Also known as alpine and sub-alpine, these higher elevation areas support a mix of herb and heath meadows, bogs and dwarf trees.

Many mountaintops in Gwaii Haanas escaped glaciations and are home to unique high alpine plant species found nowhere else on earth.

This is a very harsh environment, characterized by high exposure to wind, patchy vegetation and bedrock outcroppings. It represents 9% of Gwaii Haanas’ total land area.

Monitoring activities include permanent vegetation plot surveys, monitoring of the impacts of introduced deer on alpine communities, and mapping of the extent of the alpine area.

Alpine tundra in Gwaii Haanas
© Parks Canada / B. Wojtaszek