Spirit Bears the Next Environmental Superstar: Great Bear RAVE on ABC News Nightline

© Ian McAllister, iLCP

Late this summer, the iLCP, a group of internationally renowned photographers took part in a RAVE (Rapid Assessment Visual Expedition) in British Columbia's Great Bear Rainforest. Home to white spirit bears, ancient forests, and stunning marine biodiversity, it is one of the planet's most priceless treasures, but overseas oil interests wanting access to western Canada's tar sands, the second largest known oil reserves in the world, have put the region in threat, prompting the action of conservation groups and the iLCP. Throughout the expedition we'll be bringing you profiles, stories, statistics and photos to learn more about the region and why it's so crucial that we all work to protect it. Please follow along here on the iLCP blog, on Facebook and Twitter.

We're very excited that the Great Bear RAVE is going to be featured on tonight's ABC News Nightline.

Along with the program, they've put together a great slideshow of photos which you can check out here.



You can also read this piece, highlighting Spirit Bears as the next environmental superstars. Here's an excerpt:

"It's a magnificent bear," said Ian McCallister, director of the nonprofit conservation group Pacific Wild.

Today, the Great Bear Rainforest faces a threat -- a massive oil pipeline from Alberta to British Columbia, Canada. The plan would turn the spirit bear's home into a superhighway for supertankers.

"They want to bring Big Oil to this coast," McCallister said. "The only thing that's standing between that is really the spirit bear, the concerted efforts from conservationists and the First Nation [native] people."