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Witness History

Canada's war in the woods

Witness History

BBC

Society & Culture, Personal Journals, History

4.5 • 1.6K Ratings

🗓️ 22 April 2026

⏱️ 11 minutes

🧾️ Download transcript

Summary

In 1993, plans to log one of Canada’s ancient rainforests sparked the country’s largest act of civil disobedience.

It was known as the war in the woods. For months, protesters blocked a remote logging road on Vancouver Island, leading to more than a thousand arrests.

Megan Lawton speaks to protest organiser Tzeporah Berman who, aged 23, was arrested and charged with 857 criminal counts.

Eye-witness accounts brought to life by archive. Witness History is for those fascinated by and curious about the past. We take you to the events that have shaped our world through the eyes of the people who were there.

For nine minutes every day, we take you back in time and all over the world, to examine wars, coups, scientific discoveries, cultural moments and much more.

Recent episodes explore everything from how the Excel spreadsheet was developed, the creation of cartoon rabbit Miffy and how the sound barrier was broken.

We look at the lives of some of the most famous leaders, artists, scientists and personalities in history, including: the moment Reagan and Gorbachev met in Geneva, Haitian singer Emerante de Pradines’ life and Omar Sharif’s legendary movie entrance in Lawrence of Arabia.

You can learn all about fascinating and surprising stories, like the invention of a stent which has saved lives around the world; the birth of the G7; and the meeting of Maldives’ ministers underwater. We cover everything from World War Two and Cold War stories to Black History Month and our journeys into space.

(Photo: Protesters sat disrupting the loggers. Credit: Jacob Sutton/Getty Images)

Transcript

Click on a timestamp to play from that location

0:00.0

BBC Sounds, Music, Radio, podcasts.

0:07.4

I'm Dilley Carter, and I love organising.

0:11.8

In my brand new podcast, sort your life out, unpacked, celebrity guests join me to unbox three revealing items from their home.

0:18.7

Oh, wow. I wasn't expecting this.

0:21.6

Along the way, I'll be given you practical hacks to help you declutter your life as well.

0:26.2

This is the tough love I need. Don't hold back.

0:28.5

I'm definitely tucking you with me back to my house.

0:31.7

Sort your life out, unpacked.

0:33.5

Watch on EyePlayer, listen on BBC Sounds.

0:40.1

You're listening to the BBC World Service, and now witness history with me, Megan Lawton, and from 1993,

0:48.2

I'm bringing you the story of one of Canada's largest acts of civil disobedience, known as the War in the Woods.

0:59.8

It's July 1993, and dawn is breaking over Vancouver Island on Canada's West Coast.

1:09.2

There are hundreds of people blocking access to the Kennedy River Bridge.

1:13.9

Some are sitting crossing arms with one another.

1:16.8

Others are chanting and holding signs,

1:19.5

as reported at the time by local news outlet Czech media.

1:26.6

Police are approaching the bridge, but they're not heading for the people blocking it.

1:31.8

They're searching for someone.

1:33.9

They walked around, all the people standing there who were blocking the road,

1:38.3

and came to the side of the road, and grabbed me and put my hands behind my back.

1:44.0

And it took me a while to figure out,

1:45.6

like, what's going on? What's going on? For weeks, environmental activists had been gathering here,

...

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