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Canada’s boreal forest holds double the carbon storage capacity of tropical forests
Oak Hammock Marsh, M.B., November 17, 2009 – A new report released by the Canadian Boreal Initiative declares that Canada’s boreal forest stores nearly twice as much carbon per hectare as tropical forests. Until now, this number has been vastly underestimated. Ducks Unlimited Canada (DUC) scientist Pascal Badiou is one of 12 members on the international Boreal Science Panel who reviewed the report.
“The boreal forest is one of the world’s most precious water resources and is dotted with millions of small wetlands and lakes that are important habitat for waterfowl and other wildlife. Additionally, it is the most important terrestrial carbon store on the planet and therefore plays a key role in the global carbon cycle,” said Badiou.
The report, “The Carbon the World Forgot”, identifies the boreal forests of North America as the cornerstone habitat for key wildlife species, but also as one of the most significant carbon stores in the world. Globally, these forests store 22 per cent of all organic carbon on the earth’s land surface, equivalent to 26 years of global emissions from the burning of fossil fuels. In addition to the carbon stored in trees, organic matter accumulated over millennia is stored in the soils of boreal peatlands and areas of permafrost. Some of this boreal carbon has been in place for up to 8,000 years. According to Badiou, over 60 per cent of the organic carbon in Manitoba’s boreal forest region is stored in the thousands of peatlands that cover its surface.
Canada’s boreal forest is a wetland-rich ecosystem that annually provides breeding habitat for 12 to 14 million ducks. The western boreal forest also provides habitat for as much as 75 per cent of all continental ducks during migration and moulting periods and critical summer habitat for prairie nesting waterfowl during years of drought. Senior conservation planners at Ducks Unlimited have identified Canada’s western boreal forest as one of the two highest priority areas for waterfowl in North America. DUC's vision is that the country’s boreal forest will remain an ecologically intact and productive habitat that will continue to sustain a high diversity and abundance of wetlands, waterfowl and associated water birds.
“In the past, international negotiations have largely focused on carbon stored in the vegetation of tropical forests. This report highlights the need to focus on boreal forests, and more specifically the peatland areas within them, as we move towards a new round of international negotiations,” said Badiou.
In light of these findings, the report urges that international negotiations on carbon and forest protection consider ways to account for and protect the boreal.
“Conservation can be an important tool in the fight to mitigate climate change,” said Larry Innes, Director of the Canadian Boreal Initiative. “International protocols and legislation need to create opportunities to maintain the carbon stored in intact boreal forest soils, peatlands and wetlands while enabling indigenous and local communities to take a leadership role in determining how to best conserve not only carbon, but the full suite of ecological, cultural and economic values that the boreal forest represents.”
More than 1,500 international scientists led by authors for the United Nations’ Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change recommended in 2007 that at least half of Canada's boreal forest be protected from further disturbance - in large part to keep both the boreal forest carbon bank and internationally significant wildlife habitats intact. Despite the current lack of international protocol, several Canadian First Nation and provincial and federal governments have taken important steps to protect hundreds of millions of acres of Canada’s carbon-rich boreal forest. In all, scientists are recommending that at least 300 million hectares be protected.
For the full report and associated materials visit http://www.borealbirds.org/carbonreport.shtml.
For more information, contact:
Duncan Morrison,
d_morrison@ducks.ca
National Marketing and Communications
Ducks Unlimited Canada
Tel: 204-467-3202
