“We are the founding First Nation Partner of the Kwaxala cooperative. The Kwaxala model is being piloted on our ancestral territory in the magnificent, but heavily damaged and depleted, Southern Great Bear Rainforest of British Columbia, Canada. Through this pilot project, our ancestral right to protect and steward our lands has been rightfully returned to us. We have been pioneering alternative economic approaches and regenerative activities on our territory for many years and you can find out more about us and our work at www.kwiakahconservation.com. We have played a formative role in shaping the Kwaxala model and organization, ensuring that our core mission to protect and value living nature whilst recognising and reconciling Indigenous territorial sovereignty is enshrined in everything we are and do. We invite other Nations in Canada and beyond to join us in partnership and use this exciting new model to fund the protection and regeneration of their territories.”
— Chief Steven Dick, Kwiakah First Nation

Kwiakah First Nation

Why Kwaxala?

The Kwaxala name is derived from the word “k̲̓wax̲a̲la” which means “forest, lots of trees” in Kwak'wala. Kwak'wala is the language of the Kwakwaka’wakw (also known as the Kwakiutl) First Nations, one of the indigenous peoples of the Pacific Northwest Coast.

The Kwiakah First Nation is part of the Laich-kwil-tach (Euclataws or Southern Kwakiutl) group of the Kwakwaka'wakw peoples. The traditional language of the Kwiakah people is Lekwala, the southern dialect of Kwak'wala.

We wished to honour our origin and Indigenous founders through the use of this word for our brand mark, creating a permanent connection to their Nation and native language.

Kwaxala’s Unique Cooperative Structure. Majority Indigenous owned and controlled and it always will be.

Each protected forest within our Living Forest Portfolio is a sovereign commercial entity in which the local Forest Partner is the significant majority equity holder as well as the contractual stewardship partner who autonomously carries out the activities in the forest. This creates local jobs controlled and managed by the Forest Partner themselves and ensures the significant majority of revenue generated (over 90%) remains in the communities.

All Indigenous Forest Partners that join the Kwaxala network to fund the protection and regeneration of their territory also join a Partnership that is the fixed majority governance and equity holder in Kwaxala. Kwaxala coordinates all of the portfolio offset sales and equity investments and also supports Forest Partners by building and maintaining network wide systems and services that reduce the costs and increase the revenues of the individual forests within the network. This is how we generate revenues however, as a result of our cooperative ownership structure, the majority of any net profits we generate centrally are re-distributed to our Indigenous Forest Partners. 

Our structure ensures that investment into either Kwaxala or the Living Forest Portfolio can never diminish the Indigenous Forest Partners control over either the network or the individual protected forest areas. All Living Forest Portfolio investments are passive partnership investments that respect and maintain the autonomy of the Forest Partners.

Founding Team

Kwaxala is the result of a synchronous gathering of Indigenous and Indigenous inspired innovators from a diverse range of disciplines and experiences that have helped shape the unique Kwaxala model and organization. Each has their own path and origin story that finds them able to contribute meaningfully and uniquely to this paradigm shifting project at this critical time for humanity.

  • Chief Steven Dick

    CHAIRMAN
    KWIAKAH FIRST NATION CHIEF

  • Pete Corke

    DIRECTOR OF
    VISION &
    LEADERSHIP

  • Frank Voelker

    DIRECTOR OF
    FOREST
    PARTNERSHIPS

  • Jody Holmes

    STRATEGIST, CONSERVATION
    SYSTEMS CREATOR

  • Alex Gordon-Brander

    DIRECTOR OF REGENERATIVE
    FINANCE & TOKENIZATION

  • Shawn Anderson

    DIRECTOR OF
    TECHNOLOGY & TOKEN ENGINEERING

  • Darren Zal

    SYSTEMS ARCHITECT & TECHNICAL PARTNER LIAISON