Clayoquot Sound

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Clayoquot Sound on Vancouver Island

Clayoquot Sound (usually pronounced /ˈklekwɑt/ or /ˈklækwɑt/) is located on the west coast of Vancouver Island in the Canadian province of British Columbia. It is bordered by the Esowista Peninsula to the south, and the Hesquiaht Peninsula to the North.

It includes vast ancient coastal temperate rain forest, rivers, lakes, marine areas and beaches. It includes part of Pacific Rim National Park Reserve, Strathcona Provincial Park, and several other protected areas. The total size of the Clayoquot Sound is 3,500 km² (land and water area). Clayoquot Sound contains the largest area of intact (unlogged) temperate rainforest left on Vancouver Island.

Clayoquot Sound is home to wolves, black bears, cougars, grey whales, orcas, porpoises, seals, sea lions, river otters, bald eagles, osprey, Marbled Murrelets, Pacific Loons, Roosevelt Elk, and raccoons.

The sound has been a focal point for conflict between the forest industry and environmental protesters -- both very weighty groups in British Columbia -- particularly in the summer of 1993, when protesters responded to the 1993 'Clayoquot Land Use Decision', made by the British Columbia government to permit the logging of the majority of the old growth forest in Clayoquot. Protestors engaged in a massive campaign of peaceful civil disobedience, including blocking access to logging sites, which resulted in over 850 arrests. Activist Australian rock group Midnight Oil also brought attention to the conflict when they performed an early morning concert at the site. The Land Use Decision still stands today. The protests of 1993 remain the largest act of peaceful civil disobedience in Canadian History. See non-profit Friends of Clayoquot Sound. Clayoquot Sound was designated a World Biosphere Reserve by UNESCO in 2000. This designation brought World recognition of the ecological importance of Clayoquot Sound, and a monetary fund to promote ecological economic alternatives. However, this designation brought no new environmental regulation or protection.

A new set of plans were approved at the end of July 2006 which open the door for logging in Clayoquot Sound's pristine old-growth valleys.

Clayoquot is the anglicized name of the local Tla-O-Qui-aht tribe. Three major First Nations groups inhabit Clayoquot: the Hesquiaht in the North, the Ahousaht in the middle, and the Tla-O-Qui-Aht in the South. The village of Tofino lies at the southern edge.