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The Fairy Creek Old Growth forest on Vancouver Island, British Columbia (BC), Canada is one of many in BC where conflict between logging companies and Indigenous and “green” forest defenders has been intense.
The Green Party of Canada is very fortunate to have our Deputy Leader Rainbow Eyes (also known as Angela Davidson), an Indigenous forest defender who has been on the front lines at the Fairy Creek blockade and has been arrested for her non-violent resistance, provide her own case study in the first part below.
In the second part Green Party of Canada member Clement Kent, Ph.D. provides links and context to understand the conflict between forest defenders and the government and logging companies.
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Part 1.
-Name of the forest
Fairy Creek, our temple
-Name of the area
Pacheedaht & Ditidhat Traditional territories
-Size of area
-Key drivers of deforestation
Greed, value of old growth timber, colonization
-Key companies involved
Teal Cedar Products INC aka Teal Jones
-Key government agencies involved
BC Timber Sales, Ministry of Forests BC
-Nature of biodiversity in the area – eg flora and fauna and ecosystem services – its unique value eg bats
Screech owl, Marbled Murelet, Speckled belly lichen. All endangered species, live only in old growth forests. Cedar tree is West Coast Indigenous tree of life
“What happens to the Land is a direct representation of what had happened/happening to the people” – Elder Bill Jones
Solutions –
We come together. We communicate with each other. Tune into the call of the forest. We go back to culture. We work as one/we are one which is naut’sa mawt to the Coast Salish people. To the Kwakwaka’wakw people we say Maya’xala which means respect for all living things. Going back to Indigenous ways of life & culture will naturally lead to healing Mother Earth. As indigenous people we are working so incredibly hard to come together as one after the colonial genocide of our people. This is the hardest work. But we will succeed. When all indigenous peoples come together as one…the world will follow.
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Part 2. British Columbia’s Old Growth Rainforests
Many of us associate rainforests with places like the Amazon or the Congo. However, temperate rainforests used to be common on the west ocean coasts of Britain, Canada, and the United States. Cool sea water currents create local climates with warmer winters than usual at those latitudes, moderate summer temperatures, and abundant rainfall. Over time, rainforest tree specialists evolved like dawn redwoods and giant sequioas in the US, Douglas Fir and Red Cedar (Thuja plicata) in Canada, and sessile oaks in Britain. “The world’s largest-known Douglas Fir, the Red Creek Fir, the world’s largest-known red cedar, the Cheewhat Giant, and Canada’s largest spruce, San Jo’s Smiley, are all found on Vancouver Island.” – Ancient Forest Alliance
Temperate rainforests provide stable moist climates. Some trees can live thousands of years and grow very large. Their wood is often scented with antifungal and antibacterial compounds that inhibit decay. “Western red cedar is one of the most valuable commercial tree species in British Columbia. The western redcedar industry generates over $1 billion in economic activity annually and provides nearly 1900 jobs.” – Canadian Forest Service 2018. Old growth red cedar logs sell for about $860 per log in 2024. .
Logging of BC’s old growth rainforests has reduced formerly very large stands to a few remnants. As awareness of environment and of Indigenous rights grew, efforts to protect these remnants have generated some of the largest protest movements in Canada’s history:
- 1993, Clayoquot Sound “War of the Woods”. 800 forest defenders arrested for civil disobedience. Local nations like the Tla-o-qui-aht, Ahousaht and Hesquiaht and supporters blockade logging trucks. See this CBC reporting. As of 2024, over half of Clayoquot Sound forests are now protected.
- The Great Bear Rainforest coastal region of mainland BC . Agreements between governments of BC, Canada, and Indigenous nations and logging firms resulted in protection of a large area after many years of protest and conflict. The presence in Great Bear of a mutant albino black bear, Ursus americanus kermodei, which is considered sacred by lndigenous nations, helped provide a highly visible “mascot” species for this conflict.
- The Haida Gwaii rainforest is found on islands north of Vancouver Island. These islands are home to the Haida nation, which has been fighting to protect the forests since 1974. In 1985 the Haida blockaded logging sites. In 1993 the Gwaii Haanas agreement between the Haida nation and the government of Canada established a joint management board for the area with equal Haida and government representation. Since then the Haida have managed to protect the waters around their islands with revised fishing rules and the surrender of offshore oil drilling permits.
- On August 9 2020 the movement to protect Fairy Creek from logging by Teal Jones lumber began. Over 1,000 forest defenders were arrested by the Royal Canadian Mounted Police (RCMP) at the blockade site as of Feb 2022. A number of groups, including a journalists association, sued the RCMP alleging various violations. A video “Inside the Fight to Save an Ancient Forest” aired on the US Public Broadcasting System (PBS). A deferral of logging until February 2025 is in effect. The status after Feb 2025 is not known. In January 2024 Teal Jones filed a $10 million lawsuit against Fairy Creek protesters, including Rainbow Eyes. In April 2024, the Teal Jones forest products company filed for bankruptcy but has an interim financing agreement and has restarted its BC sawmills.
The Fairy Creek blockades and protests have been complicated by divisions within the Pacheedaht First Nation. The Nation has both hereditary and elected chiefs; some support logging and some oppose it. This division has complicated resolution of issues.
Biodiversity
Some species live only in old growth forests. The Northern Spotted Owl is famous for this; logging in areas of Oregon and Washington states has been stopped to protect owl nesting sites. Concerns have been raised that selectively cutting giant old growth trees may be reducing genetic diversity by killing the individuals best adapted to these forests. One area with much less research is the small forms of life: fungi, bacteria, forest floor invertebrates. Many of these are likely adapted to temperate rainforest conditions but lack of research means they rarely make it onto species-at-risk lists.
Maps of Area.
