About

© Image TJ Watt

The Salmon Parks concept and initiative is deeply rooted in Nuu-chah-nulth law and driven by the ha’wiih (hereditary leaders) of the Mowachaht/ Muchalaht First Nation.

It is an initiative aimed at advancing reconciliation and the implementation of UNDRIP and DRIPA through the following core principles:

  • protecting key watersheds from further disturbance

  • facilitating natural watershed recovery processes

  • securing the establishment of Salmon Parks under Nuu-chah-nulth law with recognition by federal and provincial governments.

The Salmon Parks Initiative is aimed at restoring wild salmon by recovering key watersheds in Nootka Sound, on Vancouver Island’s west coast. Since the 1950’s, intense logging has deeply scarred a landscape whose waters once nurtured chinook, sockeye, chum, coho and pink salmon by the thousands.

Deep underground, old conifer trees are connected through a network of roots that store carbon, water, and nutrients. With those nutrients lost from surrounding soil—and river banks widening and drying up without trees to border them—salmon have been struggling for over 70 years.

This is why core areas of Nootka Sound, from the headwaters to the sea, must be protected to bring salmon back. By protecting these waters—and surrounding forest habitat—the ha’wiih (hereditary leaders) of the Mowachaht/Muchalaht First Nation—want to secure a healthy future for salmon in the Ḥaḥahuułi (chiefly territories) for all.

The careful and complete protection and stewardship of 20% of salmon-producing watersheds in the Ḥaḥahuułi could naturally restore up to 90% of fish productivity in the area.

Although this process will take hundreds of years, the work must begin now.

The Nuu-chah-nulth First Nations and the Mowachaht Muchalaht First Nation

Nuu-chah-nulth people, from fourteen nations, have occupied the west coast of Vancouver Island since time immemorial. Nuu-chah-nulth territory extends from Nitinat Lake in the south to the northern point of Brooks Peninsula. The fourteen nations are members of the Nuu-chah-nulth Tribal Council (NTC). The NTC is a not-for-profit society that provides a wide variety of services and supports to 14 Nuu-chah-nulth First Nations with approximately 10,000 members. The Mowachaht/Muchalaht First Nation is part of NTC’s northern region.

The Mowachaht/Muchalaht First Nation is a community with a deep connection to the land and the sea. For thousands of years, our people have depended on the ocean, rivers and forests to sustain our way of life.