Nootka Island is located in Nuchatlaht and Mowachaht/Muchalaht territory on the west coast of Vancouver Island, BC. The island is home to the famed Nootka Trail, a 35-kilometer coastal trail that traverses ancient rainforests, beaches, and spectacular rocky intertidal coastlines. Whales, bears, and wolves are commonly sighted along the shoreline.
The old-growth forests and scenic values of Nootka Island have been heavily impacted by industrial logging in past decades and remain under threat today as ongoing logging continues to target the biggest and best trees, often near the trail.
In spring 2022, the Nuchatlaht Nation, whose unceded territory includes northwestern Nootka Island, went to court battling the provincial government and Western Forest Products to reclaim management of their territory. Stewards of these lands and waters since time immemorial, the Nuchatlaht are aiming to prevent further destruction of the ancient forests and salmon streams that support the myriad of living systems in this region, both human and non-human alike.
AFA is now supporting the Salmon Parks Initiative, an ambitious project by the Mowachaht/Muchalaht and Nuchatlaht First Nations to safeguard entire watersheds from valley bottom to mountaintops that will preserve habitat for wild salmon and the creatures and cultures that depend on them. Some of Nootka Island’s watersheds would be protected under this proposal.
Take action by sending an instant message to protect old-growth forests.
