These shocking new before and after photos expose the ongoing impacts of old-growth logging on Vancouver Island, BC. Captured between 2020-2022 by Ancient Forest Alliance Photographer & Campaigner, TJ Watt, in the Caycuse watershed in Ditidaht territory, the scenes feature centuries-old redcedar trees standing and then cut down. Read our media release here.

In 2020, the BC government promised to protect endangered old-growth forests. However, more than a year on, less than half of those most at-risk have been secured for temporary deferral, and some recommended areas, such as these, continue to be logged, as the province has failed to provide the requisite financing for First Nations needed to enable the full suite of deferrals.

Take action and send a message to the BC government.

The photos series is part of work Watt has created with support from the Trebek Initiative, a grantmaking partnership between the National Geographic Society and the Royal Canadian Geographical Society that supports emerging Canadian explorers, scientists, photographers, geographers, and educators with the goal of using storytelling to ignite “a passion to preserve” in all Canadians.

Lower Caycuse Valley

Drag the sliders below to reveal either the ‘before’ or ‘after’ images

Before logging Caycuse Valley After logging Caycuse Valley

Upper Caycuse Watershed

A word from TJ

Capturing these before and after images is quite a time-consuming and difficult process – both technically and emotionally – but I’m committed to exposing the ongoing threats ancient forests face until legislated protection can be achieved for them. Only when seeing a side-by-side comparison can one truly grasp the scale of loss and devastation from old-growth logging. Once cut down, not even our great, great-grandchildren will have the chance to see forests like those there again. Please take a moment and send a message to the BC government calling for conservation financing to help secure Indigenous-led old-growth logging deferrals and eventual permanent protection. Thank you.