Local Environmental Activist Takes New Role in Protecting Old Growth Forests

Ken Wu — The former campaign director for the Western Canada Wilderness Committee — and the new head of the Ancient Forest Alliance says there are a million hectares of unprotected old growth forests at risk on BC’s south coast.

“We need to continue putting pressure on government through hundreds of thousands of people, and so the Ancient Forest Alliance, the new organization today, will help us fill that void, but it will also have an added bonus. It may not sound like a bonus at first but it actually is, for our effectiveness is that we won’t have charitable status. That means we can say and do as we need when it comes to criticizing politicians or supporting politicians.”

“Charitable status handcuffs you in terms of what you can and can’t say about politicians. For example, you’re not allowed to say that this particular politician in BC, this little politician’s stance is that old growth forests are not endangered on Vancouver Island, raw log exports will continue and it’s fine to log off the rest of the unprotected old growth, therefore you should not vote for him if you care about old growth forests. You can’t say that. But it’s the truth when it comes to these issues.”

Wu was a guest on CFAX 1070 with Dave Dickson this afternoon.