Problem

Covering two-thirds of the coast of British Columbia, the Great Bear Sea/Northern Shelf Bioregion is one of the most environmentally and culturally significant cold-water environments in the world. Located on Canada’s North Pacific Coast, it is one of the richest and most productive cold-water marine ecoregions on Earth, home to marine life from herring and salmon to whales, dolphins, seabirds, and kelp forests, which all play a critical role in carbon sequestration. Stewarded and cared for by First Nations for tens of thousands of years, the Great Bear Sea is a source of sustenance, culture, and livelihoods for all who call the coast home.

However, challenges such as overfishing, habitat loss, increased shipping traffic, and climate change, are harming wildlife and coastal communities, threatening the ecological balance that First Nations have maintained for millennia.

Responses

To help address these challenges, 17 First Nations have initiated the Great Bear Sea Project Finance for Permanence (PFP) initiative. PFP is a model for long-term, large-scale conservation that brings partners, funding, and management plans together to support lasting protection of the region. Importantly, the vision for the Great Bear Sea PFP includes funding for stewardship and sustainable economic development. Central to this initiative is the recognition that conservation and nature-based solutions, including the protection of marine ecosystems, are essential not only for biodiversity but also as a means of accelerating carbon sequestration to combat climate change.

The vision for the Great Bear Sea PFP includes funding for stewardship and sustainable economic development. The initiative prioritises First Nations’ governance and creates job opportunities in ecotourism, fisheries, and renewable energy. Managed by Coast Funds, the world’s first Indigenous-led conservation finance organisation, this model integrates public, private, and Indigenous leadership to preserve marine ecosystems and promote long-term prosperity, demonstrating an Indigenous-led approach to conservation finance that can be replicated globally.

Over the next 20 years, Coast Funds expects the PFP will support more than 3,000 new jobs and 200 new businesses in marine stewardship, transportation and renewable energy, sustainable fisheries, eco-cultural tourism, and manufacturing and processing.

Find out more: Our Great Bear Sea