 Canada's Mossiest Rainforest aka "Fangorn Forest"
This is the unprotected "Mossy Maple Grove", Canada's mossiest rainforest, a stand of enormous old-growth Bigleaf maple trees -- some as much as 2 meters (7 feet) wide in trunk diameter -- completely draped in hanging gardens of mosses and ferns found just south of Cowichan Lake on southern Vancouver Island, BC. This is in the traditional territory of Cowichan Tribes who are part of the Hul'qumi'num Treaty Group. |  Shaw TV: The campaign for "Fangorn Forest" or the Mossy Maple Rainforest
Watch Shaw TV's video on the Mossy Maple Grove from Dec. 2011. “Canada’s Mossiest Rainforest”, is a forest of enormous old-growth bigleaf maple trees – some up to 2 meters (7 feet) wide – completely draped in gardens of mosses and ferns on southern Vancouver Island. |
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 New Species Conservation Auction - Name That Lichen!
Make a bid for the naming rights to a species of newly discovered bryoria or "horsehair" lichen as part of a conservation fundraising effort to protect BC's old-growth forests. This is a trial run of "taxonomic tithing" whereby BC botanical researcher Trevor Goward has donated the naming rights for a new species to a conservation organization. |  Protect McLaughlin Ridge YouTube Clip (1min)
The McLaughlin Ridge is a 500 hectare tract of ancient Douglas-fir forest near Port Alberni that biologists have classified as both critical habitat for wintering deer and nesting endangered Queen Charlotte goshawks. Conservationists would like the BC government to protect the old-growth forest on private land on McLaughlin Ridge by purchasing it from Island Timberlands. |
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 CTV News - Endangered DND Lands Need Protection
CTV News coverage on Oct.27.2011 featuring the Ancient Forest Alliance's call to protect endangered ecosystems on DND lands across Canada in light of potential sell-off for development. |  Ancient forests in B.C. - Canadian Geographic Blog
Journalists Claudia Goodine and Shannon Dooling created this creative and informative video for Canadian Geographic by combining photographs and audio recorded during a trip to the Avatar Grove with Ancient Forest Alliance campaigner TJ Watt. |
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 CTV News - Ancient Forest Alliance wins "Benefit Brew" contest
CTV News video of the Ancient Forest Alliance's win of the Phillips Beer "Benefit Brew" contest in September 2011. The AFA will receive the sales proceeds from a custom, microbrewed beer called the "Ancient Brown Ale". |  Shaw TV: Avatar Grove & Eco-Tourism in Port Renfrew
The Shaw Daily television program heads out to visit the popular Avatar Grove with the AFA and takes a look at how business owners in Port Renfrew are starting to embrace eco-tourism as a new economic driver. |
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 Canada's Largest Tree - The Cheewhat Giant!
Click to see Canada's largest tree, a western redcedar named the Cheewhat Giant growing in a remote location near Cheewhat Lake within Pacific Rim National Park Reserve on southerwestern Vancouver Island!
The clip also features new clearcuts and giant stumps of redcedar trees, some over 4 meters (14 feet) in diameter in the nearby Klanawa Valley and Nitinat Lake/Rosander Main region.
|  CHEK TV News clip featuring Port Renfrew's new Tourist Information Centre and the Avatar Grove
CHEK TV News - July 14, 2011: Watch the short news clip featuring the Ancient Forest Alliance and Port Renfrew Chamber of Commerce's launch of the town's new Tourist Information Centre. The centre will serve to funnel thousands of visitors into the surrounding old-growth forests, raise awareness of the need to protect them, and help create a vibrant eco-tourism based economy. |
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 World's Largest Douglas-fir Tree - The Red Creek Fir!
The largest Douglas fir on Earth is the Red Creek Fir on Vancouver Island. The tree and a small surrounding stand of trees currently receive "soft" protection through an Old-Growth Management Area, but legislated "hard" protection is needed in the form of a conservancy, park, or ecological reserve that also encompasses a much larger buffer area. |  CHEK News: The Fight For Our Ancient Forests, BC Parks, and the Carmanah Valley
Local news station CHEK TV's Island 30 featured environmentalist Vicky Husband and Ancient Forest Alliance's Ken Wu speaking on the state of BC's parks during their 100 year anniversary.
The story focuses on the Carmanah Walbran Provincial Park and highlights the need to increase parks funding and maintenence in these spectacular places as well as the need to expand protected areas to include the remaining endangered old-growth forests on Vancouver Island and southern BC and shift instead to logging second-growth forests sustainably.
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 Avatar Grove - Making a Stand
Four bright and dedicated students from Pearson College put together an excellent 7 minute documentary on the Avatar Grove and Vancouver Island’s threatened old-growth forests. The students interviewed a variety of people including local business owners, the President of the Port Renfrew Chamber of Commerce, as well as the CRD's Regional Director. |  New INCREDIBLE High-Definition (HD) Video Shot in the Avatar Grove!
Professional videographer Darryl Augustine recently spent two days gathering high-definition video clips with AFA photographer TJ Watt in the Avatar Grove and Gordon River Valley near Port Renfrew. Shooting with the Canon 5D MK II, the Canon 7D, and using a pocket dolly to roll smooth shots, Darryl has captured some of the most stunning, Planet Earth-like video of these incredible yet threatened forests. |
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 Al Jazeera Reports on Ancient Forest Alliance’s Campaign to Save Old-Growth Forests and the Avatar Grove
In March 2011 the Ancient Forest Alliance garnered international media attention when Al Jazeera, one of the largest TV news networks on Earth that reaches 220 million homes in over 100 countries, featured our campaign to protect British Columbia’s endangered old-growth forests and the Avatar Grove on Vancouver Island.
|  Forest Practices Board Report - BC's Ancient Forests Need More Protection
In February 2011, in response to a complaint filed about ancient redcedars up to 16ft in diameter being logged near Port Renfrew, BC, the Forest Practices Board, a third party government-appointed watchdog, concluded that there is 'strong public interest' in seeing giant trees and unique stands of old-growth forest protected and that the BC government has the tools to do so. The report also stated that there are a variety of options available for the government to protect the endangered Avatar Grove. |
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 Canada's Gnarliest Tree - Save the Avatar Grove
Watch the video featuring "Canada's Gnarliest Tree" - a giant old-growth redcedar with a massive,10ft diameter burl that grows in the endangered Avatar Grove on Southern Vancouver Island. The 50 hectare stand of lush old-growth temperate rainforest on public (Crown) lands near Port Renfrew has become a major attraction due to the ease of access to its giant, alien shaped redcedars and enormous Douglas-firs. |  Canada's Largest Spruce Tree - The San Juan Spruce!
Seen here is the San Juan Spruce. It is Canada's largest spruce tree and the second largest in the world! It grows on Vancouver Island alongside the San Juan River about 35 minutes from Port Renfrew, BC. The gigantic tree measures 38.3ft in circumference, reaches 205ft tall, and has an incredible wood volume equal to 333 telephone poles!
Despite all of this the tree and surrounding forest has not been afforded any legislated protection from the BC Liberal government. We are calling on the province to protect the area of forest, both old-growth and second growth, from the San Juan Spruce to the nearby Red Creek fir. |
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 CHEK News: Avatar Grove Sees Visit From Provincial NDP Politician and Regional Representitives
Sept 2010: NDP MLA John Horgan, CRD Director Mike Hicks, and Sooke Regional Tourism Association member Jon Cash join the AFA in the fight to protect the endangered Avatar Grove. *Note that in the clip a giant cedar is mistakenly shown in the place of the San Juan Spruce and that the gnarly cedar is not Canada's largest cedar (which is the Cheewhat Cedar, a couple hours to the north), but rather the gnarliest or burliest tree in Canada. Also note that the area is not Grants Grove, which is located perhaps 10 kilometers to the north of the Avatar Grove.
|  Shaw Daily: Avatar Grove and "Canada's Gnarliest Tree"
Aug. 2010 - A Shaw Daily local news program feature on the popular Avatar Grove. Watch the video to see the giant gnarly redcedars the grove is now famous for and to hear some excellent commentary from Liberal MP Keith Martin on the need for more old-growth forest protection in BC! |
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 Discover Sooke Blog - Avatar Grove in Port Renfrew
May 2010 - From the Discover Sooke tourism website: "Over the long weekend, Mrs. Discover Sooke and I, made the trek west from Sooke to Port Renfrew to visit the much talked about piece of land with a few remaining first growth forest trees standing on it. This piece of land has been dubbed “Avatar Grove”, after the movie, for its large and gnarly trees." |  Ancient Forest Alliance Avatar Grove Trip March 2010
On March 28th 2010, the Ancient Forest Alliance lead its first public hike to help save the Avatar Grove and to raise awareness about Vancouver Island's rapidly vanishing old-growth ecosystems. 80 people made the trip in the wet weather to see the spectacular forest. Filmed and edited by Nic Vandergugten. |
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 A Channel News - Giant Fir Threatened
Feb. 2010 - A-Channel news featured this story after the Ancient Forest Alliance raised concerns about logging proposed to take place a few hundered meters from the World's largest Douglas-fir, the Red Creek fir near Port Renfrew, BC. | |
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