The Clayoquot Sound UNESCO Biosphere Reserve is situated in the coastal temperate rainforest on the west coast of North America and in the northeast Pacific Ocean coastal environment. A diverse range of ecosystems exist within the Reserve boundaries; these ecosystems include significant expanses of ancient temperate rainforest, large and small lakes, many rivers and streams, alpine peaks, open ocean, rocky coastal shores, long sand beaches, estuaries and mud flats. Given continued development in temperate rainforests worldwide, these areas are of global ecological significance. Some watersheds in the Reserve have been extensively logged in the past fifty years, and others have been subject to varying types and degrees of human activity. The Reserve includes five small coastal communities; several other small communities are located immediately adjacent to the Reserve.
The marine and terrestrial components of the Reserve, including protected core areas, provide habitat for a vast array of species, a significant number of which are endangered or rare. The Reserve provides vital feeding, breeding and staging habitat for resident, migrating and transient populations of birds, marine mammals, fish, terrestrial mammals and other species. As development is increasingly resulting in fragmentation of forest and alpine ecosystems and the loss of biological diversity in coastal rainforests, the core areas of the Reserve will provide a refuge and centre for natural dispersion and re-establishment of species.
