Community Articles
General News · 5th June 2022
Forrest Berman-Hatch
Cortes community,
The Children's Forest alumni are shooting a documentary about the story of the Children's forest project and our involvement in it. To do so, we are hoping to raise $2900 to pay for the cost of the film. Donations of any amount are welcome and appreciated if you are moved to help us tell this story. Please find more detailed information below and in the attached letter.
Dear Friends,
In 2010 the Forest Trust for the Children of Cortes Island Society (FTCCIS) published ‘Forest Alphabet’, an A-Z alphabet book in which children from Cortes Island voiced their passion, knowledge and love for the ecosystems of Cortes. We, the undersigned, each wrote passages for that book.
We are writing to you today because we are not children anymore.
As you may know, the proposed Children’s Forest is composed of an area of about 600 acres in which lies critical mature forest ecosystems and intact watersheds. The FTCCIS have proposed that this land be purchased and held in trust for the children of our island. It would be an enactment of reciprocity, with the children acting as stewards of the streams and trees— even as they learn in their midst. The FTCCIS has tirelessly pursued this dream for over a decade.
The logging tenures to the proposed Children’s Forest are currently held by the same company which has proposed cut-blocks on Cortes, some of which are slated to be logged as early as this year. While the Children’s Forest is not one the areas proposed, the fragility of this situation has inspired the alumni’s urgency and resolve. We act for the current generation, who walk the forest’s trails today, but we also look forward to the next generation of children —who very well may be our own, but we need your help.
It is our hope that the Children’s Forest continues to be a point of stillness in the midst of the unfolding ecological crisis. As you read this, we are in the sixth mass extinction. For those who have eyes to see and hearts to feel, bearing witness to the climate crisis and the “management” of BC’s forests is both terrifying and dispiriting. But through all the Children’s Forest has anchored our resilience. It must continue to do so.
To pursue this dream, we have turned to the power of storytelling. Stories can capture imaginations, generate support and thus influence the world. To this end, we hope to film a documentary which delves into the Children’s Forest social history and ecological stewardship. The purpose of our project would be to facilitate and showcase the transmission of place-based ecological knowledge between youth, alumni and elders of the community.
Our intention is to use this film as a promotional piece to further fundraising efforts in the purchase of the Children’s Forest. We hope our story will be educational for generations to come, on our island and beyond.
We are asking for your financial support to further these efforts. We are looking to raise $2900 to cover the costs associated with filming the documentary. Any contribution is welcome and appreciated. Please follow this link to donate: Canada Helps.
May children stand among great trees and gurgling creeks in all the generations to come.
Kiera Tsakonas.
Forrest Berman-Hatch
The Children's Forest alumni are shooting a documentary about the story of the Children's forest project and our involvement in it. To do so, we are hoping to raise $2900 to pay for the cost of the film. Donations of any amount are welcome and appreciated if you are moved to help us tell this story. Please find more detailed information below and in the attached letter.
Dear Friends,
In 2010 the Forest Trust for the Children of Cortes Island Society (FTCCIS) published ‘Forest Alphabet’, an A-Z alphabet book in which children from Cortes Island voiced their passion, knowledge and love for the ecosystems of Cortes. We, the undersigned, each wrote passages for that book.
We are writing to you today because we are not children anymore.
As you may know, the proposed Children’s Forest is composed of an area of about 600 acres in which lies critical mature forest ecosystems and intact watersheds. The FTCCIS have proposed that this land be purchased and held in trust for the children of our island. It would be an enactment of reciprocity, with the children acting as stewards of the streams and trees— even as they learn in their midst. The FTCCIS has tirelessly pursued this dream for over a decade.
The logging tenures to the proposed Children’s Forest are currently held by the same company which has proposed cut-blocks on Cortes, some of which are slated to be logged as early as this year. While the Children’s Forest is not one the areas proposed, the fragility of this situation has inspired the alumni’s urgency and resolve. We act for the current generation, who walk the forest’s trails today, but we also look forward to the next generation of children —who very well may be our own, but we need your help.
It is our hope that the Children’s Forest continues to be a point of stillness in the midst of the unfolding ecological crisis. As you read this, we are in the sixth mass extinction. For those who have eyes to see and hearts to feel, bearing witness to the climate crisis and the “management” of BC’s forests is both terrifying and dispiriting. But through all the Children’s Forest has anchored our resilience. It must continue to do so.
To pursue this dream, we have turned to the power of storytelling. Stories can capture imaginations, generate support and thus influence the world. To this end, we hope to film a documentary which delves into the Children’s Forest social history and ecological stewardship. The purpose of our project would be to facilitate and showcase the transmission of place-based ecological knowledge between youth, alumni and elders of the community.
Our intention is to use this film as a promotional piece to further fundraising efforts in the purchase of the Children’s Forest. We hope our story will be educational for generations to come, on our island and beyond.
We are asking for your financial support to further these efforts. We are looking to raise $2900 to cover the costs associated with filming the documentary. Any contribution is welcome and appreciated. Please follow this link to donate: Canada Helps.
May children stand among great trees and gurgling creeks in all the generations to come.
Kiera Tsakonas.
Forrest Berman-Hatch
(Children_Forest_Alumni_Fundraising_Letter_.doc)