Filmmaker Peter von Puttkamer on the importance of old-growth forests

The creator of The Last Stand documentary spoke to us about a lifetime of working with indigenous people, filming in the world’s most fragile ecosystems and the brand new climate-friendly streaming platform Ecoflix.

When images of a burning Amazon went viral a couple of years ago, the world collectively gasped in horror. Yet the absence of giant infernos and media uproar doesn't mean these precious ecosystems – which play an essential role in trapping carbon and reducing global warming – are safe from destruction.

In fact in British Columbia, Canada, studies suggest that just 3% of old-growth forests remain. Which spurred Vancouver-born filmmaker Peter von Puttkamer to create a documentary about these fragile habitats and the people and animals within them.

Old-growth forest at Fairy Creek (Image: COLE BURSTON/AFP via Getty Images)

Premiering on new non-profit streaming service Ecoflix on 22 April, The Last Stand looks at Fairy Creek on Vancouver Island, an old-growth forest which has become the frontline of a battle between environmental activists and loggers. Revealing the connections between wildlife, indigenous communities and climate action, the documentary makes for an informative and compelling watch. 

To mark Earth Day 2022, we spoke to its director about why he wanted to create the environmentally-conscious documentary, how we can safeguard the planet’s most vital ecosystems and why tree planting isn’t a silver bullet. 

“It’s not an isolated issue”

Fairy Creek, a 1,200-acre watershed of old-growth forest in unceded Pacheedaht Territory on the southern tip of Vancouver Island, is at the heart of von Putkammer’s film. Filled with 1,000-year-old cedars, it fosters a number of endangered species including northern goshawks and marbled murrelet birds. 

Yet these ancient trees are also a hot commodity for loggers. That’s because they yield high-quality wood which is useful for a range of products, including luxury furniture, musical instruments and manufacturing materials. What’s more, younger, second-growth forests aren’t nearly as efficient, providing just a third of the amount of wood per hectare.

Which is why Fairy Creek has become the site of the largest act of civil disobedience in Canada’s history. Beginning in August 2020 and continuing late into 2021, the protest saw environmental activists and indgenous people creating a blockade in an attempt to stop logging in the forest, with more than 1,100 arrests made at the site. 

Protestors at Fairy Creek (Image courtesy Ecoflix)

For von Puttkamer, who has spent many years of his career filming in the Amazon, it was vital to show Fairy Creek’s parallels with other forests. “I wanted to give the perspective that it's not just isolated,” he says. “There's a connection between rainforest destruction everywhere in the world.”

“The trees communicate with each other” 

Aside from being breathtakingly beautiful and ecologically rich, old-growth forests may be special in ways scientists are only just beginning to understand – as von Puttkamer’s documentary highlights.

For example, in recent years the ecologist Suzanne Simard has begun to discover how these ancient trees are linked by a network of underground fungi. These complex pathways allow trees to ‘speak’ to each other, warn neighbouring trees of danger and pass on nutrients to keep each other healthy. 

“So when you destroy an old growth forest, you're destroying the ability of trees to communicate with each other,” von Puttkamer tells me. 

Which is why newly-planted forests, which often consist of single species planted in rows, are a poor trade-off for old-growth regions. “They don't take into account that forest is not a tree farm, but it's a complex biodiverse system.”

A complicated relationship

Von Puttkamer has a long history of working with indigenous people. After graduating from film school, he began producing movies for the federal government about issues affecting First Nations communities – from AIDS to drug and alcohol prevention. He has also worked with indigenous filmmakers throughout his career.

“It's a complicated story in the Pacific Northwest,” he stresses. “Indigenous people have an incredible relationship with the forest.” Which is why many Pacheedaht First Nation people are at the forefront of the battle to protect Fairy Creek.

Protest signs hang on a logging road at Fairy Creek (Image: COLE BURSTON/AFP/Getty Images)

But colonialism is also part of the picture – and has affected these groups more recently than you might think. Between 1874 and 1996, some 150,000 First Nations, Métis and Inuit children were forcibly removed from their communities by the Canadian government and taken to residential schools.

The policy, which was supposedly aimed at assimilating these groups into mainstream culture, did irreparable damage to communities and separated children from their cultural identities. The rift created by this and other harmful policies is still being felt today.

“These groups have just pulled themselves up out of this social injustice. We've gone in and basically destroyed their entire habitat. And now we're saying to them: you need to pull yourself up, you need to not be on social assistance, you need to stand on your own.”

Stumps from trees which have previously been destroyed at Fairy Creek (Image: COLE BURSTON/AFP/Getty Images)

In response to this, some indigenous groups have created jobs for their people in the logging industry. 

“I think that's valid. I've been there and I've made films about it, and they're doing it in the most sustainable way possible. They’re not clear-cutting areas. They're finding ways to selectively log trees. We can't take that away from them too – the ability to be economically sustainable.”

Selective logging has been pioneered by indigenous communities, whose deep-rooted knowledge of the areas in which they live helps them decide which trees must be protected.

Von Putkammer describes one way this process can work. “[Loggers] put ribbons on trees that can’t be cut – for example if there’s a bear’s den, or in areas where trees provide shade for the river so the water temperature doesn’t get too high for the salmon eggs.”

The money made from selective logging can then be put back into restoring ecosystems, allowing the process to be more sustainable.

Eco-friendly solutions

Aside from selective logging, von Puttkammer is keen to highlight other ways of preserving forests and tackling climate change. He believes that technology could be a part of that solution.

One particularly exciting company highlighted in The Last Stand is the biotech firm Living Carbon. Founded by Maddie Hall, who was featured in Forbes’ 30 Under 30 list for Science in 2021, the group has bioengineered trees which can grow more quickly and can store more carbon than regular trees. This could have great potential for reducing global warming.

As for carbon offsetting? Von Puttkamer disagrees with the notion of large companies “leaving tracts of land alone and saying: look, we're helping the environment – and then continuing to pollute and continue business as usual.”

On the flipside, he admits that these schemes can be effective when done right. In northern California, for example, indigenous communities have been paid by the government to keep their land intact.

“These groups are making more money by not cutting that wood and letting it stand than they would be if they logged. That can be put into their economic development and social services.”

Film poster for The Last Stand (Image courtesy Ecoflix)

A streaming service with a difference

One thing that will play a huge role in tackling the climate crisis is education. So the arrival of Ecoflix – a streaming service dedicated to showing environmental and wildlife films – is extremely welcome. 

The world’s first non-profit streaming platform, Ecoflix will charge subscribers a small fee (starting at £4.34 per month or £34.74 for a year) to join, with all profits going back to conservation projects. What’s more, members can choose which projects their money goes towards. 

“There’s a direct connection between the films that we make and the conservation work that's being done,” explains von Puttkamer. “So the act of watching Ecoflix can be part of the solution.”

Peter von Puttkamer's documentary, The Last Stand, launches on Ecoflix on 22 April 2022 to coincide with Earth Day. 

Main image courtesy of Peter von Puttkamer.