It was not only the sightings of breaching humpback whales and the elusive white spirit bear that caused Quest student Magdalena Angel to fall in love with the Great Bear Rainforest, two million hectares of temperate rainforest on B.C.'s northwest coast.
It was also the people. "I fell in love with the area and the way of life of the people who live there," she said. "The way that I was welcomed and accepted and how they shared their lives with me right away was really amazing."
Two visits to the region - once in 2009 with her Quest Ecology class to Hartley Bay and again in 2010 on a stint volunteering at a whale research station on Gil Island - solidified her passion for protecting the region from development threats and compelled her to create the concept of a youth-led paddle in the Great Bear Rainforest in 2012.
"While I was there," said Angel, "I learned about the threat of the Enbridge pipeline project, which is huge deal right now for these people."
Enbridge's Northern Gateway Project consists of a proposed 1,172-kilometre-long oil pipeline from the Alberta tar sands project to the port of Kitimat, B.C. Approximately 525,000 barrels of crude oil would be transported per day, which would be picked up by super tankers and exported to the U.S. and China.
The Gitga'at First Nations strongly oppose the proposal because the tanker route is set to go through their territory, and their marine resources such as salmon would be put at risk.
"I am concerned for the future of what lies ahead on this coastline," Angel said. "I want to support the First Nations communities and people of the coast who are working hard to preserve the culture and the integrity of this beautiful area."
A four-day canoe trip from Hartley Bay to Kiel covering 53.4 kilometres, the Great Bear Rainforest Youth Paddle will encompass visits to sites that are culturally and historically significant.
Kiel is particularly important to the Gitga'at First Nations. "It's where they do their spring harvest and so we would end there with a celebration of the Great Bear Rainforest," said Angel, "and of the community, the culture and everything that it stands for."
Angel decided on a youth project involving Hartley Bay youth and Quest students "because a lot of focus has been on the elders, but the youth haven't had a chance to speak their thoughts.
"One of the goals is to engage youth to take action on issues, and especially this issue, which is affecting them in their home," she said.
Other learning opportunities for the youth will be team-building activities, as well as learning how to paddle the traditional canoes, said Angel.
Her plan is to facilitate education on the ecology of the land and how environmental, cultural and political issues come together. "I've tried to keep the goals really positive so that it doesn't become such a political struggle - it's more about positive growth," she said.
Norm Hann, Squamish resident and owner of Mountain Surf Adventures, has helped co-ordinate the Quest visits to Hartley Bay and says he is impressed by Angel's motivation.
"She's definitely taken the bull by the horns," he said, "trying to do what she can as an individual to help the campaign to keep oil tankers off the coast."
Hann is no stranger to activism, having organized a campaign entitled Standup4Greatbear, a 400-km stand-up paddleboard trip from Kitimat to Bella Bella in May 2010 along the proposed oil tanker route.
"I guess at the back of my mind I'm always smiling a bit because I know that once I bring these students up there, they usually take off in their own way.
"[Angel] is doing some great things - I am really proud of her and happy that she's been so inspired," Hann said.
Building off the success of the first concert in May, Angel is now organizing a second fundraising concert next Friday (Oct. 21) at 8 p.m. at the Quest Services Building. The headliners are the Boom Booms, a Vancouver-based six piece Latin-soul-funk-rock-reggae band. A licensed event, the concert will also feature a spoken-word poet and art showcase of student-donated work. Tickets are $10 and for more information, go to www.gbryouthpaddle.org.
"The main goal of the fundraiser is to raise awareness of the paddle, to let more and more people know about it and for the community to come together for a cause," Angel said.
