Canada's Boreal Forest

Seen from afar, Planet Earth displays an emerald ring around its northern regions, just below the Arctic Circle. This vast green belt is the world's boreal forest. Interrupted only by the Atlantic Ocean, it sweeps across North America, Scandinavia and Russia, constituting an estimated 10 percent of Earth's land cover and almost one third of its forests.

Named after Boreas, ancient Greek god of the north wind, these forests hold a treasure of dynamic, often unique trees, plants, animals and other wildlife, and a bounty of natural resources.

As the steward of approximately 30 percent of the world's boreal forest, Canada has a vital interest in developing its northern woodlands in a sustainable manner. Part of this responsibility is to ensure that Canadians have unbiased, easy-to-access information about the boreal forest. The articles that follow are part of this endeavour.

The first article discusses the boreal forest as a national and global endowment, the natural forces that created and maintain it, its impact on Canadian life and Canadians' impact on it, and the key players who manage it. The second article looks at three ways the boreal forest contributes to Canadian life—in environmental, economic and social terms—highlighting some of the initiatives under way to advance each of these areas and to strike a balance between them. The third article discusses some of the scientific and other initiatives under way in Canada and elsewhere to learn more about the boreal forest and to apply this knowledge to the forest's sustainable development.

Various terms are used differently, or interchangeably, in discussions about the boreal forest. Because "boreal" simply means "northern," the terms "boreal forest" and "boreal region" are both correct. However, they should not be used interchangeably. The boreal forest is the 310 million hectares of forest that lie within the 545 million hectares of boreal region. The boreal forest comprises about 30 percent of Canada's total land.

In Canada, "taiga" generally refers to the more barren area between the boreal forest and the Arctic tree line, where the transition from forest to tundra occurs. The word "taiga" means "forest" in Russian. In that country, "taiga" refers to the boreal forest itself, and some organizations use the term to describe Canada's boreal forest as well. In the articles that follow, the term boreal forest will be used.

To help inform discussion about the boreal, the Canadian Forest Service has prepared the maps "Canada's Boreal Forest" and "Canada's Boreal Region".