I want to preserve biodiversity, and to do that you have to protect existing habitats. And primeval forests are one of the most important habitats because they take the longest time to develop. I also like the fact that the concept at Wilderness is very simple and transparent: we protect primeval forests directly, nothing is complicated.

The highlight was of course meeting the coastal wolves, the star of Porcher Island. But it was also special for me to get out of my comfort zone when I let myself be abandoned on Porcher Island.

The wolf was by far the most impressive experience. But I also found getting to know the rhythm of nature very exciting. Living with the ebb and flow of the tide, for example, and observing how the animals react to it. I could always see the mink coming back, or the deer coming onto the beach in the morning. It was pretty cool to just be there as a silent observer. The animals are not like that, they see a person and then run away in panic. If you stay quiet, they just do their thing, it's still real wilderness.

It was a relaxed trip in itself. But at the beginning I had to find my bearings. It was quite a moment when I was set adrift on a rock and then the boat took off. On the first evening, it took me a while to find my way around until I had a good campsite and clean drinking water. I spend a lot of time alone in nature, but not so much that I camp alone. It was the first time I'd been completely alone so far away from everything.

Peace and patience. As David (MacDonald) always says, you first have to come to rest in nature, lean back. I've learned to live with the rhythm of nature. And to notice all the little things, the rhythm of the animals. The minks were my secret favorites on the island. They are just so cute, so undisturbed on their crab hunt. I saw several of them on different parts of the beach. Every bay has its own little mink that came out at low tide. But I was also very happy when your boat came out of the fog and I was able to talk to someone, even if you came a bit too early and interrupted my swim.

I was woken up every morning by the bald eagles. They slept above my tent in the giant arborvitae and always called out in the morning. It was quite nice to be woken up by them every morning. And the minks kept me entertained. And of course the search for the wolf: looking for tracks and dead animals that had washed up. Then the hours of waiting. And then suddenly the wolf was just there. I was sitting there with my camouflage sweater behind the camera, the hood over my head. And when I looked up, I saw him. He wasn't scared at all, he was just completely curious and you could tell that we were both a bit confused. He came out of the forest, then came straight towards me and very close, was there for maybe a minute and then continued walking along the beach.

No, I wasn't scared. But it was definitely pure adrenaline, I was excited, my heart was pumping. The animal wasn't aggressive at all, you could tell straight away that it wasn't a threat.

No, this was my first wolf ever. I'd found tracks in other parts of the world and heard them howling, but I hadn't seen one yet. But that was definitely the best first encounter you can have.

Well, I think it's particularly special because humans have such a millennia-old history with the evil wolf. There is such a story in almost every culture. That's why they've already been wiped out in most areas. Even in Canada they are allowed to be shot, there isn't even a quota. In British Columbia, 80% of wolves are now to be shot. Allegedly to protect the forest reindeer, but in my opinion this is complete nonsense. So the wolf still has a really bad reputation. Wolves and humans have always had such a close relationship, which is exciting. It was seen as a competitor, sometimes still is. Few animals have this status, they are mostly prey or livestock, but to see an animal as a competitor on an equal footing is super rare in my opinion. And then you meet a wolf in the middle of the wilderness and it's just really nice.

The wolves do catch these rare reindeer, but the reason why the reindeer are so rare is habitat destruction and habitat fragmentation. The forest reindeer depend on the old forests, which are full of lichen, which they need to survive. Because the forests are being cut down and are no longer connected so that the reindeer can move from one good piece of forest to another, that is the reason why reindeer are so rare. It doesn't help if you kill the wolves now. We simply have to reconnect the habitats and stop destroying good habitats. That is the reason why reindeer are so rare, and not because wolves are eating them.

Yes, for example, it was pretty great to discover the sundew, a carnivorous plant that grows there in the special moorland location. I found it particularly crazy that it's the same species as we have in Germany. You can simply go to the Harz Mountains and find the same round-leaved sundew there. There is also the long-leaved sundew, but it is extremely rare in Germany. This is mainly due to the fact that the moors are being destroyed, and these are its special habitat. Carnivorous plants like the sundew get bonus nutrients from the insects. This is because bogs are extremely nutrient-poor sites, so the carnivorous plant has to eat meat to get the nutrients that are not available in the soil. The sundew is therefore also an important indicator that the habitat is still present and good. If the moors disappear, it will be an extreme catastrophe because they are a particularly important CO2 sink for the global climate. That's why I always find it so frightening when you go to the DIY store and almost every potting soil contains peat. It grows in bogs and takes centuries or even millennia to develop. Huge areas of moorland have to be destroyed for this.

Of course, larger and taller trees grow in the south, even if they are the same species as a few hundred kilometers further north. Then there are even fewer deciduous trees in the north, as there are a lot of horns growing in Toba. A special feature of Porcher Island is the varied moorland landscape, where the forest alternates with treeless moors. Then of course there are the grizzlies and black bears on the island, although they do occur in the north, but they don't come over to the island. Although I have actually seen black bears swimming from island to island. On the other hand, I've seen lots of otters and minks, which are more hidden in Toba. You just have to like the otters. The North American otter mainly eats fish and crabs. But there are also sea otters, which swim on their backs and crack open shells or hunt sea urchins. The two species can therefore occur in the same habitat because they have different food sources. During a hike along the low tide rocks, we saw an otter that had caught a plaice or flounder and eaten it.

This is due to the otters. They hunt in the sea and sometimes also eat in the sea. But it's meals like mussels and snails, which are a little more difficult to crack and eat, that the otters take with them into the forest, because that's where they have their dens. These otter castles, as they are also known, are often inhabited by many otters and are passed down from generation to generation. The otters hunt in the sea, then quickly dash across the beach into the protective forest, because on the coast they are of course easy prey for the wolves, and in the shelter of the thicket of the forest they can then enjoy their seafood in peace.

Nisi at ac aliquam Because this is a very special, unique habitat, not just Porcher, but the islands off the coast in general. This is a globally unique ecosystem. The coastal wolves, for example, can only be found on this very coast. And then you could already see the clear-cutting when you flew into Prince Rupert, that primeval forests are being cut down across the board there.

I don't go there for fun, but to document nature. And to do so in an aesthetically pleasing way. So that you don't just see the trees, but to show all the many creatures that live in this ecosystem. I want my images to help convince people that what we are doing is good. How so many animals can still live in the wild completely alien to humans. I want to present this "wilderness corner" to people in Germany and elsewhere.

Extremely valuable. On the one hand because of the moors. And because they are primary habitats, completely undisturbed habitats, with extremely little to no human influence. This is an ecosystem that has developed over thousands of years. More ecological value is not possible. As soon as human influence is added, species disappear. At the moment, the areas have the highest ecological value there can be. They would lose this immediately through influence. If nature is not protected there, things can only go downhill.

Yes, of course that's something very special when you're in the territory of large predators. I had no concerns about that with the wolves. They don't break anything open to get food. But bears, for example, break open tree trunks to get insects. They are used to opening things up to get at them. Of course, you have that in mind during such an expedition. But in an emergency, you always have to run faster than the slowest person (laughs). Besides, we were a big group, so I had no worries. Although Ronny did see one when he went to the toilet. That was always the scariest moment on the expedition, away from the group, completely defenceless with your trousers around your ankles, you think to yourself, I really don't want to see a bear now. Fortunately, everything went peacefully with Ronny, the bear just stood up, looked and then left again.

You can follow his pictures and reports on his experiences with wild animals on his Facebook page and on Instagram (@fabian_photography).

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