Stand up for Avatar Grove

I recently visited Avatar Grove, a spectacular area of old-growth forest near Port Renfrew. This area is not only devastatingly beautiful but also provides important wildlife habitat and is prime location for eco-tourism.

But the area has recently been flagged for logging and while specific logging plans are unknown, the threat is a real one, just as it is for most of the remaining old-growth of Vancouver Island and B.C.’s south coast.

When will the B.C. government support our future and that of our wilderness, rather than pushing stubbornly forward with short-term corporate profit?

Logging Avatar Grove would be senseless — the immediate destruction of an ecosystem that has been forming for hundreds of years. We can’t let this happen. We need a strategy to protect our endangered old-growth forests and ensure sustainable logging of second growth, as well as a ban on raw log exports to support sustainable forestry jobs.

Many people stand behind Avatar Grove, supporting its protection not only in its own right but as a symbol of other such areas that are currently threatened. With enough public support, we can ensure that Avatar Grove and other endangered old-growth forests remain standing.

Hannah Carpendale

Vancouver