As the glaciers of the last Ice Age slowly began to recede, they left behind a scoured landscape where the Great Bear Rainforest took seed. Today only small disturbances are common, such as “blowdowns” when a small group of trees are uprooted by heavy winds and natural decay. Larger disturbances, such as fires, are very rare and the variety of wildlife and plant species has increased in response to the layers of ancient, undisturbed forest growth.

Along with the grizzly bears, black bears and spirit bears that give this forest its name, packs of grey wolves and herds of elk roam the large tracts of undisturbed rainforest in search of food and shelter. In the treetops endangered marbled murrelets nest on wide moss covered branches. Squirrels chatter nearby and the diligent work of woodpeckers echo through the landscape. Mountain goats scale rock cliffs, while swallows glide by under the watchful eye of soaring eagles.

But it is the five species of wild Pacific salmon that truly embody this magnificent rainforest. The salmon close the intricate link between forest and ocean. This Pacific coastline is teaming with sea lions, porpoises, and seals, and orcas, humpbacks and grey whales all feed in these rich coastal waters. The salmon feed in these waters too, and when they are ready to reproduce, they swim up the coastal freshwater streams where they were born with flashes of brilliant spawning colour.

These salmon provide a source of  energy rich food for many inhabitants of the Great Bear Rainforest. Salmon are believed to supplement the diet of bears, adding layers of fat to see them through winter hibernation. Rainforest wolves also catch salmon, and research indicates that the nutrients provided increases the survival of young wolf pups when compared to their interior landlocked cousins. The salmon also provide a critical flush of natural fertilizer to the forests by bringing elements such as nitrogen from the oceans to the land in their muscles, skin and bones, which are left to decay after spawning.

These forests are not home to animals alone. For thousands of years, the coastal First Nations have lived here. They are the Kwakwaka'wakw, Heiltsuk, Wuikinuxv, Nuxalk, and the Kitasoo/Xai'xais. And further north, live the Tsimshian tribes, which include Metlakatla, Gitkxaahla and Gitga’at, the Lax Kw'alaams, Kitsumkalum, Nisg’a and the Haisla. The islands of Haida Gwaii (the Queen Charlotte Islands) are the traditional territory of the Haida Nation. In the heart of the Great Bear Rainforest is one of the earliest known coastal villages, Namu, a 14,000-year-old site in Heiltsuk territory. The natural abundance of the region  supported the development of highly organized cultures and intricate trade networks, and the striking style of many coastal First Nations art and design is globally renowned.

With the arrival of the Europeans, epidemics of disease, appropriation of resources and colonial efforts to silence and assimilate native people had a devastating impact. Several decades of unsustainable land management and the development of large scale industrial logging have spread destruction throughout First Nations’ territories, and now the capacity of the land, water and wildlife to provide for future generations is threatened.

Today, First Nations continue to fight for their unceded ancestral lands and a just resolution of title and rights to traditional territory is one of the most politically charged issues debated throughout the province and Canada.