The boreal forest

The boreal forest and the lives it supports are at risk

Stretching from Yukon to Newfoundland and Labrador, the boreal forest makes up 55 per cent of Canada’s land mass. It is home to hundreds of Indigenous communities, 300 bird species and the iconic woodland caribou. That home is now at risk due to resource extraction, which is fracturing the land. Almost three-quarters of Canada’s boreal woodland caribou herds are not self-sustaining, meaning they need rapid conservation interventions to survive.

Caribou are heading toward extinction, and we must act now. Governments must fulfil their obligations to ensure a minimum of 65 per cent of caribou habitat is protected and restored to help them survive.

The boreal forest is the backbone of Canada.
We cannot stand without it.

Rachel Plotkin, Ontario Science Campaigns Manager

Wildlife in the boreal forest

The boreal forest spans 1.9 billion hectares and represents 14 per cent of Earth’s land. It is home to a rich diversity of wildlife.

Leading the charge: Indigenous communities are on the front lines of conservation

Seventy per cent of Canada’s Indigenous communities are in forested areas. This includes more than 600 First Nations, Inuit and Métis communities whose traditional territories are in the boreal. Their spiritual and economic relationship with the boreal forest — and often with caribou — runs deep. In the absence of sufficient government action, many communities are leading the fight for conservation.

Many Indigenous communities are taking a leadership role in protecting places that are essential to them and securing spaces where they can actively practise Indigenous ways of life. For instance, Indigenous Protected and Conserved Areas are developed, declared and covered or co-governed by Indigenous communities.

The David Suzuki Foundation works to support Indigenous communities by amplifying their voices, providing capacity support and collaborating on conservation initiatives.

Threats to the boreal forest

Industrial development without limits is putting the future of the boreal forest — and all the lives within it — at risk.

Caribou and the boreal: An indicator of mutual health

Boreal caribou are an umbrella species. When you protect caribou habitat, you’re ensuring the survival of a large number of other wildlife. You’re also ensuring cleaner air and water, since a healthy boreal ecosystem means more carbon absorption and water filtration. So, when caribou are doing well, the forests are doing well.

But caribou aren’t doing well. They’re currently listed as “threatened” with extinction under the federal Species at Risk Act. In the 2012 boreal caribou recovery strategy, provinces and territories were given five years — until 2017 — to develop plans to protect and restore at least 65 per cent of the range of each caribou herd. This would give the herds only a 60 per cent chance of survival. Even that hasn’t been done. The 2017 deadline came and went without a single province implementing a caribou range plan. Boreal caribou are on a path to extinction.

The David Suzuki Foundation is working to demonstrate that there is room for both industry and ecological conservation, but only if urgent action is taken today.

Room for both: Healthy economies and caribou populations go hand in hand

Protecting the environment is often portrayed as being at the expense of industry, growth and profit. However, this argument is often exaggerated and used as a scare tactic. Scholars have recently identified that some industry players use the same tactics as climate change deniers to stall or prevent caribou conservation. Yet there are many places where caribou conservation and industrial activity can go hand in hand, and some instances where tough decisions will have to be made. Further, conservation can be good for industrial activity if it increases access to the green market. FSC certification, which has caribou habitat conservation criteria, is one good example of this.