Vancouverites Rejoice Great Bear Rainforest and Raise $60 Million

April 23, 2008 |

The Bill Reid Gallery hosted revelers who contributed to a stupendous fundraising drive. (Photos by Julia Pelish)

A day after the world celebrated our planet, members of Vancouver’s philanthropic community gathered for the benefit of one particular piece of extraordinary territory in our province.The Great Bear Rainforest was the headline attraction for concerned corporate citizens and conservationists at the Bill Reid Gallery of Northwest Coast Art on Wednesday night. Attendees cheered the completion of international fundraising efforts that brought in $60 million to help protect the 21-million acres of temperate rainforest located in the Bute Inlet.

The achievement was hailed as “a great beacon of light” for environmental protection, according to Tides Canada Foundation board member Alan Broadbent. The national public foundation, which is focused on social justice and environmental causes, organized the celebration and also raised $4 million in Canada.

In January 2007, the Great Bear Rainforest Conservation Campaign Fund was created in a watershed moment for shared environmental programs. The federal and provincial governments teamed with businesses, non-government organizations, First Nations communities and charities to contribute a total of $120 million to preserve the forest, which includes 30-storey red cedars and an array of wildlife such as the rare white Kermode bear. The Canadian government pledged $30 million to help finance the project, a figure that the B.C. government matched.

corporate-photographer-vancouver-at-tides-canada-foundation At its inception, the fund was championed as “the largest integrated conservation investment package in North American history” by Greenpeace. Wednesday’s post-Earth Day event helps secure protection for the delicate tract of land and marks “one of the greatest achievements for the people of British Columbia,” according to Rudy North, whose investment firm North Growth Management was the leading contributor.

Not long ago the accord was thought to be too complex to pull off. In fact, KNT First Nations chair Dallas Smith told the audience at the new Cathedral Place gallery, “I thought I would never see it in my lifetime.” Smith even admitted he had once agreed to get a tattoo of the Great Bear Rainforest logo “somewhere” on his body if the agreement to protect the land and create a sustainable society became reality. “Had I thought this day would come I never would have made that promise,” he said to loud laughter.

BOTTOM PHOTO: Tides Canada Foundation board member Alan Broadbent welcomes attendees while president Ross McMillan looks on.