TJ Watt Photography Blog — TJ Watt Photography

Press: Environmentalists fight to save tract of old-growth Vancouver Island trees

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Thrilled to wake up and see one of my photos featuring the spectacular ancient forests of the Walbran Valley on the front page of the Times Colonist. If you can't bring everyone to the forest, bring the forest to everyone! Now we just need the headline to read: Walbran Giants Protected!!

I also had the fortunate opportunity to present a host of new images and information on the Walbran Valley to a full house forum in Victoria last night. A lot of great work is being done right now by citizens and organizations committed to protecting this global ecological treasure. I will be posting a link to a send-a-message site with a call to action soon!

 

 

Press: Central Walbran & Edinburgh Mt. Ancient Forest Threatened

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We've already picked up some big news coverage on the logging threat facing the endangered Central Walbran and Edinburgh Mountain Ancient Forests on southern Vancouver Island! Be sure to watch the Global TV interview with the Ancient Forest Alliance's Ken Wu below. Really happy to see that the included a lot of my photos and video footage of the areas alongside it as well! Video: http://globalnews.ca/video/2102896/vancouver-island-ancient-forests-at-risk

Exploration: Central Walbran Ancient Forest - Vancouver Island, BC

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This past weekend, my partner Jackie and I took time to explore and document the endangered old-growth forests of the Central Walbran Ancient Forest on southern Vancouver Island, BC. It was pretty extreme terrain in most sections along the hillside and the heat and relentless mosquitoes only added to the challenge. But the forests here are some of the most rare and beautiful on Earth. Trees of monstrous shapes and sizes, growing largely undisturbed for millennia. However, they're currently under threat as a Surrey-based forestry company, the Teal-Jones Group, is aggressively moving forward with plans for eight new cutblocks (clearcuts) and a new road in the heart of this magnificent rainforest. The photos in this gallery are from the 4412, 4410, and 4424 proposed cutblocks shown on the map. The Walbran Valley is home to perhaps Canada’s finest stands of old-growth redcedars. Stepping into the forest here is like getting into a real-life time machine. It allows one to travel backwards in time and experience the magnificence of our corner of the world as it once was. If you haven't visited the Walbran Valley before, do try to. It changed my life and many others too. More news to come as we ramp up our efforts to protect this incredible natural treasure.

Press: Macleans Features Big Lonely Doug Climb

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In celebration of Canada's 148th birthday, Macleans has featured 148 first-person videos from people and places across the country.  Up front is a 1 minute video of our climb up Big Lonely Doug, Canada's second largest Douglas-fir tree near Port Renfrew, shot by both Will Koomjian and myself. Keep an eye out for a photo in the print edition as well!