The Ancient Forest Alliance (AFA) is a registered charitable organization working to protect BC’s endangered old-growth forests and to ensure a sustainable, value-added, second-growth forest industry.
We use cookies to help you navigate efficiently and perform certain functions. You will find detailed information about all cookies under each consent category under Settings. You may choose to enable or disable some or all of these cookies but disabling some of them may affect your browsing experience.
Accept settingsHide notification onlySettingsWe may request cookies to be set on your device. We use cookies to let us know when you visit our websites, how you interact with us, to enrich your user experience, and to customize your relationship with our website.
Click on the different category headings to find out more. You can also change some of your preferences. Note that blocking some types of cookies may impact your experience on our websites and the services we are able to offer.
These cookies are strictly necessary to provide you with services available through our website and to use some of its features.
Because these cookies are strictly necessary to deliver the website, refusing them will have impact how our site functions. You always can block or delete cookies by changing your browser settings and force blocking all cookies on this website. But this will always prompt you to accept/refuse cookies when revisiting our site.
We fully respect if you want to refuse cookies but to avoid asking you again and again kindly allow us to store a cookie for that. You are free to opt out any time or opt in for other cookies to get a better experience. If you refuse cookies we will remove all set cookies in our domain.
We provide you with a list of stored cookies on your computer in our domain so you can check what we stored. Due to security reasons we are not able to show or modify cookies from other domains. You can check these in your browser security settings.
We also use third-party cookies that help us analyze how you use this website, store your preferences, and provide the content and advertisements that are relevant to you. These cookies will only be stored in your browser with your prior consent.
These cookies collect information that is used either in aggregate form to help us understand how our website is being used or how effective our marketing campaigns are, or to help us customize our website and application for you in order to enhance your experience.
If you do not want that we track your visit to our site you can disable tracking in your browser here:
We also use different external services like Google Webfonts, Google Maps, and external Video providers. Since these providers may collect personal data like your IP address we allow you to block them here. Please be aware that this might heavily reduce the functionality and appearance of our site. Changes will take effect once you reload the page.
Google Webfont Settings:
Google Map Settings:
Google reCaptcha Settings:
Vimeo and Youtube video embeds:
You can read about our cookies and privacy settings in detail on our Privacy Policy Page.
Privacy Policy
On the big tree trail on Vancouver Island
These days, visitors to Port Renfrew can pick up a map to the area's largest trees and set out to explore what's been coined the Big Tree Capital of Canada. While some of Canada's largest trees are out of reach of a typical rental car, there are still plenty of accessible giants - aided by the recent paving of the Pacific Marine Circle Route, which allows travellers to drive across the interior of the island and pop out on the east coast near Duncan, rather than doubling back along the same route to Victoria.
Avatar Grove Boardwalk Update
As many of you are aware, the AFA has been planning for several months to build a boardwalk in the Avatar Grove near Port Renfrew. Our goal is to ensure the ecological integrity of this recently protected area, and to enhance visitor safety by building boardwalk on the more sensitive parts of the existing trail. So far we have been steadily working to complete the requisite applications and numerous studies, reviews and stakeholder consultations in order to obtain approval from the BC government for the boardwalk's construction.
Letter to the Editor – Pine beetle claims refuted
Re: Kieran Report, Aug. 23-29 In his attempt to blame the NDP government of the 1990s for the pine beetle epidemic in B.C.'s forests, Brian Kieran claims that the "infestation was first detected in Tweedsmuir Provincial Park and could have been contained there if forest companies had been permitted to go into the park and selectively log infested areas” — an argument that has been roundly refuted by everyone with the most rudimentary knowledge of the issue.
Long-Term Vision for Forest Management and Forest Economy Missing
“These recommendations will not support sustainable change,” said MLA Bob Simpson. “What I see in this report are politicians on both sides passing the buck to local communities with no long-term strategy for success. They’re willing to let communities decide whether to log their protected forests, but what happens when those are gone? The politicians will have moved on, leaving affected communities holding the bag.”
Media Release: Canada’s Finest Cedar Grove Marked for Logging
The Ancient Forest Alliance (AFA) is bracing for a potential, major escalation in BC’s “War in the Woods” as survey tape marking the “falling boundary” for logging has been recently discovered in the finest, unprotected stand of monumental old-growth western redcedar trees in Canada:the "Castle Grove" in the unprotected Upper Walbran Valley west of Lake Cowichan on southern Vancouver Island. The Castle Grove is an extensive stand of densely-packed enormous redcedars, including the “Castle Giant”, a 16 foot (5 meter) diameter cedar that is one of the largest trees in Canada.
Markers stir fears of Walbran logging
Members of the Ancient Forest Alliance found the tape in the Upper Walbran Valley, near Castle Grove, which contains the Castle Giant, a western red cedar with a five-metre diameter. The tree is listed in the provincial big tree registry as one of the widest in Canada.
Survey tape sparks logging concerns in Vancouver Island old-growth forest
The Vancouver Island old-growth forest that, over the decades, has sparked bitter confrontations over logging is again in the spotlight after survey tape was found near a grove of massive western red cedars.
Ben Parfitt and Anthony Britneff: B.C. MLAs take wrong approach to timber supply crisis
The real tragedy in the committee members’ recommendations is that they are well aware of where the real challenges lie. The committee acknowledges the essential importance of improved forest inventories—looking at how many healthy trees we have. Why isn’t this the first order of business? B.C. needs an expedited, thorough assessment now, before we have committed to even more unsustainable logging rates. To proceed with logging increases before such work is done is irresponsible and an insult to forest-dependent communities across the province.
Environmentalist bristles over report urging more logging
A government report looking at the pine beetle's impact in B.C.'s central interior has taken the wrong approach in urging more logging, says the executive director of Ancient Forest Alliance. Ken Wu says the report's recommendation to increase the timber supply and value of pine-beetle wood could allow for logging in protected forests.
Media Release: Timber Committee Opens Back Door for Potential Logging of Protected Forests
Today the Special Committee on Timber Supply released its report on how to deal with a timber shortfall in BC’s Central Interior in relation to the forest industry’s regional overcapacity. Of greatest environmental concern was the committee’s recommendation to create local committees to review the possibility of opening up protected forest reserves for logging. The committee also recommends continued overcutting, logging of “marginal” stands (ie. slow growing subalpine forests) and creating more “area-based tenures” ie. increasing private property-like rights on public forest lands.