Wonders of the Boreal Forest
If you were to look at the world from space, you’d have a perfect view of the boreal forest: It’s that large green band that encircles the upper northern hemisphere, covering Russian, Sweden, Finland, Alaska and about half of Canada. But there’s much more than forest down there. What you won’t see from space are the wetlands that clean millions of liters of water every day, the densely packed layers of moss, peat and soil that store a huge amount of carbon, the building block of all living things, and the large variety of wildlife.
Hinterland Who’s Who’s latest videos of the boreal forest - 30-second classic and the 60-second youth - and boreal forest fact sheet will tell you everything you need to know about this enormous ecosystem.
A Question of Balance
The boreal spans North America from Alaska to the island of Newfoundland and Labrador, and is over 1000 kilometres wide in some areas. It then hops the Atlantic Ocean to sweep across Northern Europe and Russia. In Canada, it is home to more than four million people in over 1300 communities, including about 80 per cent of Canada’s Aboriginal peoples. Much of our nation’s economy depends on the boreal forest: forestry, mining, oil and gas production, hydroelectric generation and tourism all provide jobs for many Canadians living in boreal communities.
This ecosystem supports many species of animals, including the whooping crane, the grizzly bear, and the woodland caribou, as well as a wealth of plants, some even containing medicinal properties.
For all these reasons and more, we need to ensure that we balance the needs of people and communities with the needs of plants and wildlife in the boreal forest. How we manage ongoing urban and industrial development, our oil and gas, mining and our agriculture resources, how we practice forestry and how we make decisions related to climate change are all areas where we can either positively or negatively impact this balance. It’s our responsibility to do it right.
Wildlife in the Boreal
Wildlife abounds in the boreal, a mostly coniferous forest with a rich collection of about 20 species of trees. Biologists estimate that it’s also home to over 300 species of birds, more than 85 species of mammals, about 130 species of fish, some 32, 000 species of insects, as well as many reptiles and amphibians.
Looking at how these animals and plants survive provides a great education in adaptation. Boreal creatures have to deal with long, cold, dry winters with lots of snow, and short, cool summers. For hundreds of years, many species have evolved or adapted in order to thrive. By changing their shape, behaviour and/or body parts, boreal species have gained an edge over non-native organisms that compete with them for food and habitat.
For example, Ruffed Grouse have evolved a habit of burrowing into snow for warmth and protection when it gets really cold, and these birds also grow fleshy comb-like scales on their feet that act like snowshoes. Great Gray Owls have developed a unique ability to plunge into thickly crusted snow, sometimes up to half a metre deep, to capture prey tunneling beneath. And snowshoe hares shed their brown-grey coat for pure white every winter to maintain their camouflage.
What can you do to help?
To ensure that balance is maintained in the boreal forest, consider incorporating some of these “dos” and “don’ts” into your lifestyle:
DO
- Reduce, reuse, recycle.
- Print on both sides of paper before recycling it.
- Choose products that have been certified by an independent third party as originating from well managed forests. Certification bodies include the Canadian Standards Association, the Forest Stewardship Council and the Sustainable Forest Initiative. All have criteria to ensure that wildlife habitats are considered as part of the forest management process and mark products that meet these criteria with a certification mark or label.
- Learn about sustainable forest management.
- Brainstorm with your family, friends, classmates and co-workers about the ways you can reduce green house gas emissions.
DON’T
- Use a lot of peat moss when gardening, as it is becoming scarce. Look for alternatives, such as coconut fibre husk.
- Continue to receive catalogues which you do not use or discard. Shopping on the internet is another way to reduce paper consumption.
