WORDS TIM McGLONE AND JEREMY DRAKE
An iconic symbol of Canadian wilderness, grizzly bears need our protection. On the east coast of Vancouver Island, places like Campbell River and Port Hardy are a gateway to the Great Bear Rainforest, where these big furry beasts feast on salmon and other fish.
A grizzly catches lunch, but overfishing has caused bears in some areas to move closer to civilisation to find food.
American black bear and her babies.
The Great Bear Rainforest is easily accessed through Vancouver Island.
In recent years, factors such as overfishing have resulted in food shortages, forcing bears closer to towns and civilization – a dangerous prospect for all. Protecting wildlife and educating travellers is a mission central to The TreadRight Foundation: a joint initiative between Adventure World Travel (AWT) and our sister brands. The goal: to make travel matter by supporting sustainable tourism projects around the world, and by ensuring that any impact on the planet, its people, and wildlife, is a positive one. Out of this mission, MAKE TRAVEL MATTER® Experiences were born. As part of AWT’s five-year sustainability strategy How We Tread Right (HWTR), these travel experiences are available on select itineraries, and chosen based on the positive social or environmental impact they have on both the communities visited, and those who experience them. They are assessed against a rigorous set of criteria directly tied to the United Nations Global Goals. In other words, when you take part in one of these experiences, you are ensuring your travel choices and where your spend your money is improving a destination.
VANCOUVER ISLAND
SeaWolf Adventures' Grizzly Bears of the Wild Tour is a Make Travel Matter® experience.
VANCOUVER ISLAND
SeaWolf Adventures’ Grizzly Bears of the Wild Tour included as part of AWT’s Island Wildlife and Adventure is a MAKE TRAVEL MATTER® Experience – an epic wildlife encounter where you can view the mighty grizzly from up close, and feel good about it. “Our sustainability strategy HWTR is made up of 11 measurable goals which align with the United Nations Global Goals,” explains Shannon Guihan, who is Chief TreadRight and Sustainability Officer at The Travel Corporation. “One of these goals is to include at least one MAKE TRAVEL MATTER® Experience on half of all of our itineraries. These experiences really do advance environmental and social justice. They are for the individual who truly cares and is looking for something that's not just off the shelf, stock standard. “So, it’s a feel-good experience, but we've put a lot of rigor around it. It’s real.”
MAKE TRAVEL MATTER® experiences target animal welfare and conservation, and ethical wildlife experiences through TreadRight’s Animal Welfare Policy.
Another goal included in the strategy is to ensure all wildlife experiences included on our itineraries are free of animal cruelty. Our Animal Welfare Policy was first launched in 2014 and updated in 2020 with very strict guidelines to our teams who build and operate our wildlife experiences. Based on the Five Domains of Animal Welfare, this policy takes into consideration things like whether the wildlife we visit has the freedom to roam and behave naturally, and also provides guidance for travellers on how to ensure the wildlife encounters they experience are ethical.
Not much prepares you for being up close and personal with one of these great beasts.
Being up close and personal with these big, woolly units on the Island Wildlife and Adventure Package, and seeing their sleek dark brown coats as they emerge from a foray into the water for food is a thrill you can’t prepare for. But in addition to seeing the bears frolicking in their natural habitat, what makes this experience so impactful are the Indigenous guides, who are able to provide authentic and inclusive storytelling, as well as unrivalled access to villages, travellers would not normally be able to access. The guides represent the Kwakwaka’wakw people, who can peel back the different layers of natural surrounds, sharing the cultural significance and stories behind the scenery that is so much more than just lakes, forests and rivers.
Kwakwaka’wakw Big House. The Kwakwaka’wakw have played a large part in education around the bears, and provide visitors unique insights to the area.
This alliance with an Indigenous tour company is another example of how AWT and TreadRight are striving to protect local people and culture, and empower diversity; by providing a platform to the local communities that have cared for the land for centuries. Vancouver Island is an ark for wildlife, with Orca and Humpback whales, dolphins and seals among the creatures that are spotted in the water, alongside many more creatures that are found in the air and on-land. Animal life thrives in this region thanks to the diversity of topography and habitat – best viewed from above at Malahat Skywalk, where 360-degree views of islands, inlets, fjords, forests, and mountains can be seen for kilometers in every direction.
There are more than just bears around Vancouver Island.
Orcas, Greys and Humpbacks are spottable on Vancouver Island.
In the coastal town of Tofino you can witness grey whales looming just offshore in the morning, swimming underneath surfers of the icy cold waters. Go from cold to hot in the afternoon, soaking in natural thermal pools that average 42 degrees celsius. On the other side of the island, Horne Lake Caves is a mysterious underground world for all ages, to be unravelled by those with a torch and a keen sense of adventure. The wildlife, and in particular the grizzly bears, are part of what make Canada so special. And as long as travellers continue to make the right travel choices, the bears themselves will continue to draw people from around the world.
Hot Springs Cove on Vancouver Island.
SPEAK WITH AN ADVENTURE WORLD TRAVEL DESIGNER TO CREATE YOUR CUSTOM ITINERARY NOW!
Island Wildlife & Adventure
11 DAYS | 10 NIGHTS | FROM $4519*
Welcome to Canada’s west coast playground. Discover an ocean-carved land of extremes ranging from mild to wild. Marvel at orcas, bears and the sheer abundance of furred, feathered and finned wildlife.
SPEAK WITH AN ADVENTURE WORLD TRAVEL DESIGNER TO CREATE YOUR CUSTOM ITINERARY NOW!
Island Wildlife & Adventure
11 DAYS | 10 NIGHTS | FROM $4519*
Welcome to Canada’s west coast playground. Discover an ocean-carved land of extremes ranging from mild to wild. Marvel at orcas, bears and the sheer abundance of furred, feathered and finned wildlife.