Post on 28th January 2022
One of the main reasons we wanted to share the story of The Tree Of Life, is because we wanted to show how deeply rooted the Red Cedar is within the communities that surround it. This is because we share that approach too – you cant build a sustainable timber business without a deep reverence for the trees at the heart of your operation.
Weve always respected the ecosystem were part of – from which forests well allow our timber to be sourced from, to the ethos of the felling companies and suppliers we select to deliver the timber. We ensure wastage is minimised, felling levels will be responsibly set and monitored, and carbon footprints will be borne in mind too – we know each step of the process in detail as its all part of who we are too.
There is a passion underpinning the practical aspect of Slatted Screen Fencing which will always be core to how we do everything – so the details of this mini-series resonate with us hugely. Weve shared how there is nothing wasted with the Red Cedar – from roots being used as ropes, to the soft inner bark making super soft towelling, it is all precious to the people using it.
Without trees, we wouldnt be here. Its as simple as that. Our air would be so filthy, wed be unable to breathe it. And that is just the start of it. So it goes without saying we need to protect this valuable resource as much as possible. The indigenous people sharing the land of the Red Cedar know not to take too much from it so it can flourish as much as we do, always treating it as sacred and singing to it and gifting it with respect galore as they live in harmony with it.
This is one reason why we adore the timber so much. It is jam-packed with the protection that makes it so precious, as bugs despise the scented oils it is infused with so dont eat away at it, and those very oils also provide the natural rot-resistant longevity that other woods cant come close to meeting.
When it comes to fencing that you want to protect your home for many years to come, the natural qualities of Cedar leave other popular fencing timbers for dust – literally.
The protection of the Red Cedars territory has a story of its own too. The First Nations peoples had lived harmoniously alongside the trees for over 5000 years, but in the 1980s, private extraction of trees was allowed and encouraged by the government which brought logging companies from all over the world to the British Columbian goldmine of Red Cedar.
As popularity for the areas commercial logging grew,?access to?Clayoquot Sound?for the indigenous people was limited causing intense displeasure for the local population. Several peaceful protests and road blockades took place over the next decade, but in 1993, the biggest?War of the Woods?took place with over 11,000 protesters attending due to mass media coverage of which 850 were arrested, many also being put on trial.
The protesters included the Tla-o-qui-aht First Nation and Ahousaht First Nation, local residents of the Sound, as well as environmentalist groups such as?Greenpeace?and?Friends of Clayoquot Sound.
It may seem counter-productive for a company that provides timber, to highlight protests on logging, but we are definitely on the same page. The First Nations people were not opposing the logging completely – they appreciated that theyd been using the very same resources for millennia – but they were petitioning the methods of extraction. The government was allowing the logging companies to extract the trees with the highest efficiency practices, to the detriment of the land, trees and resources, with no intervention or monitoring.
It was a successful outcome though because the level of inconvenience caused by the protests and blockades made the logging almost impossible, plus the negative media attention aimed at the top logging company culprits couldnt be ignored. Voices of celebrities such as Barbra Streisand, Tom Cruise, Oliver Stone and Robert Redford added to the momentum and losses of $200 million were incurred by the largest logging company, MacMillan Bloedel between 1993-1995. This was attributed partly to large publishing houses boycotting them and partly due to American mass-mailing campaigns educating people of the misuse of the logging territories.
The most significant change in government policies took place in July 1995, when 127 recommendations made by Clayoquot Sounds scientific panel were unanimously accepted by the Forests Minister of British Columbia and the Environment Minister on behalf of the NDP government.
Funding reaching tens of millions was provided by the government “to log the territory in an ecologically sound way and a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) was created to ensure that no logging took place outside previously logged areas or those inside the intact ancient forests. The ecological importance of the entire Sound was further emphasised when it was designated as a?Biosphere Reserve?by?UNESCO?in 2000.
Despite the scale of the white colonisation which started to dominate the Red Cedars terrain, the indigenous people of the land still kept their intimate bond with the wood and its many meanings and uses. Guardian and educator to Tla-o-qui-aht Tribal Park, Gisele Maria Martin grew up with the familiar smell of cedar sawdust on her father, Joe Martin the Tla-o-qui-aht master canoe carver, and to cedar kindling crackling.
I remember learning to make feathers to start fires with cedar and the tuck tuck tuck of a big log being carved with a hand adze Martin reminisces. But shes also cautious of the heavy colonial focus on the uses of the Cedar wood, which she says ignores the depth of the spiritual relationship the indigenous people have built around Red Cedar, based more on care and reciprocity.
If you watch programmes such as Timber Kings, you can see there is still a significant level of understanding of what the trees need, and how they can be extracted, to protect the longevity of the area. Heavy fines are imposed for neglecting to follow them or for being in the area for too long with strict schedules being imposed for felling.
It is the practises that we monitor closely when we select where our wood is sourced and who we choose to supply it to us. The intact forests that stand in Clayoquot Sound today represent the outcome of protests that stem from solid protection plans for forests that we wholeheartedly endorse.
Knowing that the ancient forests are protected so we can source our timber responsibly helps us ensure that we provide wood that is always produced in a sustainable way.
We hope youve enjoyed the insight into this amazing tree and its fascinating heritage. If youd like to know any more about our timber fencing and products or our sustainability practises, were more than happy to help.