TJ Watt is an award-winning nature and conservation photographer from Victoria, British Columbia. For more than 15 years, he has combined his passion for rainforest conservation with professional photography, using his images to highlight endangered old-growth forests in BC and the urgent need to save them. A self-described “big-tree hunter,” he can often be found driving rough backroads and exploring remote regions of Vancouver Island in search of the last old-growth giants.

TJ is also a co-founder, campaign director, and photographer with the Ancient Forest Alliance, a charitable organization working to protect endangered old-growth forests in BC and ensure a sustainable, value-added second-growth forest industry. In 2021, he was named a National Geographic Explorer and Royal Canadian Geographical Society Explorer after becoming one of the inaugural grant recipients of the Trebek Initiative.

His images have helped bolster numerous environmental campaigns led by his own organization and others. They have also played a pivotal role in protecting important places, such as the renowned Avatar Grove near Port Renfrew. From the country’s biggest trees to its widest stumps, TJ’s photographs have been featured in museums, magazines, news stories, and exhibitions across Canada and around the world.

In 2024, TJ delivered a TEDxVictoria talk titled One Last Shot to Protect Old-Growth Forests in British Columbia, about his life’s work.

When he’s not in the woods, you might find him skateboarding through the city or surfing along the coast. His favourite tree? Western redcedar.