Feb 17 2012Forest alliance welcomes government announcement to preserve Avatar Grove
It’s good news for organizations fighting for the protection of old growth forests on Vancouver Island, but it isn’t enough.
The BC Government announced Thursday that a unique stand of old growth cedars known as the Avatar Grove will be entirely protected from development and logging.
Ken Wu with the Ancient Forest Alliance says while it is a promising announcement, more needs to be done.
“We commend the BC Government for protecting this key tract of extremely rare, valley-bottom, ancient forest. Virtually all the valley-bottoms on Southern Vancouver Island, where the biggest trees grow are now gone, literally 95 per cent of them. But at the same time, thousands of hectares of old growth forests are being logged every year on Vancouver Island and millions of hectares are endangered across BC. So our main goal is to see a new provincial plan to protect all of BC’s endangered, old growth forests and ensure sustainable second growth forestry instead.”
Wu says the Ancient Forest Alliance is coming up on its two-year anniversary and the government’s announcement is welcome news.
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