An extraordinarily diverse and unique type of forest used to thrive in the northeast region of Turtle Island. Rich old-growth blanketed an area from present-day New York State across the Maritime provinces of Nova Scotia, New Brunswick, and Prince Edward Island. Its range aligned with the combined territory of the five original nations that have lived with it and cared for it since time immemorial.
Blending northern and southern mixed wood forest ecosystems, the forest is entirely unique to the east coast region.
This forest is known by many as its settler name, the Acadian Forest. We call it by its original name, the Wabanaki Forest.
Visit the Forests
Forgotten But Not Lost
Across Canada, the east coast Wabanaki Forest remains largely unknown — even to those who call the region home. This unique forest type has been listed as one of six endangered forests in North America, and what remains is vulnerable to threats caused by climate change.
Only small remnants of resilient, old forest remain intact today in valleys and hard-to-access ravines, where the extensive land clearing since colonization could not easily reach. The diversity and potential of the Wabanaki Forest surviving in these last remaining pre-colonial forest stands—less than 1% of the entire forest region today—have been all but forgotten.
But the forests are not lost.
These last refuges provide a window back in time to the Wabanaki Forest’s full potential and are home to stores of biodiversity. By protecting what remains and restoring that which was lost, we can one day return the full vibrancy of this forest to the broader landscape.
With your help, a future with diverse, old forests is possible.