British Columbia is logging its last old growth. Protesters are sleeping in the road to stop it
Summary
In British Columbia, Canada, protesters are blocking logging roads to stop companies from cutting down old-growth forests on Vancouver Island. These ancient forests are rare, store a lot of carbon, and many trees are hundreds to thousands of years old, but most have already been logged over the past century.Key Facts
- Protesters are camping and blocking roads to stop logging trucks from cutting old-growth trees near Port Renfrew, British Columbia.
- Old-growth forests on Vancouver Island are some of the rarest and most carbon-rich ecosystems on Earth.
- Coastal temperate rainforests cover less than 0.5% of the Earth’s land but store high amounts of carbon.
- Logging companies cut trees that are often 250 years or older, especially western red cedar, which is very durable and valuable.
- About 20% of Vancouver Island’s productive old-growth forests remain, and most of these are still open to logging.
- Old-growth forests grow over centuries, but can be cut down in under an hour with industrial logging.
- First Nations people, like elder Bill Jones of the Pacheedaht nation, have witnessed most of their old forests disappear during their lifetimes.
- The United States is a major market for these valuable old-growth wood products despite tariffs.
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