Times Colonist: Photo of old-growth cedar tree on Flores Island wins international award

June 21, 2024
Times Colonist
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An image of a massive western red cedar towering over an Ahousaht hereditary leader has won an award in the Royal Geographical Society’s Earth Photo 2024 competition.

Titled Flores Island Cedar, the photo shows Tyson Atleo standing at the base of a western red cedar that’s estimated to be more than 1,000 years old.

The tree, which has been dubbed “the Wall,” or “ʔiiḥaq ḥumiis,” meaning “big red cedar” in the Nuu-chah-nulth language, stands about 46 metres tall and is five metres wide at the base.

Taken by TJ Watt, a photographer for the Ancient Forest Alliance, the photo won the National Trust Attingham Award for images showing the work or impact of volunteers protecting habitats under the threat of climate change.

The competition saw 1,900 photography and film submissions in 11 categories. Award-winning photographs were taken from Sicily, the Florida Keys, and Colombia’s Majo Atrato basin, as well as on Watt’s photo on Flores Island.

When the photograph was first taken, the tree was growing on unprotected Crown land. On Tuesday, B.C. announced an agreement with the Ahousaht and Tla-o-qui-aht First Nations to protect about 760 square kilometres of Crown land in Clayoquot Sound, where Flores Island is located.

“It’s not always the case that the forests featured in my photographs have a happy ending. But in this case, I’m so grateful that they do,” Watt said in a statement.

Watt’s photo will displayed at a dozen locations in the U.K., including at the Royal Geographical Society in London, where the Earth Photo exhibition continues until Aug. 21.