Lots of horns were honked in support as a group of protesters waving signs gathered along the Trans-Canada Highway in Duncan on March 19 to draw attention to the loss of Vancouver Island’s last remaining old-growth forests.
It’s the second protest this month on the pedestrian bridge over the TCH, south of the Silver Bridge, with several dozen people defending the old-growth forest at Fairy Creek near Port Renfrew.
The protest is one of a growing number across the Island and B.C. that are attempting to draw attention to the ongoing efforts of the Fairy Creek Forest Defenders and other groups opposed to logging one of the last remaining intact ancient forests on the Island.
RELATED STORY: ACTIVISTS HUNKER DOWN TO PROTECT FAIRY CREEK NEAR RENFREW FROM LOGGING
Organizer Caiman Shapiro said the Duncan protest was a grass-roots event that he organized, for the second time, on Facebook.
“Many are too old to take part in the protests at Fairy Creek, so they are expressing their views here,” he said, as the protesters waved their signs at passing vehicles.
“We’re building momentum for a movement that intends to show the government how much support for forestry reform there is out there.”
Shapiro said the Supreme Court of B.C. is expected to decide on March 25 whether to grant a request by the Teal Jones forestry company for an injunction to remove the protesters from their sites in Fairy Creek, and the protesters are intent on letting the court knows where many in the province stand on the issue.
He said he has been involved in the movement since August.
“We need to protect the last bits of untouched ancient forests in B.C.,” he said.
“They are how our forests were thousands of years ago and if the old-growth forests are cut down, the companies can replant, but the habitat will never be the same again. We’re not opposed to logging, just the way it’s being done. We want to see sustainable logging, which equals jobs, and end the logging of our ancient forests altogether.”
robert.barron@cowichanvalleycitizen.com
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