The Difference Between Old-Growth and Second-Growth Forests

Spot the difference between old-growth and second-growth forests 👀🌲

Pretty simple, eh?

 

The secret ingredient in an old-growth forest is time. Old-growth forests in BC are highly complex ecosystems that have grown and evolved over centuries to millennia. They store vast amounts of carbon in the trunks of large trees and in their soils. They’re also home to a wide range of unique species, many of which depend on these forests for their very survival.

Second-growth tree plantations may look green on the outside but are often brown and sparse on the inside, as their dense canopies shade out sunlight from the forest floor. These “tree farms” lack the structural diversity needed to support many of the species that depend on old-growth forests. Under BC’s current forestry system, second-growth forests are typically relogged every 50 years, never given the chance to become old-growth again.

Rather than deforestation, this conversion is known as “forest degradation,” in which complex primary forests are replaced by simplified tree plantations that do not replicate the ecological values of ancient forests.

Beyond the environmental impacts, the loss of ancient forests contributes to generational amnesia, where each new generation inherits a world that’s different from the one before but comes to accept it as the new normal. Often, the only evidence of the once-grand forests that existed here are the monumental stumps hidden among the hillsides.

Today, after more than a century of industrial logging, we’ve lost over 80% of the productive old-growth forests on Vancouver Island and well over 90% of the valley bottoms where the biggest trees grow and the richest biodiversity is found.

We must ensure the remaining, irreplaceable, endangered ancient forests receive the protection they deserve.

👉 Take action HERE today.