The Great Bear Rainforest | Indigenous Tourism BC (2024)

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Endangered Species, Human Spirit

It is not a contrived conservation area but a meaningful menagerie of real life and wonder. Its protection preserves endangered species and the human spirit–a testament to beauty, wonder, and the good that comes when we share values and work together.

Secret Rainforest: Access Granted

Located on the Central and North Coasts of British Columbia and nearby islands, this vast network of deep and lesser valleys, crystal clear lakes and streams, and fjords and inlets hosts the densest terrestrial biomass and most diverse arrays of plant and animal life on Earth. Accessing this expansive, protected area isn’t simple, but that’s part of its allure.

Elusive and Uncommon

Most visitors to the Great Bear Rainforest hope to make the moonshot and catch a glimpse of the elusive and uncommon Spirit Bear, also known as Kermode Bear. For your best chance at a successful sighting, plan with local Indigenous tour operators who know where and when to find them–primarily in Kitasoo Xai’xais Traditional Territory and especially on Princess Royal Island and Gribbell Island, just north of Klemtu.

Coastal Rainforest Safaris

15,000,000+ Acres in Size

The Great Bear Rainforest is the largest remaining coastal temperate rainforest on the planet–almost as big as Ireland and larger than Switzerland.

The Great Bear Rainforest includes offshore islands from the Discovery Islands to the Alaskan border in the north. Vancouver Island and Haida Gwaii are not part of the GBR, which reaches from Stewart in the north to Prince Rupert in the South. The area includes most of Douglas Channel, half of Hawkesbury Island, and part of Gardner Canal.
The region includes the coastline to the west and south of the Fiordland Conservancy, Kitlope Heritage Conservancy Protected Area, Tweedsmuir North and Tweedsmuir South Provincial Parks, including Dean Channel, Burke Channel, Rivers Inlet, and the communities of Bella Bella, Bella Coola, and Hagensborg. In the south, both Knight Inlet and Bute Inlet are included.

2,500 mm

The minimum annual precipitation required for an ecosystem to qualify as a rainforest.

The Great Bear Rainforest receives a whopping average of 6,650 mm of rainfall annually, making it one of the rainiest areas in North America. The area also experiences some of the strongest tides in the world, and its proximity to the Queen Charlotte faultline makes earthquakes and tsunamis possible.

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13,000+

Age in years of Indigenous settlements in the Great Bear Rainforest.

The area contains cultural and burial sites belonging to many Coastal First Nations whose livelihoods have been sustained for millennia by stacking learning on the land and water across generations.

26

First Nations share decision-making with the BC government and legal requirements to maintain areas of cultural, economic, and ecological importance to local Indigenous communities.

The collaboration of these Coastal First Nations communities, their allies, and the government has led to incredible achievements in environmental protection for the Great Bear Rainforest.

10%

Percentage of Klemtu community employed by Spirit Bear Lodge

Destination BC / Clare Levy

50-150

The remaining number of Spirit Bears, as estimated by the Kitasoo Xai’xais.

Also known as kermode bears or moksgm’ol, most remaining Spirit Bears, a cream-coloured subspecies of black bears found only in Canada, are found in Kitasoo Xai’xais Traditional Territory.
It is important to note that these bears are not albino but brown bears with a genetic mutation in the MC1R gene. The mutation is sometimes passed to cubs.

55 km

The speed per hour Spirit Bears can run.

Not only can they run faster than you, but they eat almost anything–that’s why it’s important to explore with an experienced local Indigenous guide. These omnivores eat roots, bulbs, grasses, fruit, insects, young deer, the chance carcass, and anything else they can get their paws on! Of course, their food of choice is a keystone species of the Great Bear Rainforest–the salmon.
Light-furred bears are thought to have a daytime fishing advantage, with their cream fur making it more difficult for salmon to see them. Spirit Bears often take their catch into the forest to eat, bringing their tree friends their leftovers.

50%

Number of guests at Spirit Bear Lodge lucky enough to catch the secretive, usually solo, Spirit Bear.

Remember–Spirit Bears only live in particular areas in the massive Great Bear Rainforest. Not everyone gets to see one! Booking a dedicated tour with an experienced Indigenous host is your best chance to see the famous cream-coloured bear.

Destination BC / Sean Scott

25 Years

Is the average life span of a female grizzly bear.

Lewis and Clark, famous for their two-year military exploration of western North America, were the first to describe the bear as grisly, interpreted as either with white-tipped hair or fear-inspiring. Its Latin name, Ursus arctos horribilis, roughly translates to horrible bear.
Often considered a family member by Coastal First Nations, the grizzly bear has earned a dangerous reputation that encourages people to enter their sanctuaries with fear, reverence, and humility, which helps to safeguard the species, including protective sows and their new cubs.

1-3

Grizzly cubs in a mama’s den.

While grizzlies have a reputation for horrible fearsomeness, they are born entirely defenseless, without hair or teeth. These bald, gummy bears stay safely in dens made from existing holes at tree bases or carved out under the tree’s root system, nursing for five months while they grow fur and teeth.
Grizzly cubs are born the smallest of all mammals compared to their full-grown size. Half of all babies born survive their environmental challenges and grow to the age of reproduction.

2-3

Years grizzly cubs spend learning by their mother’s side before they go off on their own.

After five months of nursing from their mother, the bears are ready to eat a more mature diet–but not yet ready to hunt and forage for themselves. At this point, the mother bear stops milk production on some of her teats to ensure she has the energy to retrieve other foods to meet the dietary needs of her growing cubs.
Their environment is filled with hungry animals, including wolves and other bears. Though they leave the den, they stay close to their mother’s safety as she gathers food for her growing children.

8

Number of times a grizzly’s heart beats per minute during hibernation.

A bear’s heart rate drops significantly during its 5-8-month-long annual hibernation. An adult bear draws only one breath per minute during this time and does not eat, drink, or produce waste.
They survive off fat stores, and the kidneys process urea, a part of urine, into protein that feeds the muscles and organs that allow the bear to emerge healthy.

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2017

Grizzly bear hunt banned in British Columbia.

85%

Percentage of the Great Bear Rainforest now protected from industrial logging. The remaining 15% is subject to the toughest logging regulations in North America.

$335,000,000

Contributions made by provincial and federal governments and private philanthropists in June 2024 as part of an ongoing endowment fund to expand protection for marine ecosystems off the coast of the Great Bear Rainforest.