Running 250 miles down the British Columbia, Canada, coast, the Great Bear Rain Forest is a wild expanse of western cedars, hemlocks and spruce trees. This 21 million-acre area—whose boundaries have never been precisely defined—is the largest coastal temperate rain forest on Earth. Here, black bears, grizzly bears, spirit bears, whales and wolves find homes and sustenance in the mist-shrouded valleys, old-growth stands, glacier-cut fjords and rich marine channels.
Not only is the Great Bear Rain Forest bursting with megafauna, it is flowing with flora, including invaluable medicinal plants. Because of its treasures, however, diverse stakeholders—such as loggers, environmentalists, local communities, ecotourism operators and governments—vie for the rights to use this natural resource. Luckily, in the past few years, all parties have come together to create an internationally recognized, groundbreaking model of conservation. In 2006 and 2009, a series of formal agreements were established to:
Protect 6.5 million acres of the Great Bear Rain Forest.
Set rules for lighter-touch logging, which currently require that 50 percent of the natural level of old-growth forest in the region be maintained. This translates into an additional 1.7 million acres of forest set aside from logging.
Make available to First Nations communities a $120 million fund to help start a new conservation economy as an alternative to logging and to help manage conservation efforts in their rain forest territories.
Establish new governance and decision-making protocols. A new relationship between First Nations and the British Columbia government gives indigenous people a say in resource management on their lands and puts in place new processes for collaboration.
While under the current rules 50 percent of the natural level of old forest must be maintained, ecology experts say that the Great Beat Rain Forest will not be safe until 70 percent is preserved. The province and industry have agreed to this goal.
If you are able, I encourage you to travel to the Great Bear Rain Forest and let its beauty speak to you firsthand about how important it is to protect it. In the meantime, however, I hope my photo journal, below, will begin to convince you.
Here’s to finding your true places and natural habitats,
Because it remained relatively isolated from the rest of the world for so many centuries, Bhutan is still a country shrouded in mystery and legend. It officially opened to international tourism only fairly recently, in 1974.
You think you know. You think you know how big and grand Alaska is before you go. It is jaw-droppingly huge and beautiful and fierce all at the same time.
When I first considered my trip to Greenland, I enthusiastically anticipated the breathtaking scenery of fjords and icebergs bobbing among crystal-clear waters. But what transpired far exceeded my expectations. The multisensory experience was a joyous surprise and contributed to this being an awe-inspiring adventure.
