Nearly 8,000 hectares of land north of Campbell River is now protected in a new deal with the Kwiakah First Nation.
Lands east and west of Philips Arm are now part of a Special Forest Management Area. That means they will be protected from commercial forestry.
Kwiakah Chief Steven Dick says his people have a vision for the future of the lands, and want them to be protected and abundant. He says in 50 years they hope to erase all evidence of damaging logging practices.
It’s the ninth such management area in the region designated as the Great Bear Rainforest and will allow the Kwiakah to practice regenerative forestry and generate carbon credits.
The protected area plan was open for public comment for a month earlier this year.
