Welcome to our Vancouver Island office! The office in Victoria was established in 1989 so that we could be front and centre at the province's parliament. Our focus at that time was to defend Vancouver Island’s unique wild places and old-growth giants from logging activities, in favour of permanent protection. Since then, we have led many successful campaigns to protect our wilderness, including the Sea to Sea Green Belt, the Sooke Hills and Carmanah Valley.

Our Victoria office has become a strong part of the Island activist community in Victoria and our staff are on the ground throughout the Island working hand-in-hand with First Nations and local communities to protect the Island's old-growth, endangered species and special marine ecosystems. In the 2000s we ramped up campaign activities on the Island to fight climate change at its root causes and promote alternative energy sources and a transition to a just economy. With four full-time staff members, a door-to-door canvass team and a bunch of volunteers, we are a leading grassroots environmental group on the Island.

Please join us in our work. Scroll down to take action; and volunteerdonate, or shop online for eco-gifts, cards and calendars.

Our Campaigns

Currently, about 15% of the land now called British Columbia is protected as parks including provincial parks, national parks, Tribal parks, Indigenous protected areas, park reserves, conservancies and ecological reserves. It has taken generations to increase wilderness protection in BC, but it's far from complete.

All energy production has an environmental impact and not every site is appropriate for renewables. But there are enormous opportunities for wind, solar, geothermal, tidal and small hydro projects in BC. With the consent and participation of Indigenous communities, clean power can and must replace fossil fuels in our homes and vehicles.
Two-thirds of the land base now called BC – 60 million hectares – is covered in trees. Only about 22 million hectares of this vast forest was ever suitable for logging, and much of this has already been logged. These logged forests once harboured the biggest trees and the best wildlife habitat. Now, big stumps mark...
Closeup of an American badger in front of its den
Photo: Isabelle Groc

Biodiversity, or biological diversity, is the variety of living things on Earth. Worldwide biodiversity is declining and BC is no exception. The list of species at risk in BC keeps growing.

Two bumblebees on a pink flower
Photo: Chris Bidleman

A specific class of pesticides called neonicotinoids (neonics) are harmful to bees and it’s slowly being recognized and banned, all over the world but Canada still hasn’t banned this harmful pesticide. Bees may be small, but the impact they have on our environment – and our daily lives – is immense.

For years, we’ve stood up for a healthy climate in Canada by opposing new fossil fuel infrastructure. But parallel to this fight is to create a vision for the communities we want to live in.

A polar bear walks across ice
Photo: Mike Grandmaison
Studies show over 50 per cent of wildlife species across Canada are experiencing population declines. How can this be happening if we have a federal Species at Risk Act (SARA) that is supposed to protect them?
A pod of orcas breach in the Salish Sea, with port infrastructure in the background
Photo: Isabelle Groc

The wondrous Fraser Estuary is an ecological jewel. It harbors and sustains an enormous diversity of life. Its importance cannot be overstated. More than 600 species live in the estuary, but its significance is not limited to just the mouth of the river.

A flotilla of canoes and Kayaks floats in Burrard inlet in front of the Kinder Morgan oil tank facility
Photo: Michael Wheatley

This Pacific coast is a beautiful and diverse ecosystem teeming with life. We won’t stand by and let the Trudeau government use our tax money to build a pipeline that violates Indigenous rights, fuels climate change and puts this spectacular place at risk of a catastrophic oil spill.

The territory, or hahoulthee, of the Nuchatlaht Nation is made up of much of the northern part of Nootka Sound and a large part of the rugged and beautiful Nootka Island. With spectacular ancient forests surrounded by rich Pacific coastal waters, this territory was once abundant with wildlife. But after almost a...

Old-growth forests are diverse: from wet rainforests with towering, mossy Sitka spruce trees and gnarly red cedars with trunks wider than a car's length; to dry forests with contorted Garry oak and arbutus trees and massive Douglas-firs; to high elevation, slow-growing yellow cedars and mountain hemlocks covered in...

A person stands with their hand on a huge red cedar tree in Kaxi:ks [Ka-hecks] or Walbran Valley
Photo: Shane Johnson

In unceded Pacheedaht Territory, on southern Vancouver Island, one of the most spectacular ancient rainforests is threatened by clearcut logging. Despite decades of protests and blockades, Kaxi:ks [pronounced ka-hecks], or the Walbran Valley, remains largely unprotected.

Join Our Team

WC people

Working for the Wilderness Committee is a rewarding experience, and a chance to make a difference.

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Volunteer

Our volunteers are essential to our work. Get great experience, meet like-minded folks and help preserve our Canadian Wilderness!

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