Canadian Activist on 14-Day Hunger Strike To Save Forests

Canadian activist Jacob Fillmore reached on Friday the 14-days hunger strike to denounce logging practices that devastated the forests in his province Nova Scotia. Logging contributes to deforestation and climate change, advocacy groups accuse.

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"Months ago, I became fed up with the lack of action by the provincial government on environmental issues. They were selling provincial parks and arresting those who were trying to get the government to follow their laws, laws that the Supreme Court had said they weren’t following," Fillmore said in a statement amid his hunger strike.

The 25-year-old environmentalist has camped outside the headquarters of the legislative assembly, surviving on broth and water. According to the organization Nature Nova Scotia, which represents advocacy groups, half of Nova Scotia forests have been logged during the last 35 years.

"In the past week, people have said to me that a hunger strike is an extreme way of getting my message across. Well, folks, it’s time for extreme measures," the activist remarked.

"We are in the midst of an environmental crisis. The provincial government itself has said as much. I am demanding they act in a way that reflects what they have said. We need action now," Fillmore added. Although local authorities have promoted a Biodiversity Act, it will not come to effect until October. This has sparked concern among environmentalist groups as the government uses logged wood to produce electricity.