Old-growth activists block traffic in Victoria, more protests planned across B.C.

A group opposed to old-growth logging in British Columbia was blocking the southbound lanes of the Trans-Canada Highway in Victoria as part of a province-wide protest on Monday.

The blockade halted traffic heading into the city where the highway turns into Douglas Street, near the intersection with Burnside Road East.

Victoria police were on scene and said southbound traffic was being diverted at Douglas Street and Finlayson Street while northbound traffic was unobstructed.

The group, calling itself "Save Old Growth," said in a statement Sunday that it plans to block the Trans-Canada Highway in several places across B.C. on Monday.

The group said it would begin by blocking Highway 1 off-ramps in Vancouver, Victoria, Nanaimo and in the Interior near Revelstoke, and would continue blocking the route "multiple times per week."

"The frequency and scale of actions will escalate until all old-growth logging is stopped," said Save Old Growth in its release.

The group calls itself "a new civil resistance movement that will see ordinary people risking everything to protect the lives of their families from the effects of the corporate destruction of our world."

With files from Ian Holliday