IAN McALLISTER on Ferocious Conservation for the Last Wild Wolves /77

Photo by Ian Mcallister

This week we’re joined by Ian McAllister, co-founder and Executive Director of Pacific Wild, a non-profit located in the heart of the Great Bear Rainforest. McAllister is committed to defending wildlife and their habitat on Canada’s Pacific Coast.

The wolves of the Great Bear Rainforest give us an entry point into understanding human relationships with the wolves of the past and throughout history as time honored messengers, providers and protectors. This conversation with Ian is a call to rekindle and reclaim our relationship as humble companions. Where roads have not been built, nor forests plowed and paved over, the wolves are able to experience a freedom from the slaughter brought to them by the first colonial settlers to Turtle Island, who also brought with them an insidious path of destruction that has precipitated the destruction of all our wild kin and the genocide of Indigenous Peoples. Wolves are calling on us to stand up to protect that which remains, that which serves as the reminder of time eternal.

“I don’t doubt that the ancestors of these wolves lived with the ancestors of the Heiltsuk people here. When these wolves let us into their lives, are they waiting for us to rediscover that relationship? With all such encounters, I believe that a fragment of the trust that once existed between wolves and the First Peoples of this coast is rekindled, that I am witnessing the potential for humans to find their place again in the natural world.”

— Ian Mcallister, Episode 77

Ian McAllister is an award-winning photographer, with his images appearing in publications around the world. A member of the International League of Conservation Photographers, he is also the author of six books. He’s a recipient of both the North America Nature Photography Association's Vision Award and the Rainforest Action Network's Rainforest Hero award. He and his wife, Karen, were named by Time magazine as “Leaders of the 21st Century" for their efforts to protect British Columbia's endangered rainforest. He lives with his family on an island in the heart of the Great Bear Rainforest.

♫ Music featured in this episode includes "Smuggler Union" by Kitchen Dwellers and "Rolling Waves" by Rumpke Mountain Boys.

References

Pacific Wild is a non-profit located in the heart of the Great Bear Rainforest on Denny Island. We are committed to defending wildlife and their habitat on Canada’s Pacific coast by developing and implementing conservation solutions in collaboration with First Nations communities, scientists, other organizations and individuals. Pacific Wild supports innovative research, public education, community outreach and awareness to achieve the goal of lasting environmental protection to the land and waters of the Great Bear Rainforest

Pacific Wild Alliance is a non-profit society registered in British Columbia. It is not a charitable organization, which allows us to engage in advocacy work. However, PWA partners closely with the Great Bear Education and Research Project (formerly known as the Pacific Wild Initiative) at Tides Canada Initiatives Society, which is a Canadian charitable organization. The Great Bear Education and Research project (GBEAR) carries out research and education work on the central coast and beyond.  GBEAR is a partner in Pacific Wild's Great Bear Sea Hydrophone Network, Great Bear LIVE, SEAS Community Initiatives as well as other efforts to elevate awareness of wildlife and habitat issues in this region.

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