BC Announces New Conservation Area for Vancouver Island in Clayoquot Sound

The BC government, in partnership with the with Ahousaht and Tla-o-qui-aht First Nations, announced on Tuesday 10 new conservancies are being established to support reconciliation, conservation of old-growth forests and healthy ecosystems, as well as provide clarity on areas that will continue to be managed for forestry to support timber supply.

Following overwhelming support during public consultation, this process now stands as an example of moving forward with the full involvement of First Nations in implementing old-growth strategies and conserving ecosystem health and biodiversity, the Ministry of Forests said.

Approximately 76,000 hectares of Crown land on Vancouver Inland in Clayoquot Sound will be permanently protected, including old forests, habitat for several endangered and threatened species, and lands adjacent to existing protected areas, such as Strathcona Park. Effective June 26th, these new conservancies follow the old-growth deferral implemented in 2020 and are the next step for land and forest management in Clayoquot Sound, in alignment with the First Nations’ land-use visions.

Nature United, a conservation organization that has been working in partnership with First Nations in Clayoquot Sound for more than a decade, has led on securing the funding for the current Tree Farm License (TFL) holder to support removing areas from the TFL to enable the establishment of the conservancies.

Canada’s Old Growth Nature Fund provided $8 million to help restore the areas consistent with the land-use visions of the Nations. Protecting additional high priority at-risk old-growth forests is one of the key objectives of the historic Tripartite Framework Agreement on Nature Conservation that Canada, British Columbia, and the First Nations Leadership Council signed in November 2023.

The forestry management area TFL 54 lies within Clayoquot Sound. The creation of these new conservancies is part of a larger reconfiguration of the TFL that supports predictable fiber flow through First Nation–held tenures in the future.