Gwaii Haanas Park Reserve

Together, the Government of Canada and the Council of the Haida Nation manage the special place called Gwaii Haanas. The name means “Islands of Beauty” in the Haida langauge and the area embodies the rugged beauty and rich ecology of this remote Pacific Coastal region. The Haida Gwaii Watchmen work closely with Parks Canada to watch over important cultural sites including the standing poles at SGang Gwaay, a UNESCO World Heritage Site. Giant Sitka spruce, breeching humpback whales, waters teaming with salmon and herring – these are a few of the wonders you may witness on your visit. Come explore! Gwaii Haanas National Park Reserve and Haida Heritage Site, often referred to simply as Gwaii Haanas, is located in the southernmost Haida Gwaii (formerly known as Queen Charlotte Islands), 130 kilometres (81 miles) off the mainland of British Columbia, Canada. Gwaii Haanas protects an archipelago of 138 islands, the largest being Moresby Island and the southernmost being Kunghit Island. From the 1970s through the early 1980s, plans to expand logging to Burnaby Island led to controversy, and the first concerted efforts to protect Gwaii Haanas. The "South Moresby Wilderness Proposal" was drawn up in an effort to stem natural resource exploitation. To prevent logging, the Haida Nation designated the "Haida Heritage Site" in 1985, encompassing roughly the southern third of the archipelago. Importantly, the Heritage Site included a swath of land and sea, both terrestrial and marine areas. However, logging continued, amidst legal and political battles. In 1987, logging ended when the governments of Canada and British Columbia signed the South Moresby Memorandum of Understanding. This accord led to the South Moresby Agreement a year later, which created South Moresby National Park Reserve. It was not a full national park; it was an area reserved to become a national park, because there were outstanding claims to land ownership among federal and tribal governments. But the measure safeguarded the area, and permitted shared stewardship. It would be managed as if it were a national park, pending land claims. The landscapes of Gwaii Haanas vary from deep fjords to rugged mountains, salmon spawning streams to sub-alpine tundra. Close to 90% of Gwaii Haanas is forested, 9% is alpine and sub-alpine tundra. The remaining 1% is made up of lakes and wetlands. As water drains from the highest mountains - including the rugged San Christoval Range with peaks over 1,100 metres (3,609 feet) - it helps fill over 40 freshwater lakes. In turn, this water drains through more than 100 salmon spawning streams. The west coast of Gwaii Haanas can receive over 4,000 millimetres (157.5 inches) of rain annually. Extreme exposure to wind and rain makes the forests on the west coast boggy and stunted, and are dominated by western red cedar and hemlock . Forests of the leeward, or eastern side of Gwaii Haanas, are classic coastal temperate rainforests, dominant overstorey species include large western hemlock, Sitka spruce and western red cedar trees Distinct island flora and fauna have evolved over thousands of years. Species here often differ from those found on the mainland. Many common continental species are not found on the islands, or have evolved into unique subspecies such as the black bear which is larger than its mainland cousin. Other species have been introduced relatively recently, such as the Sitka black-tailed deer, racoons, squirrels and beaver. Introduced species now exist in large numbers, much to the detriment of native plants and animals