Home to monumental ancient trees, diverse wildlife, and significant salmon and steelhead runs, the Nahmint Valley is one of the largest tracts of old-growth forest remaining on Vancouver Island outside of Clayoquot Sound. A popular destination for hikers, campers, and anglers, and hosting remarkable ancient forests, lakes, rugged peaks, and swimming holes with gorgeous turquoise water, the area is widely considered to be one of the most scenic places in BC. Long recognized for its outstanding ecological and recreational values, the Nahmint watershed was designated in the 1990 Vancouver Island Land Use Plan as a Special Management Zone to safeguard its exceptional biodiversity.
On an expedition to the Nahmint in May 2018, AFA campaigners were shocked to find the rapid and widespread destruction of some of Canada’s finest old-growth forests and near-record-sized trees, including the felling of Canada’s ninth-widest known Douglas-fir tree. The logging sparked public outrage and criticism of BC Timber Sales (BCTS), the BC government’s own logging agency responsible for auctioning off cutblocks in the valley, and garnered local, national, and international media attention. Following our expedition to the Nahmint, the Ancient Forest Alliance filed a complaint with the Ministry of Forests about the destructive logging practices that violated the valley’s high biodiversity emphasis designation under the Vancouver Island Land Use Plan.
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