Land of Plenty

"Alberta is at the front lines of boreal forest threats and issues. There are more caribou herds that are in trouble there than anywhere.
"It's basically a question of what will happen to these lands and who will decide. In so many cases it's being decided without any broad-scale thinking about what the future will look like.
"In the last ten years, it [Canada's vast heritage of boreal forests) has become known as a place just like the Amazon. Its values towards birds, towards caribou, toward carbon, toward water -- all of those things -- are really becoming much better known."
Jeff Wells, biologist, Canadian Boreal Initiative

Canadian Boreal Initiative

The International Boreal Conservation Science Panel has named Canada's boreal forest as "the world's last great forest". This is not a designation to be taken lightly, and nor does the Government of Canada take its responsibility toward protecting Canada's huge tracts of boreal forest lightly. The huge swath of green stretching from Newfoundland to the Yukon represents Canada's famed boreal forest. And it is a unique ecosystem.

There, millions of migratory birds find their home. Endangered wildlife like caribou find shelter there in the wetlands that clean water and store carbon. The Forest Stewardship Council representing an organization promoting responsible management of the world's forests oversees the sustainable harvesting practices of trees within the boreal forest. It certifies and labels wood products from that source.

The Canadian Boreal Initiative has a mission it too takes very seriously. It has high hopes that eventually half of Canada's forest -- which represents fully one-third of the world's similar woodlands -- will be protected. That the boreal forest is gaining international prominence as a recognized resource that not only benefits Canada but the environment on a larger scale, for its carbon-capture qualities, for its natural haven for many bird and animal species can only inspire formal protection.

A moose makes its way through a snowy field near Lake Louise, Alta. on November 23, 2012. A group of top international scientists says Canada needs to dramatically up its conservation game to ensure its vast northern forests remain healthy in the face of increasing industrial pressure. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Jonathan Hayward | CP 

 

The current government has distinguished its understanding of the value of the boreal forest by extending the status of formal protection to the world's largest intact forest ecosystem. Since 2007 the scope of boreal forest under government protection has doubled to roughly 12 percent of the total area. "That's a big rate of increase in a short time and we're hoping that's going to continue", remarked Mr. Wells.

Given government protection at the present time is 708,000 square kilometres of the boreal forest. An additional 460,000 square kilometres is harvested through sustainable practices. The Province of Manitoba is praised for its consultation with aboriginal groups in a concerted effort to persuade UNESCO to proclaim the Pimachiowin Aki region of 33,400-square-kilometres a declared World Heritage Site.

Greenpeace

The Government of Ontario is actively protecting half of its northern forests for posterity, as unspoiled and heritage-valued forest proudly held in protective status, despite pressure for development from the domestic mining industry in the area northeast of Thunder Bay named the Ring of Fire, and considered a valuable resource for mineral extraction at some future date. Again, consultation with First Nations is a requirement for any decision-making.

An understanding in practise that brought together environmentalists and forestry companies to work together for the purpose of ensuring that the interests of both are weighed and balanced for moderation and sustainability, having the least impact on the ecosystem of Ontario's northern forests appears to be working well, but not without some controversies that inevitably arise.

In this undated photo provided by the International Boreal Conservation Campaign, the forest is seen after being clear cut in the southern regions of Quebec's Boreal Forest. THE CANADIAN PRESS/AP,HO Matt Medler

The Northwest Territories does not yet merit the same kind of passing grade, nor does Quebec and the Yukon. Quebec's deadline in protection of half its northern forest by the year 2035 has been downgraded to a goal for 20% protection by 2020, and further reduced to 12 percent.  Mining reforms have not been implemented in the Yukon leaving the territory's free-entry mining system intact. Energy and forestry development are threatening Alberta's boreal zone.

Land-use planning is seen as one of the premier challenges for governments in the coming years. Extraction of natural resources rather than conservation of valuable boreal forest values are being superimposed upon the issue of land management. As a matter of priorities, mining interests appear to be winning out in too many instances.


In an environmental stewardship assessment Canada is doing fairly well in protection of its most basic natural resource, its vast forest reserves. But the issues of development of extraction resources in mining and forestry, divesting land of its trees and minerals, one a renewable resource with proper management, the other exploiting a resource not renewable, present a need for careful decision-making.

Matt Medler/International Boreal Conservation Campaign/The Associated Press