As the mist lifts from the rugged coastline, islands emerge from the sea and then vanish again. A bald eagle cries out through the haze. An otter slips between huge roots and glides into the sea, whilst coastal wolves roam the beaches and sundew thrives in the woodland bogs. This is the temperate rainforest of the north-west coast: a wild treasure.
The ‘Misty Forest’ stretches across numerous areas along the coast and in the mountain valleys. Discover the permanently protected areas on our online map and view the latest aerial photographs.
Porcher Island, Calvert Island, Scandinavia Bay
Along British Columbia’s wild Pacific coast, rain-soaked forests meet the sea. Islands rise out of the mist, rocky shores vanish beneath the waves, and towering trees provide a habitat stretching from the forest floor to the ocean.
Usk & Toba Valley
Deep within the rugged mountain valleys, ancient forests rise beneath towering peaks. Wild rivers rush through moss-covered valleys, whilst mist hangs on the mountains and clouds drift through the treetops.
Read Island & Carlisle Lake
Along the sheltered south coast, lush forests meet tranquil waters. Towering trees rise from carpets of moss, whilst wisps of mist drift through the canopy and the rhythms of the Pacific shape life on the coast.
The Misty Forest is a place where land and sea are closely intertwined.
Rain drifts in from the Pacific, nourishing ancient forests, moss-covered wetlands, tranquil lakes and rushing rivers. Ancient giant trees tower above the lush forest floor, whilst otters, coastal wolves, eagles and countless other species move through a landscape shaped by water.
Here, life does not simply grow; it constantly makes way for new life. When an ancient tree finally falls, its story does not end. Its trunk becomes a habitat for mosses, fungi and countless tiny creatures, whilst its nutrients slowly return to the forest floor. In the forest, even death nourishes life.
Along the coast, on the islands and in the mountain valleys, these interconnected habitats shape the shared character of the Misty Forest – a species-rich, interconnected landscape that sequesters carbon, provides vital habitat and sustains life from the forest floor to the Pacific coast.
Some of the giant trees in British Columbia’s coastal rainforest have been growing for hundreds, or even more than a thousand, years. They cannot simply be replaced.
The Misty Forest is part of one of the rarest temperate rainforests in the world. Here, old-growth forests, wetlands, rivers and coastal waters form a living network that is home to an extraordinary diversity of species. These forests also sequester carbon, store water and provide habitats for species that depend on old-growth forest ecosystems.
Yet these forests are under pressure. Logging and economic development continue to alter parts of British Columbia’s coastal rainforest, threatening these ecosystems and the connections between them. When an old-growth forest is cleared, we lose far more than just trees. The habitats, nutrients and interdependencies that have developed over centuries are also destroyed.
That is why we at Wilderness International have decided to protect this region. By conserving these forests, we can preserve an irreplaceable ecosystem – and the life that depends on it – for future generations.
