Headed along Humboldt Street towards the harbour, Patty Pan and several other people hold on to a log acting as a brace at the rear of a makeshift trolley as it carries a 1,300-pound slice from a felled Douglas fir tree.
鈥淚 feel a little overwhelmed to be honest with you,鈥� he said. 鈥淚t was over a thousand years old, it鈥檚 hard to wrap our human minds around that.鈥�
Pan was among more than 100 old-growth forest proponents who made their way from Victoria鈥檚 downtown library to the legislature, disrupting traffic at multiple spots along the way on Wednesday.
The procession was promoted as a protest against the 鈥渞ampant loss of irreplaceable and globally-important ancient temperate rainforests in British Columbia.鈥� The march also aimed to bring attention to interrelated struggles for Indigenous rights and call for a safe climate future, an immediate moratorium on all old-growth logging and a just transition strategy for impacted workers and communities.
鈥淲e are here to protect and care for our great mother鈥檚 gift to us, the old growth,鈥� said Pacheedaht Elder Bill Jones, outside the library before the march began.
鈥淲e are here to help our governments actually establish some values, and to us, our leading value is the old-growth forest 鈥� standing.鈥�
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While the march was stopped at the intersection of Douglas and Humboldt streets, a participant who went by the name Cedar said the focus needs to be on looking for solutions.
鈥淥nce you lose a 3,000-year-old tree, it鈥檚 gone forever,鈥� the protester said. 鈥淚 think we should make (all old-growth forest areas) a national park and I think we should compensate loggers, and I think we have to do all of that together.鈥�
鈥淚 want to be on the right side of history, it鈥檚 as simple as that.鈥�
John Lugsdin said the ecological variety of coastal forests is unique and needs to be preserved.
鈥淚t鈥檚 a richness that if we choose to eliminate it, we鈥檒l never see it again,鈥� the Salt Spring Island resident said. 鈥淚f we don鈥檛 preserve it now, it鈥檒l be lost forever. It鈥檚 just not replaceable.鈥�
In early November, the B.C. government deferred logging in an area that represents about half of the identified old-growth forest in the province that is not yet protected. Affected Indigenous communities were given 30 days to indicate whether they support the deferrals, wish to change them or needed more time, but the process caused concern from several community leaders.
As he helped direct the eight-foot-diameter log section, Pan said the slice of what was a 1,200-year-old tree was a symbol for how the protesters felt.
鈥淲e鈥檙e here to show the government that we鈥檙e not going to put up with business as usual.鈥�
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