Plants and Algae

For thousands of years, Indigenous people have shared the Great Bear Rainforest with wolves, eagles, sea otters, salmon and herring, as well as many other animals. It is the only home of BC’s provincial mammal, the Spirit Bear.

British Columbia has high mountains. Lots of them. In fact, more than 12 per cent of the province is alpine tundra—land above the trees. The alpine tundra is a land of extremes. Trees can’t grow at such high elevations because of cold temperatures. The growing season is brief, and some areas are covered by snow…

Learning about native plants can connect us to the places we live. Studying First Peoples’ uses of plants can teach us which native berries are edible and which are not.

We're all in this together. An ecosystem is a natural community. When species disappear it can throw an entire system off balance, with far-reaching consequences for ecosytems, for the planet, and for us. What can we do about it?

American botanist Mary Gibson Henry collected plants in northeastern BC in 1931. Her pioneering journey was recorded on film. Lucky for us, BC Archives has a copy.