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Emerald Edge Stories

Clayoquot Sound Agreement caps major Emerald Edge milestones supported by the Bezos Earth Fund

A wetland and valley leading up to a range of mountains.
Clayoquot Sound More than 76,000 hectares (188,000 acres) of this iconic landscape is now protected as Indigenous-led conservancies. © Gisele Martin

In mid-June, the Ahousaht and Tla-o-qui-aht First Nations made history with an agreement with the government of British Columbia (B.C.) to protect 76,000 hectares (188,000 acres) in Clayoquot Sound, including some of the last remaining old-growth forests on Vancouver Island.

Land protection in Clayoquot Sound—which includes the old-growth forests on Wah’nah’juss Hilth’hooiss/Meares Island that inspired the historic “War in the Woods” protests and galvanized global attention in 1993—is one of many initiatives The Nature Conservancy (TNC) and our Canadian affiliate Nature United have advanced alongside partners over the last three years in the Emerald Edge thanks to catalyzing funding support from the Bezos Earth Fund

The Emerald Edge is a vast expanse of rainforests spanning the coasts of Alaska, British Columbia, Washington and Oregon. It’s an ecoregion where industries like logging and mining have often been the only means of economic sustenance for local communities, and advancing old growth forest protections and improving forest management pose unique challenges. The Bezos Earth Fund support has been essential to TNC’s and Nature United’s ability to engage long-term and understand the complicated dynamics of protecting forests and supporting Indigenous partners for lasting stewardship.

Two people measuring an indention on a tree trunk.
Indigenous Forest Stewardship Indigenous Guardians taking a measurement for identifying a culturally modified tree in an ancient forest, in their territory near Campbell River, British Columbia. © Joshua Neufeld

As part of this work in the Emerald Edge, TNC and Nature United have assembled a rich inventory of local knowledge and scientific expertise to create two foundational tools to support natural climate solutions: 

  1. The Emerald Edge natural climate solutions (NCS) Accelerator portfolio of 60+ projects, which leverage TNC’s carbon science, partnership building, policy and economic expertise alongside Indigenous knowledge and relationships built over 20 years to support high-impact projects with the potential to store carbon and support local communities; and 
  2. The Emerald Edge Carbon Map, an innovative, interactive map designed to pinpoint the most impactful and actionable natural climate solutions and opportunities to sequester carbon alongside partners.
With critical milestones in Clayoquot Sound and throughout the Emerald Edge, and with these new foundational tools in place, Emerald Edge project partners are now turning to on-the-ground implementation and identification of additional high-potential NCS projects, with robust exploration of partnerships, policy, economic models, Indigenous rights and authority, sustainable livelihoods and other factors that influence successful outcomes for Natural Climate Solutions. 
A person with long red hair assembles long green leaves over a smoking section of ground.
Culture Camp Sustainable Southeast Partnership Program Director Marina Anderson prepares a fire pit at the culture camp in Kake, Alaska, to cook dishes for a community potluck. © Bethany Sonsini Goodrich

“Establishing these conservancies is a significant milestone for the Tla-o-qui-aht Nation, affirming stewardship authority of our lands that our Hawiih (hereditary leaders) have enacted for untold generations… We’re grateful for the support from organizations and institutions working in right relations to ensure we have the resources needed to care for the land according to our vision.”

—Saya Masso, Natural Resources Manager, Tla-o-qui-aht Nation

What is the Emerald Edge?

The Emerald Edge is the world’s largest coastal temperate rainforest, spanning Alaska, British Columbia, Washington and Oregon. The region is home to hundreds of communities and sustains thousands of species of flora and fauna—including bears, salmon, wolves and whales. It also pulls an estimated 300 million metric tons of carbon out of the atmosphere annually—equal to the annual energy usage of 58 million homes.

The Emerald Edge: A Culture of Conservation (11:12) In this short film, The Nature Conservancy and Nature United transport viewers to the largest temperate coastal rainforest in the world to hear first-hand from Indigenous leaders from the Ahousaht and Tla-o-qui-aht First Nations and the Makah Tribe, together with our staff.

The Nature Conservancy and Nature United work to support the leadership of Indigenous First Nations, Alaska Natives and coastal Tribes with the goal of supporting their community priorities, such as their social and economic well-being, while safeguarding the Emerald Edge’s climate mitigation capacity and its rich biodiversity.

Through development of the Emerald Edge NCS Accelerator Program and the Carbon Map and direct support and funding for Indigenous and other local partners, TNC and Nature United have built high-impact tools that can both advance carbon mitigation in the Emerald Edge while also supporting more resilient, biodiverse ecosystems and vibrant and healthy human communities.

The Work

Over the last three years, the Bezos Earth Fund has supported three major bodies of work in the Emerald Edge, including the Emerald Edge Accelerator Program, the Carbon Map and the permanent protection of old-growth forest in Clayoquot Sound, B.C.

Looking up at the sun and sky through a forest of trees.
Eye in the Sky Towering trees in Washington state. © Wasim Muklashy/TNC Photo Contest 2019

The Accelerator Program

The Emerald Edge NCS Accelerator Program represents an unparalleled opportunity to build on decades of hard-earned progress by supporting a portfolio of Indigenous- and community-led implementation-ready NCS projects.

In the last year, by leveraging carbon science, Indigenous-focused conservation strategies, policy and economic expertise and relationships built over two decades, TNC has developed a database of 60+ high-impact NCS projects with the potential to collectively sequester 9 million metric tons of CO2e over 40 million hectares annually. Because these projects are co-designed alongside our partners, they will have an impact not only for the global climate but will also benefit community well-being and biodiversity.

Project partners, TNC and Nature United are now focused on implementing the 60+ projects in the database and identifying new high-potential projects, including exploring partnerships, policy, economic models, Indigenous rights and authority, sustainable livelihoods and other factors.

 

 

 

 

The Emerald Edge Carbon Map

A map showing the coastline of western Canada.
Emerald Edge's Global Context Carbon dense with low risk of carbon loss to wildfire. The units in this global ecozone comparison figure are in aboveground live biomass (AGB). © Erica Sloniker/TNC

As a way of visualizing and better understanding how to design and implement the NCS projects in the database, TNC and Nature United also created the Emerald Edge Carbon Map. This robust landscape-level tool fills an implementational gap, giving TNC, Nature United and project partners the ability to make data-driven decisions about actionable NCS projects that can store additional carbon beyond what would occur without intervention.

By providing a new source of high-resolution and spatial data, the map enables TNC, Nature United and partners to identify, quantify and prioritize areas with substantial carbon additionality potential—meaning locations that could protect or store more carbon when compared to a business-as-usual scenario. A preliminary analysis by the Emerald Edge team has demonstrated that a conservative 10% increase in improved forest management and conservation within the Emerald Edge could contribute 9.1 megatons (Mt) CO2e (CO2 equivalent) annually, or 5.2% of the 2030 land-based climate commitments made by the United States and Canada combined.

A person carving a canoe lying sideways as they work on the front or back of the vessel.
Win-Win Tla-o-qui-aht Master Carver Joe Martin carves a canoe in Clayoquot Sound. The newly announced conservancies in Clayoquot Sound will support cultural and community priorities. © Gisele Martin

Old-Growth Forest Protections in Clayoquot Sound

The landmark agreement with the Ahousaht and the Tla-o-qui-aht referenced above reflects years of work and substantial progress in the complex processes required to protect old-growth forests in Clayoquot Sound in a way that prioritizes communities as the cornerstone of lasting change.

With the agreement, 76,000 hectares (188,000 acres) in Clayoquot Sound previously licensed for commercial forestry will now be managed according to Indigenous stewardship values. With a commitment of $40 million from Nature United, each will receive an endowment to support ongoing management and stewardship. This new model centers the Nations’ land-use visions while advancing Ahousaht and Tla-o-qui-aht rights and sustainable livelihoods. It also represents a significant breakthrough in the decades-long battles over timber harvesting, Indigenous rights and conservation in the region. 

Lessons Learned

The work accomplished with Bezos Earth Fund support has provided invaluable learnings. Foremost among them is the critical importance of investing deeply in strong relationships with Indigenous partners and prioritizing their knowledge, leadership and stewardship every step of the way. This has been the foundation of any progress. The work in Clayoquot Sound in particular has been an excellent learning ground for ourselves as well as project partners and the B.C. government on Indigenous-led conservation. 

A person sitting in a natural setting rolling up a large map.
Eric Delvin Program Director of the Emerald Edge © © Michael Pietrocarlo/TNC

A second learning is tied to the dynamic and unpredictable nature of NCS—as might be expected in natural systems—and the need for adaptable methodologies responsive to evolving external circumstances, such as unanticipated wildfires and other climate disruptions, as well as the potential for shifting partner needs.

TNC and Nature United’s work in the Emerald Edge has been a journey of navigating the transition from systems geared toward near-term economic benefits to those that prioritize Indigenous rights, economic sustainability, environmental conservation and climate resilience. This work serves as proof of concept for this approach, laying the groundwork for future progress. 

A Bright Future

Looking forward, TNC and Nature United—with the continued support of the Bezos Earth Fund—will build on the inspiring successes accomplished over the last three years and continue to fundraise and nurture a supportive environment for community partners to advance their priorities alongside natural climate solutions and carbon mitigation across 40 million hectares in the Emerald Edge. 

A forested coastline with bright green areas and emerald colored water and mountains in the distance.
WOPA150811_D001 (ALL RIGHTS) April 2015. An aerial view of Clayoquot Sound, on the west coast of Vancouver Island in the Canadian province of British Columbia. The Conservancy is conserving over 250,000 acres of old-growth forest in partnership with local Indigenous communities – doubling the area’s current protection. Clayoquot Sound is a critical part of the 100M acre Emerald Edge, the largest and last intact coastal rainforest on earth, whose majestic lands, waters and wildlife are a global treasure of epic biodiversity now struggling from threats to the environment in coastal Washington, Alaska and British Columbia. Photo credit: © Bryan Evans © Bryan Evans