Old-growth forests store 2-3 times more carbon per hectare than the ensuing second-growth tree plantations but are still threatened by logging in BC.

Searching for the ‘sweet spot’ in the carbon debate

The valuable contribution intact forests make in conserving natural carbon stores to help in the fight against climate change has been largely overlooked in BC. Like a bank account that can store carbon away for hundreds of years, the service of keeping carbon in the ground and out of the atmosphere, is provided free of charge by our intact forests.
News Coverage
Ban Raw Log Exports filmmakers Travis Stock

The Death Of A Sawmill

The Cowichan Citizens’ Coalition will screen the documentaries Stump To Dump, and Raw Log Exports made by Lake Cowichan Secondary School students. Discussion will involve Youbou Timberless Society members, plus Ken Wu and T.J. Watt of the Ancient Forest Alliance.
Announcements
Ken James of the Youbou TimberLess Society (YTS)

The closure of the Youbou Sawmill, 10 years later

The Youbou TimberLess Society (YTS) will be hosting a film screening of their documentary videos Stump to Dump, and Log Exports, produced by Lake Cowichan Secondary School students, at the Duncan United Church Hall, Jan 20, at 7 p.m.
News Coverage
Ancient Forest Alliance

VIDEO: Victoria Community TV Presents: Face to Face with Avatar Grove

We are joined by Ken Wu and T.J.Watt from The Ancient Forest Alliance, along with some great images of this magnificent old growth forest. We also talk about 'the big picture' of saving what is left of BC's old growth forests, and the threats still facing it today.
News Coverage

Interview with TJ Watt – Photographer and Environmentalist

"My work focus’s mainly on the threats to BC’s endangered old-growth forests and often times I am taking photos where less than and a handful of people have stood, if any at all. The dense rainforests of Vancouver Island are largely unexplored so it’s amazing to share images from these virtually unknown places. If you can’t bring the 4 million plus citizens of British Columbia to the woods then you need to bring the woods to them and now, with the power of GPS mapping and Google Earth, you can extend that concept to the entire world."
News Coverage
Example of spectacular temperate rainforest on Vancouver Island contrasted with nearby logging of old-growth forest.

Poor BC Logging Practices "add to gas emissions"

The carbon from coastal rainforests, much of which comes from Vancouver Island, is not counted in BC's official emissions tally as, at the international level, Canada and the provinces decided against including forests. If they were included, emissions numbers for BC would increase by 24 per cent.
News Coverage
Old-growth forest clearcut new Port Renfrew on Vancouver Island

Certification fails to protect B.C. forests

In response to increasing public outcries over his complete mismanagement of forests in the public interest, Forest Minister Pat Bell is frequently taking refuge behind forest certification programs. But are third-party stamps of approval really, as Bell claims, a guarantee that our forests -- a trillion-dollar publicly owned asset -- are being managed sustainably?
News Coverage
"Canada's gnarliest tree" grows in Avatar Grove

No Charlie Brown Tree

O’ Christmas tree! O’ Christmas tree! Thy status is so precarious—at least if you’re the gnarly old beauty celebrating your one-year birthday in Avatar Grove. But this season isn’t just a time to celebrate: it’s time to get serious about conservation efforts, according to the Ancient Forest Alliance.
News Coverage
CRD Director Mike Hicks and son

Avatar hopes high in Port Renfrew chamber

To mark the first anniversary of the discovery of the groves by the Ancient Forest Alliance (AFA), the Port Renfrew Chamber of Commerce is adding its voice to the chorus calling for the grove’s long-term preservation.
News Coverage
Hikers gather around the largest alien shaped cedar in the Lower Avatar Grove

Island’s own Avatar Grove to open near Port Renfrew

In hopes of increasing public interest in saving the area from logging, the group is planning monthly public hikes to the grove, starting in January. Meanwhile, the Port Renfrew Chamber of Commerce has repeated its call for protection of the old-growth stand.
News Coverage