Demonstrators from Extinction Rebellion Nanaimo conducted a protest against raw log exports on land and sea in downtown Nanaimo on Saturday, Oct. 30. (Alex Rawnsley/NanaimoNewsNOW)

By NanaimoNewsNOW Staff

PROTEST

‘We haven’t protected the old growth:’ dozens gather on land & water to protest raw log exports

Oct 30, 2021 | 1:56 PM

NANAIMO — Around 100 protesters had a clear and simple message for B.C.’s provincial government: end raw log exports and stop old-growth logging.

The crowd gathered at 1 Port Drive in downtown Nanaimo on Saturday, Oct. 30, first holding a small rally in the parking lot before approximately 20 people took to the water in various boats, including a First Nations canoe, for a flotilla protest in front of a log barge stationed at the port.

Leah Morgan, a program coordinator with Extinction Rebellion Nanaimo, told NanaimoNewsNOW a lot of talk has taken place on old growth logging and raw log exports, but little has actually been done.

“Nothing changes when nothing changes. We will not survive the climate emergency unless we take action. So far, our government has done very little action and a lot of promises which have not come to fruition.”

Morgan added no action has occurred on the topic, despite 14 recommendations from a strategic review done for the Ministry of Forests in 2020.

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“In that forest review panel report it stated clearly the old growth needed to be protected within six months of the report being released, which was a year and a half ago. We haven’t protected the old growth.”

Both Extinction Rebellion members and guest speakers consistently reiterated they were not anti-logging, but wanted to continue the practice in a measurable and sustainable way while keeping logs cut in B.C., milled in B.C.

Around 10 boats, including a large First Nations canoe, took to the water early Saturday afternoon and blockaded a stationary log boom on the water in front of downtown Nanaimo. (Alex Rawnsley/NanaimoNewsNOW)

Torrence Coste of the Wilderness Committee told the crowd assembled between five and six million logs are exported, raw from B.C. every year during a recent string of record volume years.

He said if you loaded those logs onto trucks, parked end to end, the line would stretch between Vancouver and Montreal.

“That is a staggering amount of logs that we could either be leaving in the forest to suck up carbon from the atmosphere, provide habitat for endangered species, or sending to mills right here on Vancouver Island or across B.C. to be turned into higher value things by people working here.”

Coste added they are expecting another announcement from the provincial government in the near future on the next steps related to log exports and old-growth forestry.

He was skeptical on its content.

“[The province does] have some solid scientists working for them on this. We’re expecting their diagnosis to be good, it’s whether their treatment or not actually meets the scale of the challenge.”

Coste was adamant any solution for logging in B.C. must include First Nations consultation, including return of land to traditional owners.

Around 100 people attended a demonstration at 1 Port Drive in downtown Nanaimo and a subsequent water flotilla on Saturday, Oct. 30. Their demands included ending raw log exports and stopping old growth logging.(Alex Rawnsley/NanaimoNewsNOW)

Angela Davidson, also known as Rainbow Eyes, is a high-profile member in the ongoing demonstrations at Fairy Creek, with protesters aiming to protect an area of old growth land on southwestern Vancouver Island from logging.

Hundreds of arrests have occurred at the site as protesters defied court injunctions and property boundaries at the site.

Davidson told onlookers on Saturday the RCMP didn’t understand the connection certain people feel to the land.

“The people on the mountain are the strongest people I’ve ever met, they’re stronger than the RCMP, stronger than industry because we’re up there together. We don’t have the hard system, the law protecting us, we’re going up against the system.”

She added protesters were tired, but holding the line at the site in continued efforts to preserve old growth on Vancouver Island.

“We are not activists, this is just how we live our life. The RCMP will start arresting people and it’s B-S, it’s f***ing B-S. They’re going to make us the criminals, they have, but we’re going to remember this for the rest of our lives.”

Organizers stated at the rally two members of Extinction Rebellion Nanaimo were arrested Saturday morning, prior to the rally. NanaimoNewsNOW was unable to verify the claim.

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alex@nanaimonewsnow.com

On Twitter: @alexrawnsley