The Canadian province of Ontario will permanently protect a gigantic swath of boreal forest in what green group ForestEthics says is the largest conservation deal in Canada's history and one of the top three forest protection initiatives anywhere, evah. Some 225,000 square kilometers of trees -- that's more than 86,800 square miles in American -- will be kept safe from resource exploration and development. The conservation commitment applies to nearly half of Ontario's boreal forest, which houses more than 200 species of wildlife and sucks up nearly 13.8 million tons of carbon dioxide each year. "It's unspoiled and undisturbed, and if there's one thing we know for sure, it's not going to stay that way forever unless we do something," said Ontario Premier Dalton McGuinty, adding, "We need to prepare for development and plan for it. It's our responsibility as global citizens to get this right, and to act now." Wow, foresight! How very refreshing.
The Boreal World
Ontario protects gigantic forest area 6
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Posted 2:16 PM on 14 Jul 2008
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jchret Posted 1:47 pm
14 Jul 2008
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el mono Posted 1:58 pm
14 Jul 2008
Way to go Canada ... this conservation effort sounds great!
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Wolverine Posted 3:30 pm
14 Jul 2008
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caniscandida Posted 4:11 pm
14 Jul 2008
Next Monday, we three are off for three weeks in eastern Canada, including the Gaspe' Peninsula, the northern shore of New Brunswick and Prince Edward Island. I am hoping to see lots of trees, whether or not they may technically be considered part of the Boreal Forest.
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Des Emery Posted 3:47 pm
15 Jul 2008
Most of those trees were logged in past centuries to provide the masts for the ships that carried European civilization around the world. Even the Boreal Forest in northern Ontario is no longer pristine.
The reason for McGuinty's protection has more to do with First Nation (or aboriginal) concerns about mining companies being able to appropriate land without notice to the registered owner(s), mostly Indian Bands, in that area of the province.
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henderk Posted 4:19 am
26 Jul 2008
Just a few little quibbles:
-It is not necessarily en "election year" in Ontario, Alberta or Canada at large.
-Actually, the forests of the maritime provinces are not Boreal, they are a close relative mixed forest, the Acadian forest, which we share with the Northeastern USA.(
http://www.acadiau.ca/botanicalgardens/acadianForest.html ...
That is to say, the natural forest is Acadian--thanks to forest plantations by the pulp and paper and lumber companies with the attendant suppression of hardwood growback, much of our forest does seem to be Boreal in nature.
I suspect, but will leave it to those more in-depth knowledge that I for confirmation, that the continually green Boreal is a superior carbon sink to the party-deciduous Acadian forest.
Anyway-- I hope you have a good time in the Maritimes; why not consider swinging through Nova Scotia as well--scenery, seafood and the best of Devonian fossils!
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