Rematriation

British Columbia’s Old Growth forests are virgin forests, untouched since the last ice age. They represent one of the last lines of defence against climate change, and contain scientific properties we barely understand – yet mismanagement and greed have left less than 2.6% of them standing. Only one of hundreds of valleys (outside of parks) remains entirely uncut on Vancouver Island – Fairy Creek (Ada’itsx).

An Indigenous led movement to prevent the cutting of this last Old Growth watershed has now become Canada’s largest act of civil disobedience, and the government response has been alarming. The publicly funded Royal Canadian Mounted Police are aggressively disbanding and arresting the peaceful protestors blocking industry access to these ancient forests, despite numerous recent political conservation commitments to protecting at risk Old Growth forests in B.C.

Rematriation follows concerned B.C. citizens exploring the confluence of scientific, cultural, economic and socio-political perspectives, as they take a stand to protect the last big trees from being cut down. Like peeling layers back from an onion, the lessons we take away reach far beyond the forests, permeating the very social fabric of Canadian identity.