The Wilderness Committee, Canada's largest membership-based wilderness preservation program, will hold a public meeting in Nanaimo on Thursday regarding the coal-mining industry on Vancouver Island and its effect on the environment.

Organizer Tria Donaldson said coal is widely regarded as one of the dirtiest fossil fuels and the province is in the midst of a massive increase in its coal-mining industry "at the very time we claiming to be climate leaders."

Donaldson said that on Thursday, Ben West from the Wilderness Committee, researcher Arthur Caldicott, and John Snyder from Coalwatch Comox Valley will take part in the discussion.

The meeting begins at 7 p.m. at the Beban Park Social Centre. For information, call 250-388-9292.