The Boreal Forests of Northern Canada

Ecology Facts

At 1.4 billion acres, Canada's Boreal region is one of the last and largest intact forests left in the world. (Counting Canada's Natural Capital: Assessing the Real Value of Canada's Boreal Ecosystems, Canadian Boreal Initiative and Pembina Institute, November 2005)

Boreal forests account for 20% of the world's remaining closed canopy forests. (Natural Resources Canada/Canadian Geographic, 1999)

Boreal forests store 30% of the carbon in the world's terrestrial ecosystems. (Sandberg, D., U.S. Department of Agriculture, 2000)

Canada is home to a third of the world's remaining boreal forests; they cover 35% of Canada's land mass. (Natural Resources Canada/Canadian Geographic, 1999)

No one has counted all the lakes in the boreal forest, but their number is estimated at about 1.5 million. (Source: Senate Subcommittee on the Boreal Forest, 1999, Chapter 2, Ecological Realities, Citing: D.W. Schindler, "A dim future for boreal waters and landscapes." Biosciences vol.48, 1998, pp.157-164)

Boreal forest ecosystems contain the largest expanse of freshwater wetlands in the world. (Source: Senate Subcommittee on the Boreal Forest, 1999, Chapter 1, Introduction.)

Woodland Caribou

The boreal is home to some of the largest remaining herds of woodland caribou in the world. (Boreal Forest at Risk: A Progress Report, CBI, 2003)

Woodland caribou are highly sensitive to timber harvest activities and has retreated steadily in the face of the northward expansion of forestry in the boreal. (Source: Urquizo, et al, Ecological Assessment of the Boreal Shield Ecozone (draft), August 1998, p. 24, Citing: Chubbs, et al, 1993, Responses of woodland caribou to clear cutting in east central Newfoundland. Can. J. Zoology 71: 487-493. Cumming, et al, 1993, Survival of woodland caribou in commercial forests of northern Ontario, Forestry Chronicle 69: 579-588.)

See more statistics about the Woodland Caribou.

The Boreal and First Nations

The Canadian boreal forest is home to approximately 500 First Nations communities and hundreds of Métis communities. (Source: Senate Subcommittee on the Boreal Forest, 1999, Chapter 3, Aboriginal Realities)

Over thousands of years, native people have evolved close and efficient interaction with the land, making use of a large variety of trees, shrubs, herbs, moss and fungi for everything from food, medicine, clothing, and building materials to ceremonial materials. (Source: Senate Subcommittee on the Boreal Forest, 1999, Chapter 3, Aboriginal Realities)

In recent years, resource exploration and development, road-building, damming of rivers, and industrial timber harvesting have severely infringed upon native use of the land. (Source: Senate Subcommittee on the Boreal Forest, 1999, Chapter 3, Aboriginal Realities)