Inside Canada’s new UNESCO biosphere
Find wild nature living practically ‘right next door’ to Vancouver
From the ocean floor, where rare glass sponge reefs have been discovered, to the dramatic peaks of B.C.’s Coast Mountains is the vast watershed of Átl’ka7tsem/Howe Sound. Stretching from the northwestern edge of Vancouver to the Squamish Estuary south of Whistler, the fiord was announced a UNESCO biosphere region last month.
At its mouth, where the Sound meets the Salish Sea, sits Bowen Island, a sleepy haven that’s also a Metro Vancouver municipality. From downtown Vancouver, public transportation — a 30-minute city bus and a 20minute ferry ride — will take you to this residential burb within Canada’s newest biosphere.
UNESCO’s designation is granted to places with global ecological significance and a commitment to sustainability, where people and nature harmoniously coexist. “It’s a gift of geography that a place so wild remains right next door to the huge metropolitan area of Vancouver,” says Bob Turner, former mayor of Bowen and a founding member of the Átl’ka7tsem/Howe Sound Biosphere Region Initiative.
He remembers his first ferry ride to Bowen Island more than 30 years ago. “On a bright February morning, I looked up the Sound at the whitecapped mountains, islands and blue ocean and thought to myself, There is enough here for a lifetime.” Since then, Turner has hiked, kayaked, snorkeled and filmed most of the island and farther reaches of Átl’ka7tsem/ Howe Sound, “trying to build a constituency for the conservation of this remarkable place.”
Most of the biosphere’s 2,187 square kilometres are under the management and shared stewardship of the government of British Columbia and First Nations, but five per cent of the land is considered developed or urban. This includes inhabited communities, like pockets of Bowen Island.
With a population of 3,680 at last count, the island has retained a sylvan yet sophisticated quality. Disembark in Snug Cove, and you’ll find a string of independent shops and restaurants, from Candy in the Cove, described as the world’s smallest candy store, to Barcelona Tapas & Wine Bar, a bistro with B.C. wines on tap.
A few steps off the main drag, pier-perched Branch on Bowen sells locally made goods and Indigenous art, with 100 per cent of proceeds going to the artists. The spot also doubles as a taco shack with an ice cream parlour, serving Vancouver’s beloved Earnest Ice Cream. Next door is Tell Your Friends coffee shop, the best on the island, says Branch’s owner, Brittany Yu. Another must-visit, she adds, is Riley’s Cidery, which opened this summer. Set on a heritage orchard, it transforms hundreds of island-grown heirloom fruit varieties into Long Lost Apples cider. “Bowen Island is a community that is incredibly connected to the environment,” says Yu.
A short walk from Snug Cove is the Kitoki Inn, which opened in July. Co-owner Mitsumi Kawai wasn’t surprised by news of Átl’ka7tsem/Howe Sound being recognized as a UNESCO biosphere. “We’ve long witnessed the amazing ecosystem that thrives in this area. We’ve seen huge groups of herring and anchovies, paddleboarded among orcas and humpbacks, witnessed fast-moving Pacific white-sided dolphins and heard the barks of Steller sea lions from our living room,” says Kawai. “It’s an area that deserves awareness and protection.”
Kawai and her husband opened the inn’s three guest cabins and Japanese onsen-inspired bathhouse after travelling through Hokkaido and being reminded of Vancouver and the Pacific Northwest. “Kitoki” translates to “tree and spirit,” and she thinks the proximity to both nature and city draws creative people to Bowen, which is home to an unusually high concentration of professional artists. The inn showcases island artisans in everything from its decor to amenities, like the Bowen-born botanical skin care line Sangre de Fruta, which also has a storefront in Artisan Square.
Farther along the island’s main road is the Killarney Lake loop trail (with a detour to Opa, a 1,000-year-old Douglas fir), a yoga hideaway called Nectar, and Alderwood Farm (where you’ll find organic produce, emus and cabin stays). The handful of other roads, some with bus routes, lead to the seaside Bowen Island Golf Club and Mount Gardner, Bowen’s highest point, where a steep hike is rewarded with views of the Sound. Down by the water, there are endless ways to explore, including paddling the shores with a local outfitter or trying ocean swimming (yes, there’s a guided course for that).
An avid kayaker, Turner also helped co-author Bowen Island Conservancy’s recently published “Marine Atlas,” an almanac-like trove of topography, flora and fauna. As the atlas explains, the Squamish name for Bowen is Nexwlélexm, “to beat a fast rhythm.” One can imagine the Squamish paddling swiftly, alongside the island and “going out of the mouth” (as Átl’ka7tsem, one of their names for Howe Sound, means). Bowen is still a beacon here, so close and yet far from the big city, bucolic yet urbane, and now also a getaway within a UNESCO biosphere.