The temperate rainforest and marine ecosystems of the Clayoquot Sound comprise some one of the most magnificent and unique environments
in the world. Only 0.1% of the earth’s landscape is temperate rainforest, and 25%
of this is found here in British Columbia. Temperate rainforests are generally found
in mountainous coastal environments like our own where temperatures are
moderate and rainfall is very high (around 2000-3000 millimetres per year). All this
rain in combination with the climate means that western hemlock, red and
yellow cedars, and Sitka spruce grow all year long to reach enormous sizes. The
long wet season also provides a nursery for salmon berry, salal, ferns, mosses,
lichens, and so much more.
Nuu-chah-nulth First Nations
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| www.nuuchahnulth.org |
Clayoquot Sound has been home to the Nuu-chah-nulth people
for thousands of years. Nuu-chah-nulth means "all along the mountains and
sea" and its people regard the land and sea of Clayoquot Sound as
intrinsic to their way of life, and the steadfast connection is a source of
cultural identity and pride. The Clayoquot Sound First Nations are comprised of
three distinct communities: the Ahousaht, the Hesquiaht, and the Tla-o-quiaht.
The Ahousaht comprise the largest community, which is situated at the south end
of Flores Island in Matilda Inlet. A little further up the coast is Hot Springs
Cove, the largest settlement of the Hesquiaht First Nation. The Tla-o-quiaht
First Nation have homes in Opitsaht, on the south end of Meares Island, as well
as in Esowista on Long Beach and Ty-Hystanis just north of that. It is worth
noting that the word Clayoquot is an anglicised
pronunciation of Tla-o-quiaht. Significantly,
carbon dating of a clam midden at Opitsaht shows that the community has been continuously
inhabited for 5,000 years or more.
European Arrival
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| www.tofino.ca |
In the late 18th Century, European explorations of Vancouver
Island brought Spanish Captains Galiano and Valdez to Clayoquot Sound. In 1792,
the region’s southernmost inlet was named Tofino, a name chosen in honour of
the Spanish hydrographer Don Vincente Tofino who had tutored Captain Galiano in cartography
during the expedition. In the late 1850s, a fur trading post called Clayoquot
was established on Stubb's Island and became the chief settlement in the area
until the turn of the century. By the late 1890s the Esowista peninsula
was scattered with homesteads, and in 1909 and the current village site of
Tofino was officially born. Following on the heels of marine-based trading came
fishermen, miners, and small-scale logging operations.
Recent History
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| Source: clayoquotbiospheretrust.org |
During the 1950s, logging policy
changed and most of the Clayoquot Sound was allocated into Tree Farm Licenses (TFLs) for
two companies: MacMillan Bloedel and BC Forest Products. TFLs are renewable
leases on public land that allow companies to log old growth forests and replace
them with tree farms. In 1959, a logging road was built through the mountains
connecting Port Alberni to the coast, making the region accessible for truck
logging. Other advances in logging equipment, such as the chainsaw, brought
industrial scale forestry into Clayoquot and by the early 1960's immense
expanses of old growth forest were being clear-cut.
In the late 1980s, logging in Clayoquot reached its peak with nearly one million cubic meters of old growth forest being cut annually. During this time, BC government plans to allow the logging of 90% of the old growth forest on Meares Island brought about the first logging blockades in Canadian history and a legal injunction granted to the Nuu-chah-nulth, in whose territory Meares is located, put a halt to its deforestation. In 1993, protesters again formed blockades in response to the "Clayoquot Land Use Decisions", a BC government plan permitting 2/3 of the old growth forest within the Sound to be logged. Over 12,000 individuals stood in direct protests which lead to over 850 arrests in what was, at the time, the largest mass trial in Canadian history.
These events helped bring international attention to the ecological richness and ancient forests of Clayoquot Sound, and in 2003 it was designated an UNESCO Biosphere Reserve. Biosphere reserves have three important spatial designations: legally protected core areas that offer long-term protection, buffer zones where resource extraction can take place as long as the integrity of core areas remains intact, and transition zones where people work together to use resources in sustainable ways. While the Biosphere Reserve designation was a step in a positive direction, there are some who believe that it has left too much of the area’s old growth forests open to logging.
In the late 1980s, logging in Clayoquot reached its peak with nearly one million cubic meters of old growth forest being cut annually. During this time, BC government plans to allow the logging of 90% of the old growth forest on Meares Island brought about the first logging blockades in Canadian history and a legal injunction granted to the Nuu-chah-nulth, in whose territory Meares is located, put a halt to its deforestation. In 1993, protesters again formed blockades in response to the "Clayoquot Land Use Decisions", a BC government plan permitting 2/3 of the old growth forest within the Sound to be logged. Over 12,000 individuals stood in direct protests which lead to over 850 arrests in what was, at the time, the largest mass trial in Canadian history.
These events helped bring international attention to the ecological richness and ancient forests of Clayoquot Sound, and in 2003 it was designated an UNESCO Biosphere Reserve. Biosphere reserves have three important spatial designations: legally protected core areas that offer long-term protection, buffer zones where resource extraction can take place as long as the integrity of core areas remains intact, and transition zones where people work together to use resources in sustainable ways. While the Biosphere Reserve designation was a step in a positive direction, there are some who believe that it has left too much of the area’s old growth forests open to logging.
