Ontario's Northern Boreal backgrounder
Where hope lies
Ontario’s Northern Boreal Forest, covering 40 million hectares/98.8 million acres, (or 400,000 km2/154,400 miles2,) is part of the largest intact forest remaining on Earth. It is one of the few places left that has not been significantly changed by human activities. The Boreal plays an essential role in providing clean water, storing carbon (essential for the fight against global warming), and sustaining ecosystems and communities, including 28 First Nations communities.
The Northern Boreal supports healthy populations of woodland caribou, wolverine and lake sturgeon — species that have been driven from large parts of the more southern Boreal forest as a result of logging and other development. Hundreds of songbird species feed and nest in the region during the summer.
Thousands of lakes and wetlands are found in the Northern Boreal, including nearly half of the remaining un-dammed watersheds in North America that exist south of 55 degrees latitude. The Hudson Bay Lowlands are the third largest wetlands on Earth.
Ontario’s Northern forest is a major carbon storehouse, storing an estimated 150 tonnes of carbon per hectare; the entire region holds approximately 6 billion tonnes of carbon. This large, intact wilderness will play an important role in helping species and ecosystems adapt to a changing climate.
The Threat
Most of Ontario’s Northern Boreal forest still remains largely unaffected by industrial development. There are only two operating mines, few roads, and no large-scale logging. The region, however, is under threat from the booming mining sector as well as other industrial activities like logging and hydro.
As of January 2008, 5,700 mining claims had been staked in the Northern Boreal. Nine First Nations communities have called for a moratorium on staking claims in their traditional territory, and the conflict between the free-entry mining system and the rights of First Nations has created significant controversy, leading to the jailing of several First Nations leaders.
About ForestEthics Boreal Campaign
In 2002, ForestEthics launched a campaign to protect the Endangered Forests in Canada’s Boreal. In 2005, we focused on the province of Ontario and had the following goals:
• Securing conservation-based land-use planning before further development in the Northern Boreal forest;
• Protecting caribou habitat in the allocated, Southern Boreal forest.
Since 2005, ForestEthics has engaged the marketplace, reaching out to more than 500 customers of Ontario wood including Staples, Office Depot, Victoria’s Secret, Sears and others, as well as to the Ontario public, to build awareness about the importance of the Boreal forest. ForestEthics has regularly met with government to present key concerns and solutions. We have also supported First Nations communities in their opposition to mining on their traditional territory.
Allies in our work to protect Ontario’s Boreal include: CBI, Pew Environment Group, Greenpeace, NRDC, RAN, and many other groups who have lent their support, time and voice to this work.
View our Boreal campaign timeline here.
Photos Courtesy of Wildlands League
