These shocking new before and after photos in the Caycuse watershed in Ditidaht territory expose the ongoing impacts of old-growth logging on Vancouver Island, BC. Captured between 2020–2022 by Ancient Forest Alliance photographer & campaigner, TJ Watt, the scenes feature centuries-old redcedar trees standing and then cut down. Read our media release here.
In 2020, the BC government promised to protect endangered old-growth forests. However, more than three years on, less than half of those most at-risk have been secured for temporary deferral. Subsequently, some areas that met the criteria for deferral, such as those pictured here, continue to be logged. This is because the province has failed to provide the short-term conservation funding for First Nations to help enable the full suite of deferrals.
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The photos series is part of work Watt has created with support from the Trebek Initiative, a grantmaking partnership between the National Geographic Society and the Royal Canadian Geographical Society. The initiative supports emerging Canadian explorers, scientists, photographers, geographers, and educators with the goal of using storytelling to ignite “a passion to preserve” in all Canadians.
