Lululemon founder Chip Wilson gifts $100M to help preserve B.C.’s wild side

VANCOUVER — Lululemon Athletica Inc. founder and billionaire Chip Wilson is donating $100 million to the B.C. Parks Foundation to help protect and enhance the province's nature.

The donation, which was announced at an event held in Vancouver's Stanley Park on Thursday, will be made through the Wilson 5 Foundation.

The commitment is part of the B.C. Parks Foundation's launch of 25x25, a multi-year campaign to protect 25 per cent of land and waters, in partnership with Indigenous people.

The donation is being put to work right away in three ecosystems, the Falling Creek Sanctuary, Teit's Sanctuary and Bourguiba Springs.

The announcement comes a day after Patagonia founder and billionaire Yvon Chouinard said he is giving away the company to a trust that will use its profit to tackle climate change.

Wilson previously made a $4-million donation to protect the coastal Douglas-fir ecosystem and earlier this year made a $100 million commitment to medical research on facioscapulohumeral muscular dystrophy.

The B.C. Parks Foundation started in 2018 with the goal of improving and expanding the province's parks system.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Sept. 15, 2022.