The ANCIENT FOREST ALLIANCE’s Special INFO NIGHT, CELEBRATION, and FUNDRAISER!
Please support the new organization in its crucial, formative first year! See great speakers, have a drink, meet other supporters, and make a donation if you can!
Elizabeth May, John Horgan, Ken Wu, TJ Watt, Adriane Carr, Jens Wieting, and other speakers…
TUESDAY, NOV. 30, 2010
Ambrosia Centre,
638 Fisgard St.,
VICTORIA, BC
7:00- 8:00 pm Presentations and Slideshows! (FREE)
8:00-9:00 pm Fundraiser, Drink, and Socialize! (Donations during the pledge auction…)
Confirm and invite others on Facebook at: https://www.facebook.com/event.php?eid=143700762345115&index=1
BC’s old-growth forests are vital for mitigating climate change by storing far more carbon per hectare than the second-growth tree plantations that replace them.
Conversely, climate change is destroying our old-growth forests by killing more trees through intensified winter storms, droughts, and disease.
With Stephen Harper recently killing Canada’s only climate change legislation through the unelected Conservative Senate just before the UN Climate Summit begins in Mexico (the follow-up to last year’s Copenhagen summit) and with the BC Liberal government still contending with a straight face that “we have more old-growth forests today than we did historically” (Forest Minister Pat Bell on the “Voice of BC” in September), we SERIOUSLY must expand the movement for our forests and climate!
The Ancient Forest Alliance, a new organization launched in January of this year, has grown by leaps and bounds with thousands of supporters. We‘re almost 1 year old and if we are to sustain and expand our campaign into a more powerful provincial force, we need YOUR support!
We’ve organized numerous hikes, expeditions (including finding the Avatar Grove), slideshows, rallies, and petition drives, brought on board many new allies, and garnered a huge amount of provincial and national media coverage on our campaigns. See some of what we’ve done at: www.ancientforestalliance.org/news.php
But we need YOUR help to keep going and growing!
PLEASE COME OUT and INVITE FRIENDS and FAMILY to JOIN US!
So…
In the 1st Hour: Hear some of Canada’s MOST ACCOMPLISHED long-time forest activists and see a truly SPECTACULAR SLIDESHOW
In the 2nd Hour: We hope you stay for this, to donate during the PLEDGE AUCTION, along with having a drink or two (if you stay you get a FREE drink ticket for the bar if you’re 19 or older) and SOCIALIZING with the other supporters and AFA activists from Victoria and Vancouver.
Here is a list of the evening’s presentations. Each will be quite brief:
“Ecology and Politics of BC’s Ancient Forests, the spectacular Avatar Grove, and the First Year of the Ancient Forest Alliance,” spectacular slideshow by TJ Watt and Ken Wu of the Ancient Forest Alliance
“The UN Climate Summit in Cancun, Stephen Harper’s sabotage of Canada’s Climate Bill, and Prospects for Climate Progress,” by Elizabeth May, Author of “At the Cutting Edge: The Crisis in Canada’s Forests” and co-author of “Climate Change for Dummies”, former executive director of the Sierra Club of Canada, and current national leader of the Green Party of Canada
“BC’s Climate and Forests Campaign: The push for forest protection and climate conservation areas in BC”, by Jens Wieting, Sierra Club of BC coastal forest coordinator.
NDP MLA John Horgan with also speak on his support for saving the ancient forests of the Avatar Grove!
“Grassroots movements and environmental activism: Some lessons from the 1980’s and ‘90’s”, by Adriane Carr, former Wilderness Committee executive team member and Clayoquot Sound campaigner and deputy Green leader of Canada
Adriane will also be the Pledge Auctioneer to help us raise funds that night! (she’ll explain how a Pledge Auction works)
For more info contact the Ancient Forest Alliance at info@ancientforestalliance.org
Avatar hopes high in Port Renfrew chamber
/in News CoverageIt’s been a year since an area known as Avatar Grove, near Port Renfrew, has become more widely known.
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.
The grove has been the subject of a couple of features in the Sooke News Mirror, most recently, a front-page placing on the October 6, 2010 issue. On that occasion a reporter was along for the ride with the AFA’s TJ Watt and Ken Wu, plus the MLA for Juan de Fuca, John Horgan and CRD Juan de Fuca Regional Director Mike Hicks for a tour of the grove.
The AFA has since planned a monthly schedule of tours to introduce more people to the location where giant cedar, fir and spruce trees dwell. A place the AFA is determined to preserve.
The grove is only minutes from the Village of Port Renfrew – proximity the local Chamber president feels is an important and valuable local asset.
Over and above an existing desire to see the trees spared from the chainsaw, Betsworth feels they are a draw for visitors, and can grow in that capacity.
“Avatar could be the difference between Port Renfrew surviving or not,” she said on December 18.
“Right now we’re dealing with problems in our fishing industry… with cutbacks in salmon and halibut quotas. We went through that last year and it’s not looking very good for this coming year. That’s a trickle down effect – leading to less accommodations needed, fewer restaurant visits. In my opinion keeping Avatar Grove alive, as well as the rest of our hiking trails and surfing, could be our saviour.”
The Ancient Forest Alliance is calling on the B.C. government to protect remaining old growth forests.
See original article bclocalnews.com/sookenewsmirror
Port Renfrew’s ‘Avatar Grove’ To Become Eco-Tourism Site
/in AnnouncementsThe Port Renfrew Chamber of Commerce has partnered with the Ancient Forest Alliance to both raise awareness about the endangered ‘Avatar Grove ‘ and call for it’s protection.
The Ancient Forest Alliance is planning monthly public hikes to the Grove which features 50 hectares of old growth trees, located in an area just discovered by the Alliance a year ago.
Port Renfrew’s Chamber of Commerce has requested the BC government protect the Avatar Grove, for it’s eco-tourism potential, and the Sooke Regional Tourism Association has echoed that request.
Island’s own Avatar Grove to open near Port Renfrew
/in News CoverageAnyone yearning for a walk on the wild side will have an opportunity to take a hike in Avatar Grove, near Port Renfrew next year.
Endangered Avatar Grove Celebrates One Year Anniversary
/in Media ReleaseEndangered Avatar Grove
/in News CoverageBetween Port Renfrew and Cowichan Lake, above the banks of Gordon River, a small pocket of old-growth western redcedars (Thuja plicata) and Douglas-firs (Pseudotsuga menziesii) was discovered earlier this year. It represents a rare remnant of valley-bottom primary forest on southern Vancouver Island, where 96% of the original forest has been logged. This place was dubbed Avatar Grove, after this year’s box office blockbuster Avatar, the story line of which is a cautionary tale warning against the unsustainable use of our planet’s resources.
On September 19, 12 people participated in a VNHS day trip to visit the trees of Avatar Grove, which is slated for destruction despite its rarity and potential to become a major tourist attraction as “the Cathedral Grove of southern Vancouver Island.” Our trip itinerary, via the Pacific Marine Circle Route, included several other ancient trees in the area, but the focus was unprotected Avatar Grove.
Unlike the movie, no 3-D glasses were required at the Grove, but the special effects were impressive. Grey skies and intermittent rain enhanced the various rich hues of green in the forest. Except for the occasional soft, high-pitched call of Brown Creepers and Golden-crowned Kinglets, this “green, dark forest was too silent to be real,” to borrow a lyric from Gordon Lightfoot.
We were led by TJ Watt, who co-discovered the Grove earlier this year. TJ is a campaigner for the Ancient Forest Alliance, which was founded by former activists with the Western Canada Wilderness Committee. To maintain its status as a charitable organization, the Western Canada Wilderness Committee is prohibited from partisan political activity, whereas the Ancient Forest Alliance has no charitable status, and can therefore play a direct role in the political realm, including the electoral process.
The Ancient Forest Alliance supports sustainable second-growth forestry. British Columbia’s forestry sector has always been, and continues to be, an important component of the economy, providing well-paying employment for legions of British Columbians and a crucial stream of revenues to support a wide array of public services. However, liquidation of the last remaining stands of unprotected old-growth, and an over-reliance on the export of raw logs to foreign mills, does not constitute sustainable forestry. The Ancient Forest Alliance recognizes that the conservation of primary forest also has significant value, and provides benefits for the ecosystems from which our species is inseparable. Beyond our region, we increasingly understand the importance of temperate rainforest ecosystems to the larger biosphere.
Over the course of this year, as the existence of Avatar Grove became known, a footpath has appeared to the largest trees. A short walk into the lower Avatar Grove reveals several massive Douglas-firs and some gnarly, burl-adorned western redcedars; in fact, the Grove is thought to contain the “gnarliest” cedars in Canada, with some of the largest ones likely being more than 500 years old. (A burl indicates some form of distress to a tree, possibly caused by a fungus.) The upper Avatar Grove features many towering redcedars along its path and eventually leads to the “gnarliest” tree of all: a giant old-growth cedar with a contorted burl measuring 12 feet in diameter.
Throughout Avatar Grove, the top soil is derived mostly from decay of trees that have fallen over the years. Much of the soil clearly consists of disintegrating cedars, and retains the deep rufous that is recognizable as the colour of western redcedars. A hike in this forest is an unforgettable experience of walking across a sponge-like surface. With each step, a hiker’s boot sinks slightly into the soil, which quickly springs up again as the boot lifts for the next step. The biodiversity and complexity of an old-growth ecosystem is far greater than that of second-growth forests. Biodiversity is especially rich in valley-bottom old-growth forests such as this one. Old cedars frequently become hollowed out at the base of their trunks while remaining viable; the resulting cavities provide dens for bears, cougars, wolves and other animals.
On September 17, members of the South Vancouver Island Mycological Society conducted a mycological survey of the area. As reported by Adolf and Oluna Ceska, the group was “surprised by the richness of the mycoflora there.”
SVIMS has documented at least 50 species of fungus. The most significant find was Leptonia approximata, which was not previously known in BC; its distribution is northern California. Additionally, three species of the genus Phaeocollybia were found, along with two species of Ramaria that are considered rare, and the distribution of which are tracked in the United States by the Bureau of Land Management. At publication time, SVIMS intended to return to the area in October to record later-fruiting species. For more information on SVIMS, see the Society’s website at https://www.svims.ca.
From an economic perspective, the Ancient Forest Alliance suggests that the potential ongoing value of Avatar Grove as a tourist destination is superior to the one-time financial hit of turning the biggest trees into a few logs and losing the most accessible stand of monumental old-growth on Vancouver Island. Port Renfrew and the communities of Cowichan Lake would benefit as gateways to the protected Grove.
It’s time to say “enough is enough,” and take a stand. Time is slipping away. Visit the Ancient Forest Alliance website at https://ancientforestalliance.org/ to see what you can do to help.
As with so many VNHS day trips, many thanks are due to Agnes Lynn for organizing the day trip, and Dave Lynn for his safe driving skills behind the wheel of the van. Thanks also to TJ for sharing his enthusiasm for Avatar Grove, and for his efforts to save it.
Slideshow to protect Island’s ancient forests
/in AnnouncementsThe Comox Valley Naturalists Society will be hosting a slideshow presentation 7-9 p.m. on Dec. 8 by Ken Wu and TJ Watt of the Ancient Forest Alliance to raise awareness of and support for the need to protect BCs endangered old growth forests. The presentation will be at the Florence Filberg Centre, 411 Anderton Ave., Courtenay. Admission is by donation.
The AFA is calling on the BC government to inventory BC’s ancient forests and protect them where they are scarce, such as on Vancouver Island, to ban raw log exports to foreign mills, and to ensure the establishment of a sustainable second-growth forest industry in BC.
A 40-minute Power Point presentation will highlight the current status of Vancouver Island’s forests and what citizens can do to protect old-growth forests, watersheds, and related ecosystems. The presentation includes Watt’s superb photos of some of the most magnificent forests in the country, including Clayoquot Sound, the Walbran Valley, Red Creek Fir, and Avatar Grove.
“Our diminishing old-growth forests are important for wildlife, tourism, the climate, water quality, and for many First Nations cultures,” stated Wu. “How many jurisdictions on Earth still have trees that grow trunks wider than a car’s length and as tall as downtown skyscrapers? We need a plan to protect our endangered old-growth forests and to sustainably log the second-growth stands that constitute most of the landbase on Vancouver Island now.”
According to satellite photos, 75% of the original productive old growth forests of Vancouver Island have been logged. This includes 90% of the original productive old growth forests in valley-bottoms, where the largest trees grow and most biodiversity resides.
Please come out and join us for this important topic. To learn more about the Comox Valley Naturalists please visit the website at www.comoxvalleynaturalist.bc.ca
For more information contact:
Dave Lacelle, lacelle1@telus.net , Comox Valley Naturalists Society or Ken Wu, Ancient Forest Alliance ancientforestalliance@gmail.com
Letter to the Editor: Governments failing forest industry
/in News CoverageAs you may be well aware, our successive B.C. governments have had no interest in delaying or stopping logging of old growth trees. Their record is abysmal plus disgraceful in this regard.
The exporting of B.C timber in the round, is tantamount to cutting one’s nose off to spite one’s face.
Our once-vibrant forestry industry is so emasculated it is now a ghost of its former self. Yet we still export raw logs!
This misguided conduct by foresters, abetted by our government, yea, even encouraged by them, has all the indication of a policy that is out of touch with reality.
Plywood, furniture, pre-assembled units, these are non-existent today.
Sawmills have gone the way of the dodo, because of the lack of upgrading or the offer of financial backing at reasonable rates.
To see the province’s infrastructure go down the tube is not my idea of a sustainable economy.
Mr. Premier, please take your head out of the sand soon.
G. Manners
Cowichan Bay
Scientists Urge Canada to Protect Its Northern Rainforests as Climate Change Insurance
/in News CoverageVancouver – A new book released this week highlights the urgent need to protect Canada’s more than 20 million hectares of pristine temperate and boreal rainforests. Found in British Columbia, Newfoundland, Quebec, and New Brunswick, these globally important rainforests absorb and store vast amounts of carbon. Scientists argue that protecting these rainforests is a critical insurance against climate change and are calling on the Canadian government to take this message to the upcoming global conference on climate change.
The announcement comes as the Conference of the Parties (COP) to the United Nation’s Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCC), of which Canada is a member, prepare for the sixteenth conference on climate change in Cancun, Mexico (https://unfccc.int/2860.php), following up on last year’s global summit in Copenhagen. Deforestation contributes more than the entire global transportation system in release of dangerous greenhouse pollutants.[1] Though governments are working on ways to reduce these emissions through a United Nations collaborative program[2] (called REDD plus), the program is aimed only at deforestation in developing countries and does not include temperate and boreal rainforests that are the world’s forgotten rainforests due to ongoing logging. The United Nations also has declared 2011 “International Year of Forests,” calling on nations to celebrate forests and open dialogue on how to sustainably manage them[3].
The appeal to government representatives at the climate change summit is part of a new book edited and co-authored by Dominick DellaSala, Chief Scientist of the U.S. based Geos Institute (www.geosinstitute.org) titled “Temperate and Boreal Rainforests of the World: Ecology and Conservation”(for press access to the book: https://bit.ly/cU5mY9). According to DellaSala, “Canada’s rainforests cleanse the air, purify drinking water, provide unparalleled hunting and fishing opportunities, and store vast amounts of carbon in giant trees, dense foliage, and productive soils. When these rainforests are cut down, much of their carbon is released to the atmosphere as carbon dioxide where it contributes to dangerous global warming. We have to stop treating these rainforests as if they stop at international boundaries and begin working together on our shared conservation interest.”
Canada’s rainforests include such notable places as the Great Bear, Haida Gwaii, and Clayoquot Sound as well as less well known rainforests along the windward slopes of the Columbia and Canadian Rockies and in Eastern Canada. DellaSala was part of a team of scientists that put together the rainforest book including two chapters on Canada’s rainforests. The book includes a global appeal to decision makers from rainforest scientists to conserve rainforests throughout the world as part of global discussions underway to limit deforestation.
Paul Paquet, Raincoast Conservation Foundation’s Senior Scientist, and one of the book co-authors, stated “”British Columbia contains approximately 25 per cent of the planet’s remaining primary temperate rainforest. Given the diminished and impoverished state of temperate rainforest globally, the importance of protecting what remains in BC must be elevated. Only limited protection now exists for BC’s coastal rainforest, with most of the irreplaceable highly productive and biodiverse old growth already having been liquidated. Consequently, from an ecological perspective a substantial portion of what remains needs full protection to compensate for what has been permanently damaged.”
Canada’s majestic rainforests have always been a core part of our history and culture, protecting them may also be one of our best bets for the ensuring a safe and healthy future,” said Faisal Moola, co-author of the book and Director of Science at the David Suzuki Foundation. “Keeping the carbon in the rainforest is better for the climate, better for nature, and ultimately better for our own wellbeing.”
While much international attention has been focused on BC, Canada also has lesser known rainforests in the east. “New Brunswick’s rainforests have been a prime target for conversion to tree plantations because of their productive soils and the high volume of wood they can yield, said David Coon, Executive Director of Conseil de Conservation. “We need to transform our relationship with the forest and embrace an ecological consciousness. Our future depends on it.”
See a summary of the book at:
https://www.geosinstitute.org/images/stories/pdfs/RainforestSummaryfinal11-17-10.pdf
SAVE OUR CLIMATE AND ANCIENT FORESTS!
/in AnnouncementsThe ANCIENT FOREST ALLIANCE’s Special INFO NIGHT, CELEBRATION, and FUNDRAISER!
Please support the new organization in its crucial, formative first year! See great speakers, have a drink, meet other supporters, and make a donation if you can!
Elizabeth May, John Horgan, Ken Wu, TJ Watt, Adriane Carr, Jens Wieting, and other speakers…
TUESDAY, NOV. 30, 2010
Ambrosia Centre,
638 Fisgard St.,
VICTORIA, BC
7:00- 8:00 pm Presentations and Slideshows! (FREE)
8:00-9:00 pm Fundraiser, Drink, and Socialize! (Donations during the pledge auction…)
Confirm and invite others on Facebook at: https://www.facebook.com/event.php?eid=143700762345115&index=1
BC’s old-growth forests are vital for mitigating climate change by storing far more carbon per hectare than the second-growth tree plantations that replace them.
Conversely, climate change is destroying our old-growth forests by killing more trees through intensified winter storms, droughts, and disease.
With Stephen Harper recently killing Canada’s only climate change legislation through the unelected Conservative Senate just before the UN Climate Summit begins in Mexico (the follow-up to last year’s Copenhagen summit) and with the BC Liberal government still contending with a straight face that “we have more old-growth forests today than we did historically” (Forest Minister Pat Bell on the “Voice of BC” in September), we SERIOUSLY must expand the movement for our forests and climate!
The Ancient Forest Alliance, a new organization launched in January of this year, has grown by leaps and bounds with thousands of supporters. We‘re almost 1 year old and if we are to sustain and expand our campaign into a more powerful provincial force, we need YOUR support!
We’ve organized numerous hikes, expeditions (including finding the Avatar Grove), slideshows, rallies, and petition drives, brought on board many new allies, and garnered a huge amount of provincial and national media coverage on our campaigns. See some of what we’ve done at: www.ancientforestalliance.org/news.php
But we need YOUR help to keep going and growing!
PLEASE COME OUT and INVITE FRIENDS and FAMILY to JOIN US!
So…
In the 1st Hour: Hear some of Canada’s MOST ACCOMPLISHED long-time forest activists and see a truly SPECTACULAR SLIDESHOW
In the 2nd Hour: We hope you stay for this, to donate during the PLEDGE AUCTION, along with having a drink or two (if you stay you get a FREE drink ticket for the bar if you’re 19 or older) and SOCIALIZING with the other supporters and AFA activists from Victoria and Vancouver.
Here is a list of the evening’s presentations. Each will be quite brief:
“Ecology and Politics of BC’s Ancient Forests, the spectacular Avatar Grove, and the First Year of the Ancient Forest Alliance,” spectacular slideshow by TJ Watt and Ken Wu of the Ancient Forest Alliance
“The UN Climate Summit in Cancun, Stephen Harper’s sabotage of Canada’s Climate Bill, and Prospects for Climate Progress,” by Elizabeth May, Author of “At the Cutting Edge: The Crisis in Canada’s Forests” and co-author of “Climate Change for Dummies”, former executive director of the Sierra Club of Canada, and current national leader of the Green Party of Canada
“BC’s Climate and Forests Campaign: The push for forest protection and climate conservation areas in BC”, by Jens Wieting, Sierra Club of BC coastal forest coordinator.
NDP MLA John Horgan with also speak on his support for saving the ancient forests of the Avatar Grove!
“Grassroots movements and environmental activism: Some lessons from the 1980’s and ‘90’s”, by Adriane Carr, former Wilderness Committee executive team member and Clayoquot Sound campaigner and deputy Green leader of Canada
Adriane will also be the Pledge Auctioneer to help us raise funds that night! (she’ll explain how a Pledge Auction works)
For more info contact the Ancient Forest Alliance at info@ancientforestalliance.org
Avatar Grove: Don’t Miss It
/in News CoverageMany of you will have seen James Cameron’s movie, Avatar. It’s set in the distant world of Pandora, where industrialization threatens both the indigenous people and the planet’s environment.
Some of you may have heard that we have our own ‘Avatar Grove’ on southern Vancouver Island. Located just 15 minutes from Port Renfrew, the Grove is a magnificent place populated with oldgrowth red cedars including ‘Canada’s Gnarliest Tree,’ a giant tree with a 12 foot wide, contorted burl.
I recently took a trip to Port Renfrew to see the trees for myself. Ken Wu and TJ Watt of the Ancient Forest Alliance gave myself, Mike Hicks, the Juan de Fuca Electoral Area director, and Jon Cash of the Port Renfrew Chamber of Commerce a tour of Avatar Grove and a nearby clearcut littered with giant stumps. The contrast was striking.
I believe there is more value in oldgrowth forests standing up than there is lying on the ground. They sustain species at risk, assist in our attempt to fight climate change, and encourage opportunities for education and eco-tourism. Rather than logging this area, providing a few months of short-term employment, I would rather we develop a plan to get more value from our oldgrowth forests.
Forest-dependent communities, First Nations and local government need to know the province’s land base can still provide jobs. But what is missing is the provincial government’s plan to make it happen.
Long-term, stable jobs can be created on the land base. Let’s focus on better managing our second growth forests. Developing value added industry by providing log owners opportunities for sales here on Vancouver Island.
Much of our productive lands on Vancouver Island have already been logged so it’s obvious that the future of forestry is in sustainable second-growth harvesting. Sawmills need to be re-tooled to deal with second-growth timber. Updating the mills will keep workers in the forest and support our local economies.
Our second growth forests can and should provide local employment not just in the woods but through remanufacturing wood locally. Our region was built on forestry and I believe we can be sustained by local value added manufacturing.
Eco-tourism is crucial to this plan. Encouraging travelers from across the globe to visit our region, stay in hotels, eat in local restaurants, shop at local stores – the economic benefits are obvious. And we get to share with the world what we already know, that the beauty and the majesty of Vancouver Island is unmatched and that we will do all we can to preserve it.
I’d encourage you to visit Avatar Grove. To take it all in before, sadly, it may be too late.