Canada's Pacific Coast
From sea floor to mountain summit, this region is home to an abundance of natural diversity and magnificent animals, some found nowhere else on earth.
The area’s cultural mix is equally rich, from the First Nations who have made their home here for thousands of years, to newcomers who arrive daily from around the world.
Nourishing it all is water.
From streams and rivers to tidal flows and ocean currents, water is the living veins of this complex system. That’s why maintaining healthy and resilient freshwater and marine ecosystems is key to the well-being of all life here.
Unfortunately, increased development, poor resource management and climate change threaten this complex and ecologically rich area. Now is the time to create the framework for long-term sustainability.
WWF-Canada is working with communities, industry, First Nations and government to conserve the species and spaces that make the Northeast Pacific ecoregion—the Great Bear Sea—a global jewel. We can create solutions that will work for everyone—and last for generations.
The area’s cultural mix is equally rich, from the First Nations who have made their home here for thousands of years, to newcomers who arrive daily from around the world.
Nourishing it all is water.
From streams and rivers to tidal flows and ocean currents, water is the living veins of this complex system. That’s why maintaining healthy and resilient freshwater and marine ecosystems is key to the well-being of all life here.
Unfortunately, increased development, poor resource management and climate change threaten this complex and ecologically rich area. Now is the time to create the framework for long-term sustainability.
WWF-Canada is working with communities, industry, First Nations and government to conserve the species and spaces that make the Northeast Pacific ecoregion—the Great Bear Sea—a global jewel. We can create solutions that will work for everyone—and last for generations.
B.C.'s North Coast: The Great Bear Sea
The Great Bear Sea is a biological treasure. This region boasts an abundance of natural diversity. It also supports complex interactions across freshwater and marine environments, and includes animals found nowhere else on Earth.
Oceans Blog Posts
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“It Cannot Happen Here”? A closer look at the Exxon Valdez spill
Recall that another politician-on-a-mission, the late Senator Ted Stevens, famously promised fishermen in Cordova, Alaska that “not ...
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“The science fiction nightmare has become reality”
An excerpt from Joseph Boyden’s 2010 speech at WWF-Canada’s Annual Public MeetingThe post “The science fiction nightmare has become ...
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Sinking the myth – The science of bitumen in seawater
On April 20, 2010, the Deepwater Horizon platform exploded and sank in the Gulf of Mexico, spilling almost 5-million barrels of oil ...
Improving resource management
Nowhere else in Canada are ocean and terrestrial ecosystems so visibly connected than on the Pacific Coast.
In the past, the forest sector in B.C. has been heavily criticized for resource management practices that disregarded nature, and harmed forest habitats and species at the watershed level.
Traditionally management failed to relate how one activity affects another, or how the cumulative impact of human activities affect ocean ecosystems. The result can be seen in the declining health of marine ecosystems, as well as the degradation and loss of species, including fisheries.
The damage is not only to ecosystems, but also to livelihoods, economies and cultures.
In the past, the forest sector in B.C. has been heavily criticized for resource management practices that disregarded nature, and harmed forest habitats and species at the watershed level.
Traditionally management failed to relate how one activity affects another, or how the cumulative impact of human activities affect ocean ecosystems. The result can be seen in the declining health of marine ecosystems, as well as the degradation and loss of species, including fisheries.
The damage is not only to ecosystems, but also to livelihoods, economies and cultures.
Commitment to 'Sustainable Seafood'
Loblaw and WWF have made the responsible, sustainable sourcing of seafood a top priority.
A sea change
But after years of conflict, a more holistic, ecosystem-based approach is emerging. The key to this approach is the realization that everything is connected.
Let’s start managing all our activities in the ocean in a way that reflects this reality.
Let’s start managing all our activities in the ocean in a way that reflects this reality.
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