Much of the last of the oldgrowth forests that once stretched from southern Alaska down to Northern California are still not protected and are still actively being logged right now, so let’s break down how much is left, what’s currently happening with it, and where we go from here!

BC is 95 million hectares in size, and 51.5 mha are considered forestland, with 11.1 mha of that defined as ‘oldgrowth forest’…which sounds like a pretty big chunk, until you consider the nuances here.

Site Index is a way of measuring forest productivity over a 50 year period, and helps to define these forests in a more detailed way. Generally, any forest with a SI of 20 and below is considered to be low productivity forests, and those with a SI of 20 and above are considered to be high productivity forests.
LP forests are generally areas that have nutrient poor soil, short growing seasons and contain stunted, smaller trees, such as high alpine areas, bogs or marshes.  HP forests on the other hand, have very rich soils, often are in low valley bottoms, and contain big old trees and complex ecological function this is what’s all over tourism brochures, and targeted by the logging industry for its high quality timbers.

Of the best HP forest we have in the province, that with a SI of 30+, only 35,000 hectares remains, which is less than 2.7% of its original extent, and makes up .05% of all forest in BC.

Of 11.1 mha of old growth, 3.5 mha are protected, most of which is LP forest. The remaining 7.6 mha of old growth forest is unprotected, with 2.6 mha defined by the government as ‘not at risk of logging’ and 5 mha atrisk of being logged within the next decade.

A couple years ago the government announced deferrals of 2.6 mha, and at this point about 1.3 mha of that has officially been set aside by many First Nations to be protected, while the other 1.3 mha are set to be logged.

The remaining 2.4 mha of that atrisk 5 mha has basically been given to industry to log, but only after the Ministry of Forests made sure that it still contained some of the best forests by not including them in the deferrals.

So of the remaining 7.6 mha of unprotected oldgrowth, we’re looking at the potential to maybe protect 1.3 mha, or a mere 2% of all the forests in BC.

It’s all just talk and log. ‍♂

There are so many things we can do to help protect the last of these forests, and as daunting and discouraging as it may be, I implore you to not lose hope and to instead get creative and find new ways to make change, and to make your voice heard, however it is able to be heard.

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Produced & Directed by Ross Reid

~ I'd like to acknowledge that this video was filmed on the traditional, ancestral and unceded territory of the Coast Salish peoples–Sḵwx̱wú7mesh, Stó:lō and Səl̓ílwətaʔ/Selilwitulh and xʷməθkʷəy̓əm Nations. ~

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