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Boreal Forest
Information on DUC initiatives in Western Canada's boreal Forest
Pages in this Article
- Summary
- A Rare Opportunity
- The Strategy
- The Urgency
- The Government
- The Partnerships
A Rare Opportunity
Gary Stewart, DUC’s national forest co-ordinator and manager of western boreal programs, says Canada’s boreal forest offers a rare and unique opportunity for DUC and forward-thinking governments, industry, First Nations and aboriginal groups, academic institutions, foundations and conservation organizations to be strategic in the move to boreal conservation.
“We are way behind in what we know about Canada’s boreal in comparison to what we know about regions such as the Prairies,” Stewart says. “If we could push back time a century in the settled parts of Canada, we would be in the unique situation we are now in in the boreal. The opportunity to influence future land use in this vast and productive region through sound science, solid conservation programs delivery and best management practices is critical.”
Canada’s boreal forest represents a major part of the world’s boreal region, encircling the northern part of the globe and stretching like a huge green belt from the northwest of the Yukon across the Northwest Territories and northern portions of British Columbia, Alberta, Saskatchewan and Manitoba. Swooping southward along the east side of Lake Winnipeg, the forest continues eastward, curving through the Shield country of northwestern Ontario, the Hudson Bay lowlands and into northern Quebec before crossing north into Labrador and Newfoundland.
This vast “belt” contains more than one-quarter of the world’s remaining forests. As reinforced by Garneau, many areas of this green belt contain significant areas of blue, as 30 percent or more of the forest is comprised of wetlands and water. In fact, Canada’s boreal holds more fresh water in wetlands, lakes and rivers than any place on Earth.
Wetlands are some of the most productive ecosystems on Earth and the wetlands of Canada’s boreal are no different. Wetlands of the forest are critically important to bears, beavers, wolves, woodland caribou, moose and other wetland-dependent species found within the immense region. But they are also breeding, staging and molting areas used by tens of millions of migratory waterfowl and upwards of 100 million shorebirds each year.
The United States and Canadian wildlife services survey a large area of the western boreal forest annually. These surveys have shown that, for reasons yet to be determined, populations of common boreal nesting species such as lesser scaup and scoters are showing long-term, significant declines.
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