Inside the battle to save Canada’s ancient, old-growth forests
S E E D E D C O N T E N T
Vancouver Island, Canada – A colossal battle to save the last temperate rainforest on Vancouver Island, Canada is under way, as police and forest protectors are engaged in a cat-and-mouse chase through hundreds of kilometres of thick woods.
The Rainforest Flying Squad, a volunteer-driven activists’ group, is behind efforts to stop logging companies from extracting old-growth trees in and around the Fairy Creek forest, an area with some of the little remaining old-growth in the province of British Columbia (BC).
Deemed ancient by the BC government if they are older than 250 years, they can tower as high as 25 metres (82 feet) and measure 3.5 metres (12 feet) in diameter. The trees form a cathedral of stunning forest in the coastal, mountainous region that is home to threatened species such as the Western screech owl and a blend of centuries-old firs and hemlocks.
“These trees anchor the entire ecosystem and they’re some of the oldest living things on the planet. And when you cut them down, you are not just destabilising the ecosystem, you’re on the road to ruin,” Arbess told Al Jazeera. “That’s what this struggle is all about.”
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Some of these trees were saplings when Jesus wandered the desert.
And got their chance at life because another tree/s died through disease, wind, or fire which gave it the light needed to grow and then it took the light needed for other trees thus killing them and all others to follow until it finally dies.
I've been there many times and cannot understand why they would cut these trees down. WTF are they thinking.
Money?
Sadly, you're right.