The BC Community Forest Association Launches ‘Rooted Together’

Film Highlights the Power of Community Forestry in British Columbia

VICTORIA, B.C. - The Traditional Territory of the Lekwungen Peoples: The BC Community Forest Association (BCCFA) has released a new film entitled Rooted Together, created to highlight the value and impact of community forests throughout British Columbia. The film explores how community forests support environmental stewardship, local economies, and strong, resilient communities throughout the province. The film centres on a simple but powerful idea that forests are best managed by the people who live closest to them. Featuring voices from Indigenous and community forest leaders plus renowned forestry experts and specialists, the film explores how community forests go beyond timber to prioritize social, cultural, environmental, and economic values.

“The film was designed as an educational tool to increase awareness and understanding of the important role community forests play in reconciliation, wildfire resilience, sustainable forest management, and local economic development,” said Jennifer Gunter, Executive Director, BCCFA. “By sharing the stories from community forests from across our province, we have the opportunity to show the value of community forestry in diverse regions throughout British Columbia.”

Rooted Together features five community forests including West Boundary Community Forest, Chinook Community Forest, Sunshine Coast Community Forest, Logan Lake Community Forest, and Creston Community Forest sharing their unique perspectives and experiences. Through these features, the film illustrates how community forests are locally governed, community-driven, and deeply connected to the people and the land.

Photo caption: An image from the film 'Rooted Together' filmed by Olam Films

“Community forest are the future of tenures in British Columbia,” shared Ken Nielsen, General Manager of the Chinook Community Forest. “It’s local people making local decisions, and we’re considering several generations of people in the future in the forest management work we do now.”

To punctuate Nielsen’s point, the film highlights the long-term vision behind community forestry. As Kathleen Suddes, Chair of the Board of Directors for the Sunshine Coast Community Forest, highlighted in the film, “the vision is to have your grandkids be able to walk through a forest and say, ‘boy, somebody made the right decision’.”

The BCCFA invites community members, partners, educators, policymakers, and anyone interested in learning more about community forestry to watch the film. A link to the film is here https://bit.ly/BCCFAvideo

For more information on the BCCFA and community forests in British Columbia, visit www.bccfa.ca or follow the BCCFA: Facebook | Linked In | Instagram | Blue Sky | YouTube

About the BCCFA

The BCCFA is the collective voice of more than 100 rural and Indigenous communities across British Columbia dedicated to sustainable, locally driven forest management. As a grassroots, member-driven, non-profit society, the BCCFA promotes and supports community forestry as a strategy for ecosystem resilience, local economic development, and long-term land stewardship. Through advocacy, education, and technical support, the BCCFA helps communities exercise meaningful local decision-making over forests, create forest-based jobs, respect Indigenous rights and cultural values, and foster healthy rural economies and resilient ecosystems.

To book an interview with the BCCFA, contact

Aleece Laird, Communications Liaison |  aleece@amplifyinc.ca | 250.574.0221