Giant Swath of Forest Protected in Canadian Plan
Ontario’s Boreal Forest absorbs 12.5 million tons of CO2 annually
A huge swath of Canada’s northern Boreal forest will be permanently protected from tree harvesting and mining as part of a plan to combat climate change, the Province of Ontario’s premier Dalton McGuinty announced Monday.
Canada’s Boreal forest forms a band of mostly coniferous trees almost 620 miles wide across the entire country, and has remained mostly undisturbed since the retreat of glaciers 10,000 years ago.
Growing foreign demand for Canada’s natural resources, like timber, wood pulp, hard rock, and fossil fuels, as well as ecological pressures from forest fires and insect infestations, are threatening the health and well-being of Canada’s Boreal forests.
Through this new arrangement, the future of Ontario’s northern Boreal lands and waters will be determined through an innovative land use planning initiative with Canadian First Nations. Under the plan, almost half of Ontario’s Boreal forest, or about 87,000 square miles, an area nearly equal to the entire United Kingdom, would be restricted to eco-tourism and traditional aboriginal uses, such as hunting or fishing.
The portion of the Boreal Forest that is protected, (encompassing nearly 45% of the province of Ontario), is home to billions of migrating birds, threatened species such as Woodland Caribou, Polar Bear and Lake Sturgeon.
The massive ecosystem is also one of the globe’s most significant carbon sinks with the Ontario tract absorbing some 12.5 million tons of carbon dioxide from the atmosphere each year, said McGuinty.
Conservation groups hailed the decision, both in terms of the land protection itself, and the land use planning model that was put in place to protect that land. In a statement, Janet Sumner, Executive Director of CPAWS Wildlands League said, “This is a visionary and unprecedented policy. Today’s announcement fulfills the Premier’s promise to protect the Boreal Forest by doing Land Use Planning before large scale industrial development.”
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Photo: © Andre Nantel | Dreamstime.com
[...] Giant Swath of Forest Protected in Canadian Plan A huge swath of Canada
I’m mixed on this issue. Glad they are saving some, but the fastest, cheapest least intrusive way to effect air and water quality is to not cut down forests, and to plant new ones.
I thought I recognized that picture on Digg. Which agency did you get it from?
http://www.digitalapoptosis.com/archives/quebec/001271.html
Andre – Thanks for the beautiful shot of the Boreal Forest. I’m glad you stumbled into it on digg! That’s pretty neat. I purchased the photo license from Dreamstime:
© Andre Nantel | Dreamstime.com
Keep up the excellent work.
check http://www.thebigwild.org to get involved.
Good those pesky Canadians need to be saving some Green up there! LOL
JT
http://www.FireMe.To/udi
[...] as part of a plan to combat climate change, the Province of Ontario’s premier Dalton McGuinty.read more | digg [...]
Or you could protect the actual rainforest yourself at Ownforest.com – just a thought…
This seems silly for a number of reasons:
1) Mature forests are not net absorbers of CO2-trees absorb CO2 while growing, but release the same amount of carbon, in the form of CO2 and methane when they die, either via burning or decay. If the goal is carbon absorbtion it would make more sense to harvest climax trees and replant.
2) They are taking a large amount of potential builiding material off the market as it were. Sustainable timber production will have to be replaced with more destructive materials such as concrete or steel.
3) If you accept AGW as a real issue, portions of these forests will die as the climate changes and the existing species of trees become unsuitable for the resulting climate. By “protecting” these forests they eliminate the option of removing dead or dying trees from the forest. It would seem to make more sense to harvest trees in this situation and replant with appropriate species suitable for the “new” local climate.
But what the heck, it sounds good to the masses….
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