Watch this CHEK News report on Jurassic Grove, an impressive grove of unprotected, monumental old-growth trees only a 90 minute drive west of Victoria between Jordan River and Port Renfrew. The Ancient Forest Alliance is calling attention to the area's high conservation and recreation value and hopes it will be protected. Click here for the CHEK News report: https://www.cheknews.ca/newly-discovered-old-growth-forest-vancouver-island-312417/
Check out this major travel feature in the Times Colonist newspaper about visiting Avatar Grove! The article highlights how the Ancient Forest Alliance's campaign to protect old-growth forests has become a major economic driver for Port Renfrew, which has now billed itself as the Tall Trees Capital of Canada! See the article from the Times Colonist: https://www.timescolonist.com/life/travel/land-of-the-giants-a-wet-and-wild-trip-to-port-renfrew-1.16451897
Check it out! New Zealand's largest newspaper has an article about the Ancient Forest Alliance, the importance of old-growth forests for the tourism economy of Port Renfrew, and the campaigns to protect old-growth forests including the Central Walbran Valley.
Over the May long weekend, a group of core boardwalk volunteers got together to complete a beautiful new entrance to the Lower Avatar Grove. This included a 10ft wide viewing platform with an incredible view overlooking the old-growth forest as well as a safe and long-lasting set of stairs leading off the road. Support the Ancient Forest Alliance boardwalk as we close in on the home stretch this summer!
Conservationists are delighted that the WestShore Chamber of Commerce, representing almost 400 businesses in the western suburbs of Victoria has issued a letter in support of the Port Renfrew Chamber of Commerce’s request to the province of British Columbia that it protect the Central Walbran Valley from old-growth logging.
This travel feature in the Globe and Mail focuses on Port Renfrew and talks about the Ancient Forest Alliance and the Avatar Grove/ boardwalk (***take note we'll be recruiting more volunteers and raising funds to try to finish the boardwalk by this summer): "There’s a fascinating back story to Avatar Grove, which only got its name a few years back after the Ancient Forest Alliance campaigned to have the area saved from logging and it was declared a protected area in 2012. Named after James Cameron’s epic 2009 movie, it’s home to some of the most ancient trees on Vancouver Island and just a few minutes drive from Port Renfrew. Unlike Cathedral Grove, a protected old-forest area on the way to Tofino, Avatar Grove is no simple stroll. Although the AFA has been laying down boardwalk to protect the root systems of the trees, there’s still plenty of clambering over logs and navigating slippery slopes before you reach the famous Gnarly Tree. You spend so much time looking where you’re going, in fact, that when you finally stop and look up, it’s more than a little overwhelming. Thoughts crash through your mind in rapid succession: Oh wow, that’s so beautiful. Oh man, that’s so big! And, most importantly: How the hell did anyone even think about logging this treasure?"
The Ancient Forest Alliance has once again teamed up with members of the Arboreal Collective to ascend Big Lonely Doug, Canada’s second largest Douglas-fir tree near Port Renfrew!
Interest and concern for the fate of Vancouver Island’s endangered old-growth forests is on the rise, as a renowned filmmaker and his crew arrived earlier this week from the US to do a piece about the old-growth forests around Port Renfrew. In addition, a growing and diverse base of businesses, municipal councils, and natural history associations have joined the chorus of concerned citizens calling on the province to protect the endangered old-growth forest in the Central Walbran Valley on Vancouver Island near Port Renfrew.
Here's a new piece by CHEK TV's April Lawrence about how old-growth forest tourism at the Avatar Grove, Big Lonely Doug, and other nearby ancient stands has transformed the previously ailing economy of Port Renfrew. Dan Hager, the local Chamber of Commerce president speaks up for a Tall Tree tourism economy, while the AFA's Ken Wu and TJ Watt speak about the importance of saving the remaining old-growth forests (the AFA is working to protect places like the Central Walbran and Lower Edinburgh Grove Ancient Forests - plus supporting a sustainable, value-added second-growth forest industry).
THANK YOU to all local and sustainable businesses, artists and organizations that have supported the AFA through fundraisers or direct donations in 2015! For an overview of these supporters and the many creative and generous ways that they have bolstered the AFA's work this past year, see here. Find out more about supporting the AFA as a business or organization at our Business & Organization Support page. See our FULL LIST of businesses, artists and organizations that have supported the AFA since 2010!
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