Clayoquot Sound is located on the west coast of Vancouver Island and contains a number of old growth temperate rainforests. Starting in the late 1970s, local opposition and a growing environmental movement began to oppose clearcut logging in the Sound. The Provincial Government introduced the Clayoquot Sound Land Use Decision in 1993 with the intention to preserve one-third of the Sound’s old growth forests from logging. Continued clearcutting of the remaining unprotected old growth forests led to thousands of protesters to descend upon the Sound to oppose ongoing logging by forestry companies, leading to hundreds of arrests in one of largest acts of civil disobedience in Canadian history. Faced with growing opposition and a Greenpeace-led boycott campaign, forestry companies, notably MacMillan Bloedel, began to work with environmental groups and First Nations to better manage local forests, such as through the jointly run Iisaak Natural Resources. Along with other environmental groups, Greenpeace sought to have the Sound designated as a UN Biosphere Reserve, which UNESCO granted in 2000.

The series primarily includes Greenpeace planning, communications, and strategies to protect forests in the Sound, photographs of clearcut logging and protests, and records produced by external organizations. The Communications subseries includes press releases and reports produced by Greenpeace and external organizations, which includes records by forestry companies, newspapers, and other organizations. Legal documents in the series primarily include copies of BC Supreme Court trials of Greenpeace members arrested during the blockades in Clayoquot Sound and correspondence with legal counsel representing Greenpeace members in court. The Photographs subseries includes all photos not originally housed as part of a file with textual records. File titles are based on the content of items.