Wildwood Ecoforest

These Wildwood foresters are reimagining ways to harvest timber

A Scandinavian model of forestry being used on Vancouver Island since the 1940s is a testament to sustainable practices not seen elsewhere in the province

In 1938 Merv Wilkinson bought a patch of land on Vancouver Island with intentions to farm. But when his professor at UBC got wind of the plan, he suggested Wilkinson try out new type of sustainable forestry that might be better suited to the forested landscape.

What began then as an experiment is now a decades-long example of the success of ecoforestry, a sustainable method of tree harvest designed to preserve the long-term ecological integrity of a place.

Wilkinson’s plot of land, named Wildwood, is now managed by the Ecoforestry Institute Society, a charitable society that carries on Wilkinson’s legacy by demonstrating how timber harvest, ecotourism and conservation efforts can coexist.

“Ecoforestry manages human behaviours in such a way that ecological integrity in a forest setting is maintained intact, over time and through space,” Barry Gates, co-chair of the Ecoforestry Institute Society, told The Narwhal.

“The key there is we manage human behaviours. The forest can manage itself.”

Wilkinson’s work in sustainable forestry earned him  Order of Canada and an Order of British Columbia awards.

It was a chilly winter day...
when news broke that photojournalist Amber Bracken had been arrested by the RCMP while reporting for The Narwhal from Wet’suwet’en territory in northwestern B.C.

“Soon they would put me in handcuffs and take my cameras from me,” Amber said. “After that they would take my rights.”

As a small, non-profit news organization, we didn’t want to take one of the most powerful organizations in our country to court. Ultimately, we realized we had no other choice — because an absence of journalism leaves us all in the dark.

We wouldn’t be able to take this stand for press freedom — or send journalists like Amber to cover critically important environmental stories — without the ongoing support of thousands of members like you who make The Narwhal possible.
It was a chilly winter day...
when news broke that photojournalist Amber Bracken had been arrested by the RCMP while reporting for The Narwhal from Wet’suwet’en territory in northwestern B.C.

“Soon they would put me in handcuffs and take my cameras from me,” Amber said. “After that they would take my rights.”

As a small, non-profit news organization, we didn’t want to take one of the most powerful organizations in our country to court. Ultimately, we realized we had no other choice — because an absence of journalism leaves us all in the dark.

We wouldn’t be able to take this stand for press freedom — or send journalists like Amber to cover critically important environmental stories — without the ongoing support of thousands of members like you who make The Narwhal possible.

The race to understand how kelp forests dampen ocean noise — before it’s too late

The sea is calm and, for the moment, relatively quiet. But marine ecologist Kieran Cox is about to change that. He hits play and suddenly...

Continue reading

Recent Posts

Our members make The Narwhal’s ad-free, independent journalism possible. Will you join the pod?
Help power our ad-free, independent journalism
Investigating problems. Exploring solutions
The Narwhal’s reporters are telling environment stories you won’t read about anywhere else. Stay in the loop by signing up for a weekly dose of independent journalism.
Investigating problems. Exploring solutions
The Narwhal’s reporters are telling environment stories you won’t read about anywhere else. Stay in the loop by signing up for a weekly dose of independent journalism.