This place also provides much of the wealth for communities as diverse as Prince Rupert and Bella Coola, where commercial logging on a small percentage of the land base has provided jobs and economic development for more than a hundred years.

The region supports one of the largest areas of coastal temperate rainforest in the world, providing habitat for a diversity of wildlife, including the unique Kermode bear, grizzly bear, mountain goat and timber wolves. The rivers, streams and estuaries provide spawning and rearing habitat for five species of Pacific salmon, as well as habitat for migratory waterfowl and a myriad of bird life. The World Wildlife Fund ranks this region as globally outstanding due to its biological diversity and the global rarity of the ecosystem type.

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Central Coast

The Central Coast planning area encompasses 4.8 million hectares (11.8 million acres) of land, fresh water and marine area. Extending west of the Coast Mountains, it spans the mainland coast of British Columbia from Bute Inlet in the south to Douglas Channel in the north.

The region is home to over 4,400 people, mainly First Nations. Natural resource industries, including fisheries and forestry, play a primary role in the local economies and wellbeing of communities such as Bella Bella, Shearwater, Ocean Falls, Klemtu, Bella Coola and Oweekeno.

The Central Coast is ecologically diverse, characterized by rugged mountains, deep ocean fjords, numerous islands and alluvial valleys that reach into the interior ecosystems of the province. Coastal temperate rainforests dominate lower elevation landscapes. These forests as well as the wetlands, bogs, estuaries and rivers found throughout the region are biologically dynamic and rich in biodiversity.

About half the area is forested, while less than 12 percent contains commercial forests available for timber harvesting. The Central Coast Land and Resource Management Planning process recommended that one third of the area be set aside to protect biodiversity and cultural values. The remainder of the region is available for ecosystem-based management.

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North Coast

Covering 1.7 million hectares (4.2 million acres), the North Coast planning area lies to the north of the Central Coast and stretches to the town of Stewart.

More than 20,000 people live within the North Coast, most in the city of Prince Rupert, and the remainder in the communities of Port Edward, Metlakatla, Lax Kw’alaams, Kitkatla and Hartley Bay. These communities all lie next to the sea and draw their wealth from marine resources, forestry and tourism.

The North Coast includes similar ecosystems to those found in the Central Coast, offering a diversity of habitat types and ecological complexes. Approximately 38 per cent of the area is forested, and less than six percent is available for timber harvesting.

The North Coast Land and Resource Management Planning process recommended that about one third of the area be set aside to protect biodiversity and cultural values. The remainder of region is available for ecosystem-based management.

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Haida Gwaii/Queen Charlotte Islands

Haida Gwaii/Queen Charlotte Islands lies about 90 kilometres west of the north coast of mainland B.C. The archipelago contains 150 islands and hundreds of islets. The total land area is just over a million hectares (2.5 million acres).

About 6,000 people live in the Queen Charlotte Islands; a third are members of the Haida Nation. Forestry, commercial fishing and tourism contribute to the area’s economy.

Almost 25 per cent of the area is protected in the Gwaii Haanas National Park Reserve (147,500 hectares encompassing the southern portion of Moresby Island) and Naikoon Provincial Park (73,800 hectares, occupying the northeast corner of Graham Island).

The governments of British Columbia and the Haida Nation are negotiating a land use plan for the region that will increase protected areas and consider adoption of ecosystem-based management planning and practices.

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