Hleep’te Creek Estuary

The Mowachaht/Muchalaht First Nation and The Nature Trust of BC are working to protect a remarkable place in Nootka Sound on Vancouver Island, British Columbia, Canada, known as Hleep’te Creek Estuary. We must raise $495,000 by the end of the year to implement plans to co-steward and manage this land with Mowachaht /Muchalaht First Nation and their Salmon Parks Stewardship Society.

Why is protecting hleep’te creek so important?

1. It protects old-growth forest. 47 acres of forest in this area is expected to be older than 250 years old.
2. It safeguards critical habitat. Hleep’te Creek Estuary provides essential habitat for all five species of Pacific salmon, steelhead, cutthroat trout, threatened birds, and endangered bats.
3. It helps fight climate change. By drawing down atmospheric carbon and maintaining healthy watersheds, the maturing and old-growth forests of Hleep’te Creek Estuary play a critical role in building climate resilience for both nature and communities. 
4. It includes highly valued ecological and cultural areas for the Mowachaht/Muchalaht First Nation. The conservation area will be  co-managed and stewarded with the Nation and their Salmon Parks Stewardship Society.

Keep reading to learn more about Hleep’te Creek and what makes these lands and waters so special and critical to protect.

Hleep’te Creek Estuary will protect 475 acres of land including estuary ecosystems, riparian ecosystems, and old growth forest. Hleep’te Creek Estuary supports all five species of Pacific salmon based on historical records and provides habitat for iconic species like Roosevelt elk, black bears, deer, and cougars, the threatened marbled murrelet, as well as two species of endangered bats (little brown myotis and northern myotis). 

Hleep’te Creek Estuary is within the traditional, unceded territory of the Mowachaht/Muchalaht First Nation. This estuary is also an extremely important cultural area for the Nation, with whom NTBC will co-manage the conservation area as part of Mowachaht/Muchalaht First Nation’s Salmon Parks Stewardship Society. This Indigenous-led initiative works to restore wild salmon by recovering key watersheds in Nootka Sound. Conserving Hleep’te Creek Estuary will safeguard salmon habitat, protect old-growth forests, and strengthen climate resilience for future generations. 

Conserving Hleep’te Creek Estuary will safeguard salmon habitat, protect old-growth forests, and strengthen climate resilience for future generations. The land is home to mature and old-growth forest – 47 acres of forest in this area are expected to be older than 250 years, and 23 acres are 141-250 years old. 

The land contains designated critical habitat for the threatened marbled murrelet and two endangered bats (little brown myotis and northern myotis). Other threatened bird species in or near the land include barn swallow, western screech owl, northern pygmy owl, and northern goshawk.

Photos by Shawn Lukas.