Recent News

Avatar Grove

Al Jazeera to report from front lines of B.C.’s old-growth logging issue

"This will be the biggest international news hit for the old-growth campaign in a long time," Ken Wu of the Ancient Forest Alliance said Thursday. "There is a strong international market for environmental issues, particularly one that is very charismatic."
News Coverage
The Al Jazeera film crew and AFA activists TJ Watt and Ken Wu visit Canada's largest spruce

Al Jazeera Covers Ancient Forest Alliance’s Campaign to Save British Columbia’s Endangered Old-Growth Forests and the Avatar Grove

An Al-Jazeera news crew toured the endangered Avatar Grove, the San Juan Spruce (Canada’s largest spruce tree), and clearcuts near the town of Port Renfrew on southern Vancouver Island last week with Ancient Forest Alliance activists Ken Wu and TJ Watt, and subsequently interviewed BC’s Forests Minister Pat Bell.
Media Release
AFA Photographer TJ Watt relaxes in a giant redcedar the day he and a friend discovered the now endangered Avatar Grove.

Old-growth group helping push forest policy changes

Bell’s announcement came on the heels of a similar recommendation released by the Forest Practices Board, an independent advisory group for the B.C. government.
News Coverage
AFA photographer TJ Watt shows a print of his photo of a man on a stump in the Gordon River valley that won first place in a Outdoor Photography Canada magazine photo contest.

Metchosin photographer earns national recognition

Watt earned first place in Outdoor Photography Canada magazine’s “human impact on the environment” photo contest. The image is of a lone man standing on the stump of an ancient tree in the middle of a clear cut in Gordon River valley, near Port Renfrew.
News Coverage
Loggers painted a sad face with its tongue sticking out making a mockery of the old-growth devastation in the background. Upper Walbran Valley

No Paradigm Shift in BC Government, But New Recognition of Public Mood for Protecting Avatar Grove and Expanding Old-Growth Protection

�Somehow a century of industrial logging has actually increased the amount of old-growth forests on Vancouver Island, according to the BC government. Maybe the Ancient Forest Alliance should take up logging to increase the amount of old-growth forests in BC!� joked Ken Wu, Ancient Forest Alliance (AFA) executive director.

News Coverage
Ancient Forest Alliance

Forest Practices Board Report – BC’s Ancient Forests Need More Protection

In response to a complaint filed about ancient redcedars up to 16ft in diameter being logged near Port Renfrew, BC, the Forest Practices Board, a third party government-appointed watchdog, has concluded that there is 'strong public interest' in seeing giant trees and unique stands of old-growth forest protected and that the BC government has the tools to do so.
Announcements
A large group of hikers crowd around the massive redcedar dubbed "Canada's Gnarliest Tree" during an Ancient Forest Alliance led public hike to the Avatar Grove in summer 2010.

BREAKING NEWS: AVATAR GROVE might get SAVED – Please WRITE a LETTER now!!

Yesterday BC’s Forests Minister Pat Bell announced that he is considering protecting the endangered Avatar Grove near Port Renfrew, and is also looking at developing new legal tools to increase protection of exceptional ancient trees and old-growth stands in BC. This would be an important step forward!
Announcements
A waterfall cascades through the old-growth redcedars in the endagered Avatar Grove.

Grove Saved?

“Certainly we have been hearing the message . . . that we should be considering some tools, perhaps new tools that we could use when particularly unique trees are identified. They may be individual trees or small areas like the Avatar Grove that provide incremental value over and above the timber resource value,” Bell told media.
News Coverage
AFA Campaign Director Ken Wu sits atop a massive

B.C. looking for new ways to protect ancient trees

Bell, who has previously emphasized that B.C. has ample protection for old-growth trees, said the change is driven by the public mood.
Media Release
The highly endangered Spotted owl. An estimated 5 individuals are thought to exist still in the wild.

B.C. needs endangered species legislation

Super, natural British Columbia is awesome, with more than 4,373 known forms of life. At more than double the size of the state of California, B.C. is breathtaking.
News Coverage

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Ancient Forest Alliance

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.

AFA’s office is located on the territories of the Lekwungen Peoples, also known as the Songhees and Esquimalt Nations.
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