Great Bear Rainforest: a blueprint for success

First Nations have cared for and relied upon the lands, waters, and wildlife in this region since time immemorial. Thanks to a partnership based on Indigenous leadership and an innovative model for long-term conservation financing, more than 101,500 km² of this area has been protected, and First Nations continue to steward it in perpetuity. 

The origins of the Great Bear Rainforest PFP

In the 1990s, 27 First Nations began working with environmental groups, Crown governments, and private funders to chart a new path to prosperity for people living in the Great Bear Rainforest. They envisioned a new kind of economy based on conservation and stewardship, with Indigenous-owned businesses creating good local jobs and supporting cultural revitalization.

The vision took shape in 2006, when First Nations, Canada and BC governments, environmental groups, and forestry companies announced land use management plans for a 6.4-million-hectare region known as the Great Bear Rainforest.

Sustainable financing

Since the first negotiations for the Great Bear Rainforest agreements, First Nations have led in the development of protected areas and the creation of Coast Funds. Recognizing that human well-being and environmental stewardship are interconnected, First Nations leaders urged their partners to blend investments in terrestrial conservation with financing for sustainable economic development.

In 2007, Coast Funds was created to manage $120 million in financing, contributed by governments and private funders, for First Nations’ stewardship and economic development priorities. They collaborate with First Nations in the Great Bear Rainforest and Haida Gwaii to support their visions for healthy ecosystems and thriving coastal economies.

Coast Funds is entrusted to manage funds on behalf of 27 First Nations in the region. First Nations take the lead in deciding how to manage lands and natural resources, and which projects to prioritize. Through investments in Guardian programs, sustainable energy projects, and businesses – like ecotourism, seafood processing, and forest products – First Nations are creating jobs in their communities and protecting the ecosystems that have sustained them for generations.

Coast Funds manages two funds: an economic development fund that First Nations can use to invest in sustainable businesses and infrastructure, and a conservation endowment that generates revenue each year for First Nations’ stewardship, conservation, and Guardian programs. Both funds are allocated between participating First Nations, and communities choose which projects to invest in. Some First Nations are now investing back into their endowments to generate higher annual returns and help meet increasing financial needs of their stewardship departments and Guardian teams.

“The Great Bear Rainforest PFP has helped First Nations get boots on the ground and restore our roles as stewards in our territories, where we’re caring for the web of life as we’ve done for thousands of years,” says Dallas Smith, Chair, Coast Funds board of directors. “At the same time, these new businesses and stewardship programs have brought so much optimism to our communities. We’re on a good path and we have tremendous allies supporting this work.”

Between 2008 and 2022, First Nations have worked through Coast Funds to invest more than $109 million into 439 conservation, economic development, and sustainable energy projects. In turn, First Nations’ projects have created 1,253 jobs and 123 businesses, supported 389 research and habitat restoration initiatives, and have helped revitalize Indigenous languages and stewardship traditions.

Looking toward the future

The Great Bear Rainforest was the world’s first Project Finance for Permanence (PFP) initiative. This model is now being used to protect sensitive ecosystems on large scales in the Amazon, Costa Rica, Colombia, and Peru.

A PFP is a way of structuring large-scale conservation work in globally important ecosystems. It aims to secure upfront all the components an initiative needs to succeed: strong partnerships and governance systems, secure financing, and clear goals for ecological stewardship. The model provides a means for Indigenous, national, and regional governments to leverage their own investments, to secure additional resources from philanthropy and other interested parties, creating a greater collective impact.

Now proven successful around the world, the Government of Canada is deploying the PFP model to initiate up to four more Indigenous-led conservation initiatives in ecologically significant areas across the country.

“We’re looking to the Great Bear Rainforest as a shining example of sustainable Indigenous-led conservation in Canada,” said Nicole Cote, Director General of Protected Areas for Environment and Climate Change Canada. “As we work with Indigenous Nations and other partners across the country to negotiate and establish four new PFP initiatives, we are benefiting and learning from the path forged by the Great Bear Rainforest, including the role of fund managers like Coast Funds in administering the partnership capital.”

Supporting Indigenous-led conservation and stewardship is one of the most effective ways to halt and reverse biodiversity loss and advance reconciliation. Canada is paving the way for nature's recovery by 2050, conserving 30% of lands and waters in Canada by 2030, and engaging Indigenous communities in all of this important work.

We know nature is in danger, but by working together with Indigenous partners, we have the tools to turn the tide on biodiversity loss. It is the natural path forward.

In 2007, the Government of Canada and the Government of British Columbia each invested $30 million into the Economic Development Fund that invests in First Nations-led business opportunities, targeting sectors with the potential to support sustainable development and community well-being. This is one of the funds created to support and sustain the conservation of the Great Bear Rainforest.

In 2022, the Government of Canada announced $800 million to support up to four Indigenous-led conservation initiatives across the country based on the PFP model.