12-year-old girl saves B.C. forest!

Who said that one person can't make a difference? Well, to be completely honest, I have in the past made that statement myself. I have just been proven wrong

In Surrey, BC, a forest was to be cut down for a new housing development, when she found out, this teenager had the guts to write a lettre to the mayor and made a call for preservation!! AND IT WORKED! That is just so heartwarming. I am a nature lover myself and I was touched by this story so I just had to share.

"We were highly disappointed because this forest is in the area where I grew up and am currently growing up, and I don't want to think of it as a place for new houses or even a park to be built," wrote Olivia in her letter.

The developer's initial proposal ended up being rejected as a result of her concern according to The Province in B.C.

Full Story

Olivia's mother Lois Peters is as proud of her daughter as the rest of the internet seems to be.

And rightfully so!

Just to think that one single individual can make a difference, and a 12 year old at that, is awesome, she is doing her part. Now, if we all do ours, we may just change this world for the better!

Have a great day ATS and a wonderfull weekend!

Now gotta go prep for that darn hail/ice storm!!!!

This reminds me of that man in India whom planted a whole forest. It really shows that alone, even we can make a big difference. Now lets see what we can do together.

WOW S+F for you OP, this is a great story, touching indeed.

Id S+F this teenager if I could cause she sure deserves it!!!

She will likely be remembered for a long time. I wonder what she will go for next? This situation probably fully motivated her and now she will really try to change the world!

Well I say YOU GO GIRL!!!

Sometimes a wave starts as a ripple. It's amazing to see what people are capable of when they feel strongly about something. We can change the world! We just have to take the initiative... if our children are doing it, why can't the rest of us?

Good on her! Let that be a lesson to the rest of us.

Awesome story!!

Children are remarkable in the fact that they still rightly believe that they have the power to make a difference in or change the world.

I think as we get older we tend to lose this belief in ourselves because we let the world beat us down on a daily basis. Our innocence gets trampled on, crushed, and shattered as the years go by and our jaded adult minds eventually give into the lie that we are helpless and can not exact even a miniscule amount of change in our surroundings or in those that surround us. We throw our chips in and settle.

I think we could achieve anything if (as adults) we were able to maintain that same wide eyed optimism we all had before we gave into the negativity of the world around us. It does give one faith to see stories like this though. Thanks for sharing it.

One word for the scaled down forest....BLOWDOWN................
they will undoubtedly not take into consideration the smaller the forest the easier it blows down when old growth is involved....
Id be willing to be the trees dont last another decade without being removed as a DANGER to the rest of the developement.....

Wonderful,heartwarming story-wish i could give that lovely child a big hug-and a lifetime supply of chocolate

I think that local communities need to make more decisions like this.

The population continues to grow and those people will need housing in the future. We as local communities need to consider many things when a new subdivision is proposed.

We do need housing. But we also need our forests. Only local communities being impacted by these types of issues can solve the issues in a manor that preserves areas of beauty while also providing housing for our growing population.

@VoidFire
I never heard of that story, sounds quite interesting. To think a single man planted a forest, quite the achievement! Would you happen to have a link to this story, I would like to read up on it? Thx

@WOWGamer
I think your right, she will be remembered for this for a while, I know I ain't about to forget her!!!

@Invariance
She just started the ripple, and with this discussion,( and there are likely many more happenning about this especially in Surrey) we could all learn from this and work on building that wave!!

@Kangaruex4Ewe
your also right imo, as we grow up, and get sucked into the routine of working/paying bills/etc, we easilly forget that we are able to change things. But we are all so preoccupied with our daily lives that we forget or just dont bother. One thing is certain though. There is at least one person in surrey that will not fall into this trap of society.

@stirling
I will try to be positive about this!! I hope you are wrong. But time will tell.

@Raxoxane
Id be right behind you in the line up to hug her And maybe she'd share that chocolate

@Wildbob77
I agree, deforestation is getting pretty bad, areas where I used to go hiking as a kid (wodded areas of course), are now all appartment buildings, schools, houses....very little trees left. Its sad really


Thank you all for posting!

reply to post by Teye22


Terrific story. It's amazing how socially conscious our youth are.

As for the ice storm, it's in full swing here at the moment Has been since early morning. Where in heck is spring?

3/4 of my childhood forests here in Surrey have been essentially redeveloped into housing.
They are building many homes here in the past few years where forests used to stand.

So good on her for saving hers

Out of the mouth of babes ah? We can all learn from this and it is my belief that we all have the ability to make this sort of impact. IMHO

Originally posted by aboutface
reply to post by Teye22

 

Terrific story. It's amazing how socially conscious our youth are.

As for the ice storm, it's in full swing here at the moment Has been since early morning. Where in heck is spring?

edit on 12-4-2013 by aboutface because: (no reason given)

So far the storm isnt too bad in my area, but it aint over yet...as for spring??? It was here last week....but its gone now, probablu got a chill and went for a power snooze!!!

We need more children to stand up to the legislators who are giving away their future rights.
Good on this child for saving a forest for the future she wants to see.