Environmental News
Fairy Creek Rainforest, British Columbia, Canada
The Threat On Fairy Creek
________________________________________________________________________
By Isidora Ferguson | June 2 2021 |
Old growth forests consist of trees that have attained an age greater than 250 years, exhibiting unique ecological features due to the centuries, and sometimes close to a millennium, without significant disturbance. Globally there are 11.1 million km2 of old-growth forests remaining with 61% in Canada, Brazil and Russia. Protecting old growth trees is crucial for preserving their unique biodiversity, the habitats of endangered species and the reservoirs of plant species that cannot grow in younger forests. In addition, the old-growth forests act as huge carbon reservoirs, storing large amounts of carbon below the ground, and are efficient carbon sequesters.
“Currently and historically there hasn’t been any respect for our land, for the Pacheedaht and for all of our Indigenous lands and forests.” – Elder Bill Jones
In Canada, the majority of the old-growth forests are found in British Columbia. Only 3.2% of old-growth BC forests remain standing. BC is also recognized as one of the world’s largest exporters of lumber. One old-growth forest threatened by logging is Fairy Creek Rainforest, around 4 hours outside of Victoria, BC.
Fairy Creek makes up around 1,200 hectares and 200 hectares are up for logging by Teal-Jones, the largest privately owned timber harvesting and product manufacturing company in British Columbia. According to Teal-Jones, old-growth wood is easier to work with for high-value products including fence and deck lumber.
For the past several months, Rainforest Flying Squad activists have set up blockades at different points of Fairy Creek as peaceful protests. Recently the RCMP have begun arrests of some of the activists. Joshua Wright, a 17 year-old filmmaker and activist, criticized the province’s economic priorities, pointing out that “we are in the middle of a climate crisis, we are in the middle of a biodiversity crisis and frankly the economy is not the priority right now; the future of life on Earth is the priority. They (Teal-Jones) could make money from logging these trees, but you know they could also make money, in fact also employ more people, if they were sustainably harvesting second growth.” He then adds “..we need conservation..(and)... financing for first nations...”
The intrusion of logging the ancient forests greatly impacts the Indigenous community on the unceded Pacheedaht Territory. Elder Bill Jones, an Indigenous activist of the forests, strongly links the actions of Teal-Jones directly to the colonization of Indigenous people and of the land. While Canada makes efforts of reconciliation, decolonization and rebuilding relationships with Indigenous people and the land, acts of colonization are still being authorised.
To cut thousand year old trees down, remove biodiversity and to disregard people’s and Indigenous people’s need for old growth-forests is another example of the government “legitimis(ing) land and resource theft and dehumanizing Indigenous peoples.”, in the words of Elder Bill Jones, interviewed in the Rainforest Flying Squad,
Rainforest Flying Squad has resources here on what you can do to get involved in protecting the remaining parts of ancient forests on Pacheedaht Territory.
Resources:
Learn more at Rainforest Flying Squad.
Click here to see a map of old growth logging approvals on the South Island
Find old growth forests in Ontario here
Instagram links:
Sources:
Comments