A woman plays a trumpet while lying on the road as RCMP officers assemble during an operation to arrest protesters manning the Waterfall camp blockade against old-growth timber logging in the Fairy Creek area of Vancouver Island, near Port Renfrew, B.C., on May 24, 2021.JENNIFER OSBORNE/Reuters
Another 13 people have been arrested at blockades set up to prevent old-growth logging on southwestern Vancouver Island, bringing the total of number of arrests to 185, at least nine of whom have been arrested more than once.
The RCMP began enforcing a British Columbia court injunction ordering the removal of blockades and protesters at several sites on May 17.
Of those arrested Monday at an encampment area near Port Renfrew, 11 have been charged with breaching the injunction, and two for obstruction.
The injunction is to allow workers with the Teal-Jones Group to resume activities in the Fairy Creek watershed and another area west of Lake Cowichan.
Activists say very little of the best old-growth forest remains in B.C., and Fairy Creek is the last unprotected, intact old-growth valley on southern Vancouver Island.
Teal-Jones had planned to harvest 20 hectares, but said it is standing down its operations in Fairy Creek after three First Nations leaders issued a declaration on Monday saying they want old-growth logging in the same area temporarily deferred.
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