UBC Students Form "Old-Growth Tree" Image with their Bodies
October 11, 2007

Students Call on the BC Government to Protect the Lower Mainland and Vancouver Island's Remaining Old-Growth Forests and to Ban Raw Log Exports

Date: Thursday, October 11, 2007
Time: 12:45-1:10 pm
Place: In front of Koerner Library, UBC, Vancouver

On Thursday, almost 100 UBC students formed the image of an old-growth tree with their bodies at an environmental rally. The students sat in formation of the image of a tree with a large "Hands Off the Old Growth" banner behind them, while media captured the image from the upper levels of Koerner Library.

The rally started with brief speeches by Ken Wu of the Western Canada Wilderness Committee and Anya Reid of the UBC Ancient Forest Committee. After these speeches, the students were guided into formation of the image.

According to Minister of Forests and Range, Rich Coleman, the BC government is currently devising a Coastal Old-Growth Forest Plan, which they will be releasing in the coming months. The students, organized by the UBC Ancient Forest Committee, are calling on the BC government to quickly end the logging of the remaining ancient forests along the southern coast of BC (ie. Lower Mainland and Vancouver Island) where old-growth forests are scarce, while ensuring that the timber industry logs second-growth forests sustainably. Other jurisdictions, including New Zealand and southwestern Australia, have banned old-growth logging in recent years.

"The logging industry is already making a transition into second-growth logging in southern BC. We're just advocating that they make the full transition sooner, before they finish off the last of the unprotected ancient forests," stated Anya Reid UBC Ancient Forest Committee co director.

Old-growth forests are vital to BC for many reasons. They're home to many species that can't live in younger forests, such as the endangered spotted owl of which only 16 individuals remain in BC, where originally there were over 1000 individuals. Old-growth forests also store vast amounts of atmospheric carbon which counteracts climate change, far better than second-growth forests. In addition, old-growth forests are a fundamental pillar of BC's multi-billion dollar coastal tourism industry. People come from all around the world to see ancient forests in the Carmanah Valley, West Coast Trail, Juan de Fuca Trail, Tofino/Clayoquot Sound, Cathedral Grove, and even Stanley Park.

Satellite images show that over 73% of the productive old-growth forests of Vancouver Island have already been logged, including 90% of the valley bottoms where the largest trees grow. While 13% of Vancouver Island's land base is protected in parks, this includes only 6% of its productive forest lands, as much of the park system includes alpine areas, bogs and high altitude marginal forests. Similarly, well over 70% of the old-growth forests in southwestern BC have been logged, while only 8% of its productive forests are protected.

Conservationists and forestry workers are calling on the BC government to ban raw log exports to foreign mills (about 25 million cubic meters have been exported from BC since 2001) in order to ensure a guaranteed log supply to protect forestry jobs in BC's sawmills, pulp mills, and wood manufacturing sector.

"We can protect our remaining ancient forests while maintaining employment levels in the forest industry if we do more with what we cut. That is, we must process every log cut down in BC instead of shipping them to the US and Japan while shutting down BC mills," stated Hayes Zirnhelt UBC Ancient Forest Committee co director.