Old Growth Forests

British Columbia is home to many ancient forests that even stretch out along its major cities. These old growth forests support a unique ecosystem of trees, plants and animals. In a more urban setting it is all the more important to protect the old trees because the ecosystems have already been compromised by development. Due to the logging industry these old growth forests are at risk and even those some of these trees are located on federal, provincial and private land, they aren’t protected by provincial legislation. In order to compensate or that local governments and individual land owners are doing their part to ensure the trees are protected, such as some municipalities, like Metchosin and Victoria, have bylaws protecting trees on city and private land. Even landowners are doing their part, by placing covenants on land or donating it to land conservancies.

Many communities are banding together in order to halt the removal of the old growth trees starting committees and petitions to help protect their ecosystem. This is a positive movement as harvesting old growth trees is not sustainable and can dramatically impact the natural and social lifestyles of the surrounding areas. It’s nice to see communities banding together in attempt to help conserve their natural environment.

Exert from:
Dove, A. (2009, February 5). Last of the Old Giants. Retrieved February 5, 2009, from
http://www.bclocalnews.com/vancouver_island_south/goldstreamgazette/news/39113964.html