Projects
Quadra Island Forestland Conservation Project
Quadra Island sits quietly off the eastern coast of Vancouver Island, tucked within the Discovery Islands of British Columbia. Covered in ancient Coastal Western Hemlock forests, threaded with wildlife corridors, and layered with Indigenous history, it is the kind of place that stays with you.
For nearly two decades, conservationists knew this land deserved protection. The forests were earmarked for logging and vacation home development, and one by one, the opportunities to save them seemed to slip away. The barrier was never lack of will. It was lack of capital.
Carbon finance changed that.
How Carbon Offset Units Made Conservation Possible
In 2014, a combination of donor contributions, a land trade, and the promise of carbon finance finally unlocked what years of effort could not. That financing enabled the Province of British Columbia to purchase the site and designate it as a BC Park.
417 hectares of forest, spared.
The Quadra Island Forestland Conservation Project was developed under the BC Forest Carbon Offset Protocol (FCOP) v1.0, generating verified carbon offset units by avoiding the greenhouse gas emissions that would have resulted from logging and land conversion.
More Than Carbon
What makes Quadra Island special is everything the trees bring with them.
The protected area creates a critical wildlife corridor, connecting existing provincial parks and allowing species to move safely across the landscape. The forest contains important archaeological sites and a historic Aboriginal portage route, preserving cultural heritage alongside ecological integrity.
And because the land has moved from private ownership into BC Parks, it is now open to everyone. Hikers, campers, kayakers, and nature lovers can explore what would otherwise have been a subdivision or a clearcut. The communities and tourism economy of Quadra Island are stronger for it.