A number of Powell River residents made it a sign of the times when they held and posted signs in favour of Forest March 2021 on March 19.
Elena Martin, organizer for Fridays for Future Powell River, said the event involved Powell River joining other communities from around the province, uniting for the forests. Protesters were pressing the government to declare a forest emergency and to stop clear-cutting the province’s ancient temperate rainforests.
Martin said with insufficient government action, it’s time to unite and demand a new forest framework that fosters healthier ecosystems, respects and promotes indigenous systems, and gives power back to communities.
“There is no time to waste,” said Martin.” The BC government must be pressed into taking more meaningful action on forestry reform and the protection of old-growth ecosystems.
“This is a grassroots movement. It is being run by the people, for the people.”
At the Forest March, people were spread out along Highway 101 from Willingdon Beach to Brooks Secondary School. Martin said it was joint action between Climate Action Powell River and Fridays for Future. She said the day was also designated for a worldwide climate strike and the BC-wide forest strike coincided.
“It happened to be the same day, coincidentally, which was awesome,” said Martin. “Climate and forests go hand-in-hand.”
A number of young people lined the highway near Brooks Secondary School and Martin said she was so happy to see the involvement by youth.
“It was a really good action here for Powell River to get connected with the young people,” said Martin. “COVID-19 has made it difficult to talk to each other and being outside makes it totally easy.”
In terms of meeting expectations, Martin said she had no idea what the involvement might be because organizers received an email from the RCMP indicating they were not allowed to gather.
“We told people to come individually and set up their signs,” said Martin. “I didn’t know how many people would come out in the rain.”
She said the event turned out really well.
“We are all in this climate emergency crisis together,” said Martin. “It was good to see the movement growing. Now we are connecting and now we need to do the next steps. We need to mobilize the people to be aware of the climate emergency crisis.”
Martin said people were joining the local climate activities for the first time, and it was encouraging to see new faces, which means the movement is growing.
“We, the people of 2021, will enter the history books whether we want to or not,” said Martin. “We have nine years to halve our emissions. Our children inherit a damaged planet and you and I and everybody is determining the degree of damage.”
Martin said one important climate action each person can do is educate themselves about climate solutions. She said a meeting was held with Powell River-Sunshine Coast MLA Nicholas Simons about ancient forests and forest-climate relations, and she said they all learned that deeper education is needed about climate solutions, including for the MLA.
“We need to all fight together for this,” said Martin. “It’s a no-brainer to use the forest in this climate battle.”
