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Boreal Forest

The boreal region is truly extraordinary and encircles the globe across the northern hemisphere through Canada, Russia, Scandinavia and Alaska. This vast region is characterized by a mosaic of ecosystems, including forests, lakes, river valleys, wetlands and peat bogs. The forest ecosystem of the boreal region is a green belt of conifer and deciduous trees that acts as part of the largest source and filter of fresh water on the planet.

Canada's boreal forest is the largest contiguous intact forest left on earth, covering 35 per cent of the country's land mass and stretching across the north from Newfoundland to the Yukon. These northern forests are the breeding grounds for over 60 per cent of Canada's bird population with approximately three billion birds nesting there annually. The boreal is also home to the world's largest caribou herd, the second-highest wolf population, and polar, black and grizzly bears.

Thousands of species of plants, insects and animals - most of which have not been scientifically described - but many of which have long been used by aboriginal people for food and medicinal purposes, are found in boreal ecosystems.

Ecosystems at risk

So with a natural system of this depth and magnitude, one would think there is little to worry about.

Unfortunately, boreal forests around the globe are under threat from large-scale commercial logging, mining and hydroelectric generation. As in other regions, Canada's original frontier forest is in trouble with 63 per cent lost or under threat from industrial activity, research from the World Resources Institute shows. One million acres of boreal forest are logged annually in Canada, mostly by clearcutting original forests. Additionally, thousands of kilometres of roads and seismic lines are compromising the integrity of Canada's boreal ecosystem, resulting in 30 per cent of the boreal forest region being within a kilometre of a road or access route.

Such destruction has put seven species of plants and animals native to the Canadian boreal on the endangered species list, and a further ten species are designated as threatened.

The Lubicon First Nation of northern Alberta has witnessed the boreal forest, upon which they depend, destroyed by clearcut logging and large-scale oil and gas extraction. The plight of the Lubicon people is highlighted by Amnesty International in a recent report that strongly condemns the Canadian government's failure to respect the Lubicon's opposition to this resource extraction in their traditional territories.

Read the report.

Lungs of the planet
The boreal is often referred to as the "lungs of the planet", and has a daily rhythm of breathing in carbon dioxide and breathing out oxygen. In addition to providing us with oxygen, this process makes the boreal forest a storage house for carbon dioxide - the greenhouse gas that contributes most to climate change. The benefit of the boreal as a 'carbon sink' is lost when industrial activity releases the stored carbon dioxide from the boreal ecosystem back into the atmosphere. In fact, this may significantly exacerbate climate change as there is more carbon dioxide stored in boreal soils than in all other vegetation on Earth combined.

Despite the threats to the boreal forest, we believe there is still hope and opportunity for developing protected areas and setting guidelines for human activity. We must act now, however, to create the framework while original forests remain. In the coming year, our forest team will collaborate with other groups, First Nations and communities to begin the work to conserve one of Earth's greatest ecosystems. Visit this site often for progress reports and updates.