Manitoba's Boreal Forest

Canada’s boreal region contains one quarter of the world’s remaining original forests. Covering more than half of Canada’s landmass, the boreal stretches from Newfoundland to the Yukon.

Great Gray Owl, by Ian Ward

A vast ecological treasure, the boreal forest is home to an array of wildlife, from fragile lichens and colourful songbirds, to some of the largest populations of woodland caribou, bears, and wolves. In addition to being rich habitat for a whole suite of species, the boreal plays an important role in protecting the environment by filtering water, storing carbon, producing oxygen and other critical functions. Canada’s boreal region is also home to more than four million people, including many First Nations communities.

Unlike many other places in Canada, the opportunity to preserve the ecological integrity of a large, undisturbed region of boreal forest still exists in Manitoba. To do so though requires a new way of thinking.

CPAWS Manitoba’s efforts to conserve the boreal forest in Manitoba focuses on:

Boreal Forest Conservation Framework

A coalition of conservation organizations, First Nations, and resource companies released a bold, national vision and action plan for the conservation of Canada’s boreal forest on December 1st, 2003. The Boreal Forest Conservation Framework aims to conserve the cultural, sustainable economic and natural values of the entire Canadian boreal region by protecting at least 50% of the region in a network of large interconnected protected areas and, by supporting sustainable communities and world leading ecosystem-based resource management principles in the remaining landscape.

The Boreal Forest Conservation Framework is a new and balanced approach to nature conservation and development. The Framework has been endorsed by a diverse group, including the Canadian Parks and Wilderness Society, Alberta-Pacific Forest Industries the Deh Cho First Nation, Ducks Unlimited Canada, Forest Ethics, the Innu Nation, Poplar River First Nation, Suncor Energy, Tembec Forest Industries and the World Wildlife Fund of Canada. These groups, who have at times had opposing interests, have come together with the shared understanding the importance of Canada's boreal forest.

For more information, go to the Canadian Boreal Initiative Web site at www.borealcanada.ca. Their latest report is entitled Canada’s Real Bottom Line – New Study Puts Multi-Million Dollar Values on Boreal Ecosystem Services.

More About the Boreal:

See:

Manigotagan River Photo Gallery
In August 2006, CPAWS Manitoba Executive Director Ron Thiessen joined the Manitoba Eco-Network on one of its trips along the Manigotagan River.

Boreal Forest Gallery
A gallery and slideshow of images of the Boreal Forest

New report: Traditional aboriginal knowledge key to Boreal Forest conservation

The report, Conservation Value of the North American Boreal Forest from an Ethnobotanical Perspective, describes the deep botanical and ecological knowledge that Canada's Aboriginal peoples have gained over thousands of years of using the Boreal Forest as grocery, pharmacy, school, and spiritual centre.