Your letters to the Premier of BC through our Take Action, and your donations to the Foundation have helped to protect huge old-growth cedar trees for future generations.

Coastal First Nations have made an agreement with the BC Agriculture and Lands Minister, who has just announced protective laws for monumental cedars on the southern part of the Great Bear Rainforest under an Ecosystem Based Management plan. Foundation staff helped to draft the original Ecosystem Based Management plan for the area, which included protection of monumental cedars.

The protection of so-called "monumental cedars" - giant trees valued for cultural purposes and their ecological characteristics-- was a major campaign focus for the David Suzuki Foundation between 2004-2006. These ancient giants, which are at least 100 centimetres in diameter and range from 160 to 230 years old, have many traditional uses from the construction of totem poles to canoes, and when "dead" these trees become the host for a multitude of wildlife—from bears and birds to insects and fungi—making these trees a true anchor of the ecosystem.

While this does not end the struggle to protect our ancient temperate rainforests, the new law does signal that you have increased government’s attention to preserving our vital ecosystems.