Sustainability and cultural exchange will be the cornerstones of a new community hub in the heart of Vancouver Island’s Clayoquot Sound biosphere region.
The long-awaited Clayoquot Sound Biosphere Centre, rooted in Nuu-chah-nulth Nations’ values, will address ecosystem threats and promote a sustainable future, diversified economy and strong cultural traditions, said Rebecca Hurwitz, executive director of the Clayoquot Biosphere Trust.
The centre — based around the nuučaanuł (Nuu-chah-nulth) principle of "Hishuk ish ts'awalk" meaning "we are all one and interconnected” — will be a three-story building that includes an Elders room, a kitchen, offices, shared community areas, research and education spaces, and an archives library, Hurwitz said. The design reflects its purpose and will be built with low carbon techniques and materials and feature geothermal energy and rainwater collection, she added.
The idea for the Tofino facility originated in 2014 when the ƛaʔuukʷiʔatḥ (Tla-o-qui-aht Nation) invited the trust to locate the biosphere centre in their territory, Hurwitz said.
The $15-million project will showcase collaboration between traditional knowledge and scientific research, ensuring that visitors and locals alike can understand and contribute to preserving the ecologically rich area while growing a sustainable economy, she said.
The UNESCO region covers close to 350,000 hectares of land and coast along the central coast of west Vancouver Island and features some of the last and most magnificent old-growth forests, valleys and estuaries in the province along with numerous islands and inlets that shelter marine life, birds, salmon, bears, wolves and numerous at-risk species. It has been vital to First Nations’ tradition and culture for millennia.
Designated in 2000, the Clayoquot biosphere region was a negotiated solution after nearly a decade of conflict and protests dubbed the “War in the Woods” that drew international attention during the 90s as environmentalists, First Nations, and the forestry sector struggled to define logging and other resource activity in the region.
The UNESCO designation requires biosphere regions to have a protected core area, which in Clayoquot includes parks and watersheds that comprise about 62 per cent of the land area. There are also terrestrial buffer zones, also known as special management zones, amounting to 26 per cent of the land base that allow logging next to core areas provided it preserves conservation and other values like culturally important areas, or those important to recreation or tourism. The transition area, or 12 per cent of the land base, allows logging or resource activity.
Further protections for old-growth forest in the Clayoquot region that were historical hotspots of conflict also got permanent protection last summer. The Ahoushat and Tla-o-qui-aht First Nations land crafted a forest management agreement with the provincial government that includes 760 square kilometres of Crown land in Clayoquot Sound, including on Meares Island and in the Kennedy Lake area, that will be included in 10 new conservation areas which protect old-growth forests and other unique ecosystems.
The mandate of a UNESCO biosphere reserve is to reconcile the conservation of natural and cultural diversity with the economic and social development and well-being of local communities, Hurwitz noted.
Collaboration is central to the trust’s vision for the centre, noted Hurwitz, and ongoing engagement with the area’s five nuučaanuł First Nations, local groups and residents will help shape programming, initiatives, and artwork.
The centre will provide opportunities for education, skills training and certification in areas such as culinary arts, environmental stewardship and Indigenous knowledge-sharing, particularly for youth who lack programs and services in the region, she said.
"The building includes a community teaching kitchen, and so folks will have the opportunity to learn about food security and traditional harvesting and preserving methods,” she said.
Culturally safe spaces, including the dedicated Elders’ room and an Elder-in-residence program, will boost language revitalization and ensure traditional stories and skills are also passed to future generations. Additionally, classroom spaces used in partnership with North Island College and other educational organizations or schools will support local learning initiatives.
After a decade of work on the project and investments from government, business sector, foundations and regional regional donors like the Island Coastal Economic Trust's (ICET), construction on the centre will start this year and wrap next year with programming underway by early 2027, Hurwitz said.
Given the natural beauty of the region draws approximately a million visitors annually, tourism is a big economic driver, she said. The biosphere centre will also include an official UNESCO visitor centre to foster understanding of conservation and cultural exchange worldwide, Hurwitz said.
“We really want to share our local traditional knowledge and recent scientific [research] and convey that to visitors so we're living up to the values and the vision of the biosphere designation.”
Rochelle Baker / Local Journalism Initiative / Canada’s National Observer
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