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Susan Bibbing witnessed the slow, steady dying of red cedar trees in her West Vancouver neighbourhood.

“A lot of these cedar trees are dying from the top down,” said Bibbing. “Some are completely dead, some are a third or a half dead. That hillside is being spotted brown when it used to be a solid green.”

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The decline of the towering coastal trees — a phenomenon occurring across southwestern B.C. — is an early warning indication of climate change, according to experts.

Red cedars are considered the canary in the coal mine of trees, especially vulnerable to heat and recurring drought because their shallow root systems cannot withstand more than eight to 12 weeks of drought.

That means the red cedars, which have long been a fixture on our coasts, might not have a bright future in B.C.

A passionate environmentalist and tree lover, Bibbing was spurred to action. Her solution: Sequoias.

It makes no sense to replant the same species in the face of climate change, so Bibbing decided to order sequoias seedlings and is looking for residents to give them a new home.