Great Bear Rainforest, Canada
The Great Bear Rainforest is a 6.4-million-acre temperate rain forest on the Pacific coast of British Columbia, Canada. It is part of the wider Pacific temperate rainforest ecoregion, which includes the world's biggest coastal temperate rainforest. The Government of British Columbia formally designated the Great Bear Rainforest in February 2016, when it announced an agreement to permanently conserve 85% of the old-growth wooded region from industrial logging. In September of that year, the woodland was included to the Queen's Commonwealth Canopy.
The Great Bear Rainforest is one of the world's greatest surviving expanses of unspoilt temperate rainforest. Cougars, wolves, salmon, grizzly bears, and the Kermode ("spirit") bear, a rare subspecies of black bear in which one in every ten cubs has a recessive white coat, live in the region. The woodland has 1,000-year-old western red cedar and Sitka spruce towering over 90 meters. Coastal temperate rainforests are distinguished by their closeness to both the sea and the mountains. When the atmospheric flow of moist air off the ocean collides with mountain ranges, abundant rainfall occurs. This climatic pattern is shared by much of North America's Pacific coastline, including parts of Alaska, British Columbia, Washington, Oregon, and Northern California.
Canada’s Great Bear Rainforest is a large stretch of coastal temperate rainforest with massive old trees, such as the red cedar, western hemlock, Sitka spruce, and the amabilis fir. Apart from these impressive trees, it’s also the dwelling of hundreds of animal species, such as cougars, grey wolves, Sitka deers, and mountain goats. It’s best to go from late August to mid-October, as thousands of salmon go back to the local rivers, enticing other wildlife such as grizzly bears and the rare cream-colored Kermode bear. Afterward, enjoy the pristine wilderness that’s right before your eyes.
