Conserving Canada’s Great Bear Rainforest

The government of British Columbia has created the most comprehensive rainforest conservation plan in North American history for the Great Bear Rainforest, also known as Canada’s Amazon.

The area is home to hundreds of species, including cougars, wolves, grizzly bears and the Kermode (“spirit”) bear. During the 1990s, industrial logging destroyed huge swathes of the forest and for years it was a battleground between logging companies and eco-activists.

Thanks to an innovative land management programme, two million hectares have now been made off-limits to logging – resulting in a huge success for conservationists, but also creating a blue-print for responsible ecosystem-based management for the future.

Mei-Ling McNamara meets some of the people who have been instrumental in the project’s success. They take her for a trek through the awe-inspiring Great Bear Rainforest – culminating in a nail-bitingly close encounter.