Timeline

A Short History of Ecotrust Canada

1994

  • The B.C. government, Haisla Nation, Ecotrust (US) and West Fraser Timber announce the creation of the Kitlope Heritage Conservancy Protected Area in the world’s largest unlogged coastal temperate rainforest watershed
  • Ian Gill, a CBC TV reporter, is hired as founding executive director of Ecotrust Canada

1995

  • Incorporated as a non-profit society with a board of directors and charitable tax status
  • Co-publishes its first report, Inviting the Salmon Home, with the Tla-o-qui-aht First Nation on restoring sockeye salmon to Kennedy Lake in Clayoquot Sound

1996

  • Co-founds the B.C. Conservation Mapping Consortium and begins mapping and GIS (Geographic Information Systems) training with First Nations
  • Opens its first field office in Prince Rupert
  • Co-publishes the Kawesas Watershed Assessment Summary Report and begins construction of the Kawesas Lodge with the Na na kila Institute and Kitamaat Village Council

1997

  • Publishes Seeing the Ocean Through the Trees: A Conservation-based Development Strategy for Clayoquot Sound
  • Launches Economic Development program
  • Co-publishes More Than The Sum Of Our Parks: People, Places and a Protected Areas System for British Columbia

1998

  • Facilitates community mapping in Ucluelet and Tofino and provides mapping and GIS support to six First Nations
  • Co-founds the Aboriginal Mapping Network (www.nativemaps.org) with the Gitxsan and Ahousaht First Nations
  • BC Business magazine names Ecotrust Canada President Ian Gill one of B.C.’s 100 most influential people

1999

  • Co-publishes Falldown: Forest Policy in British Columbia, a critical analysis of B.C. forest industry policy, with the David Suzuki Foundation
  • Launches the Business Lending program with its first loan and new office in Ucluelet
  • Grows to 14 staff in three offices with a annual budget of $1.1 million

2000

  • Co-publishes Chief Kerry’s Moose: A guidebook to land use and occupancy mapping, research design and data collection with the Union of B.C. Indian Chiefs
  • Through its business lending, Ecotrust Canada assists Iisaak Forest Resources with its first year of FSC-certified logging in Clayoquot Sound
  • Helps the Haisla Nation with a project to repatriate the G’psgolox totem pole from Sweden
  • B.C. government grants $1.1 million for Ecotrust Canada’s Natural Capital Fund which supports its Business Lending program

2001

  • Receives Vancity EnviroFund Award for restoration and conservation work in the Indian River Valley with Tsleil-Waututh First Nation
  • Publishes North of Caution: A Journey Through the Conservation Economy on the Northwest Coast of British Columbia
  • Helps Heiltsuk First Nation purchase the Koeye Lodge on the Central Coast
  • Co-founds the Working Sound Shellfish Committee with the Tla-o-qui-aht First Nation and Clayoquot Sound Oyster Growers Association to strengthen the local shellfish industry

2002

  • Becomes founding member of and lender to the Canadian Ecolumber Co-op
  •  Co-publishes A Voice on the Land: An Indigenous Peoples' Guide to Forest Certification in Canada with the National Aboriginal Forestry Association and What Lies Beneath, a guidebook for First Nations working in the forestry sector
  • Maclean’s names Ecotrust Canada one of Canada’s Top 100 Employers
  • Helps the Tsleil-Waututh purchase the Inlailawatash lands in the Indian River Valley

2003

  • Aboriginal Mapping Network holds its third annual conference with 120 delegates from around the world
  • Helps to open the Haida Mapping office in Masset with Council of the Haida Nation
  • Hired by the Tsimshian Stewardship Committee to help create a new shellfish industry in the North Coast
  • Grows to some 30 staff with a $4.5 million budget

2004

  • Launches new sector programs: forestry, fisheries, aquaculture, tourism, energy, real estate
  • Incorporates a for-profit subsidiary to promote investment in the conservation economy
  • Co-publishes Catch-22: Conservation, Communities and the Privatization of B.C. Fisheries, a seminal report on fisheries licensing policy, with Ecotrust (US)
  • Honoured with a Special Achievement in GIS Award from the Environmental Systems Research Institute (ESRI) and an Imagine New Spirit of Community Partnership Award from the Canadian Centre for Philanthropy for our work with Vancity Credit Union

2005

  • Completes work with the Heiltsuk Nation on the Heiltsuk Land Use Plan which guides conservation and development in the heart of the Great Bear Rainforest
  • Business Lending reaches $6 million mark and the first loans to the energy, transportation and green build sectors are made
  • Brokers purchase by locals, First Nations and outside investors of Trilogy Fish Co., a small retail, wholesale and fish processor on Tofino’s waterfront

2006

  • Ecotrust Canada Capital is founded to manage the business lending portfolio and pursue equity investment opportunities. Total lending since 1999 equals $7 million in 71 loans.
  • The Aboriginal Mapping Network is revamped and relaunched as an interactive global forum for Indigenous know-how
  • Signs a landmark contract to manage Iisaak Forest Resources, an FSC-certified, native-owned forestry operator in Clayoquot Sound
  • Becomes a stewardship partner in the Boat Basin Foundation which owns and operates Cougar Annie’s Garden and the Temperate Rainforest Field Study Centre above Hesquiaht Harbour in Clayoquot Sound
  • Founds and finances with seven Vancouver Island fishermen the Pacific Coast Fisheries Conservation Company which owns and leases groundfish quota to member-fishermen with the goal to improve their sustainable fishing practices.