Anti-logging protests become biggest civil disobedience in Canada

A number of protests in western Canada against logging of old-growth forests have become largest acts of civil disobedience in country's history. The protesters are fighting to stop companies from cutting down trees that are often hundreds of years old.

As per media reports, more than 800 people have been arrested since April. The number has exceeded previous record set in the 90s.

Protests at Vancouver Island have seen protesters blocking roads used by logging companies by tactics such as locking their bodies to the road. Some of them have chained themselves to wooden tripods, others have suspended themselves from trees. Some of the protesters have locked their arms inside devices called "sleeping dragons" that are cemented into the ground.

Tactics such as these have brought the protesters at odds with the Royal Canadian Mounted Police (RCMP). The police have had to use force at some places in order to tackle the protests. They have also come under a lot of criticism for their methods.

They are mainly drawing criticism for actions like removing protesters' masks to pepper spray them, obstructing their own faces and not wearing nametags while tackling the protesters.