Kanaka Bar Indian Band to protect. In August, the Nature-Based Solutions Foundation (NBSF) bought the eight acres known as […]

BC Indigenous conservation plan gets private backing

October 10, 2022 The Globe And Mail  By Justine Hunter  Battered by climate disasters, community at Kanaka Bar looks to protect old growth forest and restore ecosystems in a way that supports the First Nation’s self-sufficiency initiatives and sustainable economic development. Overhanging a riverbank in the Fraser Canyon, an ancient Western redcedar shows signs of […]

Band in BC’s Fraser Canyon proposes to protect, manage 350 sq. km swath of land

July 19, 2022 The Abbotsford News By Jessica Peters Indigenous petroglyphs, old growth forest, cultural significance at further risk: Kanaka Bar Band The wildfire that’s moving through the forests west of Lytton is the newest threat to an area rich in historic and cultural significance. As of Tuesday morning, the fire is at 2,000 hectares […]

Canada’s fourth-widest tree located in North Vancouver, estimated to be over 1000 years old

  June 27, 2022 City News By Monika Gul   One of the widest trees in Canada was found in the Lynn Valley area of North Vancouver. The tree, nicknamed “The North Shore Giant”, was located by Colin Spratt, a Vancouver big-tree hunter, and Ian Thomas of the Ancient Forest Alliance. Thomas said he was […]