--- description: Lawmakers in western Canada have reached an agreement to preserve one of the world's largest tracts of temperate rainforest title: Major Environmental Deal Signed to Protect Canadian Forest image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltbee4f4ac5e011f7d/69887bb38e0601b294464687/gettyimages-602193927.jpg?branch=production&width=3840&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  * [World](/section/world/) ## World Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close # A Major Environmental Deal Has Been Signed to Protect Canadian Rainforest by [Nash Jenkins](/author/p-nash-jenkins/) ## Nash Jenkins Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close Feb 2, 2016 3:58 AM CUT  The Kwatna Inlet at the Great Bear Rainforest in British Columbia, Canada The Kwatna Inlet at the Great Bear Rainforest in British Columbia, CanadaGetty Images by [Nash Jenkins](/author/p-nash-jenkins/) ## Nash Jenkins Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close Feb 2, 2016 3:58 AM CUT Lawmakers in western Canada have reached an agreement to preserve the Great Bear Rainforest, banning logging across most of what is one of the world’s largest tracts of temperate rainforest. The deal, announced by the government of British Columbia on Monday, has earned the support of environmentalists, loggers and members of the 26 aboriginal tribes that reside along Canada’s western coast, the BBC [reported](http://www.bbc.com/news/world-us-canada-35467660 "undefined"). The agreement also intends to open economic opportunities for the region’s aboriginal tribes, collectively known as First Nations, giving them greater rights to log the land that has been earmarked for timber production. The _Globe and Mail_ [reported](http://www.theglobeandmail.com/news/british-columbia/final-agreement-reached-to-protect-bcs-great-bear-rainforest/article28475362/ "undefined") that the tribes would also receive $15 million from the government of British Columbia. ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/4203621/great-bear-rainforest-canada-environment/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/4203621/great-bear-rainforest-canada-environment/"},"headline":"A Major Environmental Deal Has Been Signed to Protect Canadian Rainforest","datePublished":"2016-02-02T03:58:01.000Z","dateModified":"2026-02-22T14:40:05.736Z","description":"Logging will now be banned across 85% of the rainforest in western Canada","url":"https://time.com/4203621/great-bear-rainforest-canada-environment/","keywords":["Canada","Environmentalism"],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltbee4f4ac5e011f7d/69887bb38e0601b294464687/gettyimages-602193927.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Nash Jenkins","jobTitle":null,"url":"https://time.com/author/p-nash-jenkins/"}],"articleSection":"World","image":[{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltbee4f4ac5e011f7d/69887bb38e0601b294464687/gettyimages-602193927.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","width":1200,"height":675,"headline":"602193927","caption":"602193927","creditText":"Getty Images","representativeOfPage":true}],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"/section/world/","name":"World"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/4203621/great-bear-rainforest-canada-environment/","name":"A Major Environmental Deal Has Been Signed to Protect Canadian Rainforest"}}]}] ```