THE CLAYOQUOT CONSORTIUM

    initiate . enable . engage

Executive Summary

The purpose of this document is to introduce the Clayoquot Consortium:  a network of academic institutions that supports and participates in research and education in Clayoquot Sound. The Clayoquot Consortium emerged from local initiatives and aims to engage academic institutions from around the world in considering and responding to the challenges and opportunities presented by the UNESCO Clayoquot Sound Biosphere Reserve.  The consortium is presently “housed” at the Clayoquot Field Station and administered by the Tofino Botanical Gardens Foundation.  As membership expands it is anticipated that an independent society will be formed to further the goals of the consortium. A core value of the Clayoquot Consortium is inclusivity.  We welcome inquiries and participation from all institutions, non governmental organizations and governmental entities with an interest in initiating, enabling and encouraging research and educational activities on the west coast of Vancouver Island. Over the next five years, the Clayoquot Consortium will work towards building a membership of around 100 institutions and organizations, and will provide a variety of educational programs, research facilities, conferences, and associated services.

INTRODUCTION

The purpose of the Clayoquot Consortium is to address one of the core questions of our time: How do we live in a place: how can human communities thrive without compromising the natural systems upon which they depend? We believe that a permanent organization of academic institutions committed and focused on the many issues that surround this simple, but as yet unanswered question can become a significant engine of change locally and globally.

Clayoquot Sound is an excellent place to do this. The area lends itself to a broad range of research and educational interests. The Nuu-chah-nulth First Nations have lived in Clayoquot Sound for the last ten thousand years. In recent history, the patterns of conflict and consensus that have emerged are a reflection of how people of Clayoquot Sound have been working to live appropriately in place. In 2001, these unique and special qualities of the area were acknowledged with its’ designation as a UNESCO Man and the Biosphere Reserve. The area is now part of an international network of Biosphere Reserves with a mandate to share information on issues of conservation and development with the rest of the world.

These qualities make Clayoquot Sound an excellent place to study the myriad issues around the question of how to live in a place. Clayoquot Sound acts as a dynamic ‘living classroom’ where researchers and students can engage with communities and key issues, such as the relationship between local activism and global policy, shared decision-making structures, conserving indigenous cultures, community economic transitions, youth, governance, and conserving biodiversity within coastal temperate rainforest and marine ecosystems.

Vision

The Clayoquot Consortium will be a broad-based network of institutions and organizations that connects local people and outside academics and specialists in studies of mutual interest and global relevance. It will be a place for natural and social sciences, humanities, and arts, of both applied and pure research, to learn, contribute and converge. Research and the wisdom gained from all fields of knowledge will feed discussions, learning and action around the challenge of living appropriately in place.

Our goals are:

• To focus academic disciplines on the study of living in place using the Clayoquot Sound Biosphere Reserve.
• To use the learning and knowledge of Clayoquot Sound to inform other places and act as a lens through which to view global issues.
• To bring ideas and lessons from other places to inform the people of Clayoquot Sound.
• To reflect on the ethical questions around living well in a place; and
• To assist the communities of Clayoquot Sound to fulfill the mandate of the international designation of the UNESCO Man and the Biosphere Reserve regarding conservation and development.

MISSION

The Clayoquot Consortium initiates, enables, and engages in the creation and sharing of knowledge of the Clayoquot Sound Biosphere Reserve and surrounding areas, and applies this understanding to learn how we as individuals, communities and societies live in a place.

SERVICES

The Clayoquot Consortium will provide a range of services to initiate, enable and engage in research and education.

Initiate

• opportunities to collaborate on research between communities and researchers;

• quality educational programs for a broad range of needs and interests;

• facilitate and expand the international network of researchers and educators working in Clayoquot Sound’s ‘living lab’

Enable

• access to a set of locally accepted standards for conducting research in the area;

• access to existing facilities for conducting long-term, year-round research in different habitats in Clayoquot Sound (for details see page 5, Existing Infrastructure);

• professional logistical coordination of local accommodation, transportation, and services;

• networking with local resource people for research, educational programs, workshops and conferences;

• facilitation of opportunities to set up collaborative research projects with local community organizations;

• access to a developing digital library containing research and archival information for the area;

• access to various environmental and GIS data sets, such as climate monitoring and baseline watershed maps;

• access to administration and communication facilities; and

• creation of an endowment

Engage

• proactive communication and relationship building with government to foster inclusion of emerging knowledge into decision-making processes;

• dissemination of information to members and the public through locally organized science symposia, conferences, workshops, internet, and public presentations; and

• web based communication to facilitate wider information dissemination and promote on-going discussions;
  

Existing Infrastructure in Clayoquot Sound

Clayoquot Field Station: Opened in 2006, the Clayoquot Field Station is a 32 bed dormitory and teaching facility located within the Tofino Botanical Gardens.  A large classroom, library, seminar room and wet lab give the field station capability to host a broad range of classes, research projects and programs.  (http://www.tbgf.org/cfs)

Hooksum Outdoor School: Located in Hesquiaht Harbour. The school provides quality outdoor and environmental education through traditional indigenous knowledge, modern skills, respect, and intimate connection to the natural world. The school has a traditional long house that is used for seasonal educational programs. (http://www.hooksumschool.com)

Tofino Botanical Gardens: Located in Tofino on twelve acres of gardens, forest and shoreline. The Gardens were created as a place to explore the relationship between culture and nature in Clayoquot Sound. The TBG Foundation has taken a leadership position in development of the Clayoquot Consortium that it looks forward to sharing with all members of the organization. (http://www.tbgf.org)

Raincoast Education Society: Located in downtown Tofino. An independent, local, non-profit society dedicated to promoting research, education, and informed discussion about environmental and social sustainability. The society leases the upstairs of a downtown Tofino building (Raincoast Interpretive Centre) to present exhibits about local ecosystems and provide office space for the interpretive staff. (http://www.raincoasteducation.org)

Clayoquot Biosphere Trust: The CBT is responsible for both managing an endowment fund and developing guidelines for program funding from the income earned from the fund. The fund supports local research, education, and training that is consistent with the UNESCO World Biosphere Reserve's objectives of conservation and sustainable development. (http://www.clayoquotbiosphere.org)

Sydney Research Station: Operated by the Clayoquot Biosphere Trust, the Sydney research station is located in the pristine watershed of Pretty Girl, situated on the shore of the Sydney Inlet.

Clayoquot Lake Research Station: Operated by the Clayoquot Biosphere Trust, the Clayoquot Lake research station is located at Clayoquot Lake in the Clayoquot River Valley.

Conference, Workshop and Classroom Facilities: Clayoquot Sound provides an excellent location for conferences, workshops, courses and symposia.  A range of accommodation and facilities are available to host meetings and classes of various sizes.

WHY CLAYOQUOT SOUND?

Located on the west coast of Vancouver Island, British Columbia, Canada, Clayoquot Sound is home to rich terrestrial and marine ecosystems and diverse cultures. The unique qualities of Clayoquot Sound were internationally acknowledged with its designation as a UNESCO Man and the Biosphere Reserve in January, 2000. This designation distinguishes the area as having significant qualities for promoting and demonstrating a balanced relationship between people and nature.

Coastal temperate rainforests cover the 265,000 hectares of mountains, valleys, and islands in Clayoquot Sound. Among the most biologically productive places on earth, coastal temperate rainforests are considered rare ecosystems, originally covering only 0.2% of the earth’s surface. This ecosystem is important habitat for many species, including black bears, roosevelt elk, marbled murrelets, cougars, wolves, bald eagles and red legged frogs.

The coastal temperate rainforest of Clayoquot Sound is part of the largest remaining tract of temperate rainforest in the world, which stretches from Oregon to Alaska along the Pacific Coast of North America. It is estimated that approximately 44 percent of this stretch of forest has already been lost due to logging and other activities (Ecotrust, 1995). On Vancouver Island, Clayoquot Sound contains the largest remnant of ancient temperate rainforest.  Out of the ninety watersheds (larger than 5,000 ha) on the Island, it is estimated that five remain pristine. Three of these watersheds are located in Clayoquot Sound.
 

The marine ecosystem of Clayoquot Sound is as productive as the terrestrial. The six deep, fjord-like inlets of Clayoquot Sound are protected from the open ocean by an archipelago of forested islands with rocky coastlines and sandy beaches. The result is a vast and complex marine ecosystem with rich intertidal and subtidal zones, extensive mudflats, giant kelp and eelgrass beds, and strong tidal currents. These waters provide habitat for many species, including migrating orca, grey and humpback whales, basking sharks, Dungeness crabs, geoducks, various shellfish, wild salmon, herring, ground fish, otters and sea lions, and migrating shorebirds.

The natural abundance of the area provided for the Nuu-chah-nulth people, who have occupied Clayoquot Sound and much of the west coast of Vancouver Island for the past several millennia. Of the Nuu-chah-nulth Nation, the Hesquiaht, Ahousaht, and Tla-o-qui-aht tribes live in Clayoquot Sound. First Nations comprise approximately fifty per cent of the population, primarily residing in the communities of Hot Springs, Marktosis, Opitsaht, and Esowista.

The town of Tofino was established in the late nineteenth century as people involved in mining, timber and fur trading began to settle permanently in the area. The resulting economy was based on forest and marine resource extraction. Today, the history of this industrial economy is highly visible in Clayoquot Sound, but its future is questionable.

The once vibrant fishing industry has declined. Timber extraction has been reduced, largely due to growing concern and subsequent mass protests in the early 1990’s around the unsustainable logging practices in the area. New ecosystem-based approaches have emerged from the Clayoquot Sound Scientific Panel for Forestry, and the adoption of FSC certification by one of the major forest tenure licensees, Iisaak Forest Resources. The success of these new approaches remains unpredictable, related to factors such as fluctuations in the world market and the slow growth of the value-added sector.

Over the past decade the economy of Clayoquot Sound has been changing. Tourism and aquaculture have emerged as new sectors. Close to one million tourists visit Clayoquot Sound every year. Tofino currently sees the majority of this activity. Sports fishing, kayaking, surfing, Pacific Rim National Park Reserve, and whale watching are among the main recreational attractions.

Aquaculture in the area includes both shellfish and finfish farms. The shellfish sector currently produces oysters and scallops. Clayoquot Sound also has a high concentration of finfish farms. The main species grown is Atlantic salmon. As the number of fish farms grows, so does the controversy regarding the environmental impacts and the ethical appropriateness of fish farming.

The emerging economy of Clayoquot Sound is not without its challenges. Each community is faced with issues and visions of their own future, bound together by the regional context and limitations. Along with these challenges are expressions of resolve to do things differently, to do things right. The efforts of the Clayoquot Sound Central Region Board, Iisaak Forest Resources, Tofino Botanical Gardens Foundation, West Coast Vancouver Island Aquatic Management Board and the Clayoquot Biosphere Trust are examples of this commitment.

PROTECTED AREAS IN CLAYOQUOT SOUND

About one-third (110,281 hectares or 272,972 acres) of the Clayoquot Biosphere Reserve is made up of legally protected areas including Pacific Rim National Park Reserve, 16 provincial parks and two ecological reserves (for details see page 9, “Protected Areas”). Most of these protected areas form the Core Area of the Biosphere Reserve. Activities permitted here include hiking, camping, fishing and scientific research as well as First Nations traditional uses such as berry harvesting and cedar bark stripping.

The Buffer Zone of the Biosphere Reserve is 60,416 hectares (149,545 acres) in size. It includes the 2100 hectare Tofino Mudflats Wildlife Management Area and all of the major unprotected watersheds in which little or no logging or other industrial activity has occurred. Resource extraction is permitted only under special management arrangements. These include the ecosystem-based forestry practices in Clayoquot Sound.

Just over one-half of the total area of the Biosphere Reserve (179,250 hectares or 443,688 acres) is the Transition Zone where sustainable economic development activities take place. All of the Biosphere Reserve communities are included in the transition zone. Activities include First Nations’ traditional activities, logging, tourism, fishing, aquaculture (shellfish and finfish farms) and other commercial development.

Who are we?

The idea of establishing a consortium in support of research and educational activities on the west coast of Vancouver Island has been under discussion by various individuals and organizations for more than 15 years.  The successful opening of the Clayoquot Field Station in June of 2006 created the basic conditions to move this initiative from concept to reality.

Based in Tofino, the Clayoquot Consortium can be accessed by highway, commercial airport (15 minute drive) and boat. A range of amenities are available, including restaurants, grocery and hardware stores, accommodations, bakeries, marinas, boat and plane charters, high-speed Internet access, and repair shops. The town of Tofino is located at the heart of the Clayoquot Biosphere Reserve and acts as the gateway to Clayoquot Sound.

The Clayoquot Consortium office is located at the Clayoquot Field Station, 1084 Pacific Rim Highway, Tofino, BC. The Consortium is currently administered by the Tofino Botanical Gardens Foundation (Canadian Charitable Status #872755202RR0001).

Consortium Governance

The proposed governance and funding structure of the Clayoquot Consortium has been inspired by the Organization of Tropical Studies (http://www.ots.duke.edu). Participating members support the Clayoquot Consortium through an annual membership fee structure: 

• Universities and other organizations                                           $10,000 per year
• Community colleges and smaller organizations                       $5,000 per year

Each member will be represented with a seat on the Board of Directors. Membership grants access to the services of professional logistical coordination and networking to resources and facilities within the Biosphere Reserve.

The Clayoquot Consortium is initiating contact and discussions with institutions and organizations from around the world. We are available to discuss any comments or questions you may have about the Consortium and opportunities for your institution. Please contact John Platenius [[email protected]] or George Patterson [[email protected]] at 250 725-1220.