October 25, 2026 — 5:00am

“We are the land and the land is us,” explains Talaysay Campo, born and raised in the Squamish and Sechelt cultures of Canada’s First Nations.

On Campo’s Talking Trees tour in Vancouver’s Stanley Park, the city’s vast green 400-hectare lung, we are introduced to the plants, medicines and technologies of her people.

Vancouver’s Stanley Park stays lush and green thanks to 169 days of rain a year. iStock

First, we meet the vine maple tree. “It doesn’t know personal space – it likes to branch out and reach for that sunshine,” Talaysay says. Its wood is strong but flexible so it is useful for constructing shelters. If the tree arched in shape, then that shape would form the frame for a shelter.

Next, we meet the mighty Douglas fir, which soars into the sky with bark so thick it resists forest fires but, ironically, there’s an element in its sap that helps start fires, and it was tapped for just that purpose.

Deeper into the forest we find salmonberries, huckleberries and more.…