This company is one of the most caring, well thought through projects I have visited in many years of eco travel and eco writing.

But first let me add that it's not just what part owners, Margaret Leehane and Tom Rivest, do for the environment, the wildlife and the local people that appeals, it's also the magical experience of spending a few days so far from traffic, people, phones and television.

The floating lodge owned by Great Bear Nature Tours is a tiny speck on Smith Inlet, one of the many fjords that slice deep into the coastal mountains north of Vancouver. You arrive from Port Hardy by amphibian aircraft with an exhilarating landing and take-off on water beside the lodge.

After the pilot has flown away the silence settles like a soft blanket. You become aware of the clear air, the flutter of a bird, a ripple on the water, the reflections of towering mountains.

Tom, a wildlife biologist, and Marg told me they established GBNT to "create an opportunity for people (and themselves) to observe an intact, normally functioning coastal ecosystem. A place where you have to slow down and let the rainforest slowly reveal its secrets".

Tom is an expert at slowly revealing secretes. Tall, bearded and with an amused twinkle in his eye he leads guests through the forest explaining the habits of black and grizzly bears, cougars, wolves, birds and numerous smaller creatures. He is proud of his hidden cameras which record their movements and passionate about their protection.

As the president of the Commercial Bear Viewing Association and a certified guide trainer, he works diligently towards a better understanding of bears and his guides record all sightings to establish base lines for future study. As we walk he calls loudly to warn bears that we are about for they would sooner flee than fight.

Bear viewing is by boat using a 4-stroke engine (less fuel and pollution than a 2-stroke) or, when the salmon are running, from an observation blind beside the Nekite (Nekite) River. The bears arrive in spring to eat the protein-rich sedge grass and berries along the shores of the inlet and the salmon that come later to spawn in the river. They must gorge themselves so they can survive hibernation through the long winters of this region.

The recent low returns of wild salmon and the impact of farmed salmon on the health of wild stocks are of great concern to environmentalists and Tom and Marg have become actively involved with the Wilderness Tourism Association (WTA). It was as a WTA representative that Tom travelled to Norway in 2007 to present their concerns to government and the multinationals that own most of the salmon farms in British Columbia.

It's because of these concerns that they do not offer fishing as an activity although they do buy wild fish from the local fishermen to serve their guests. And if you ask they will catch enough Dungeness Crab for a lunch you will never forget.

They are also against trophy hunting of bears, wolves and cougars and work closely with other environmental groups and the Gwa'Sala-Nakwaxda'xw Nation, on whose traditional territory they operate, to have hunting banned in the region.

The lodge has only five guest rooms but offers all the comforts of electricity at the flick of a switch, steaming hot showers, a video/DVD player and delectable meals. Much creative thought has gone into producing these luxuries so far from civilisation. Water, wind and solar produce most of the electricity with a backup diesel generator used only when necessary. The lights are compact fluorescent lamps and energy efficient LED.

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