By the Numbers: The Boreal Forest
by Lloyd Alter, Toronto on 11.27.06
illustration by Marco Cibola
The North American boreal forest stretches from Newfoundland to Alaska. In it: 5 million square kilometres. One quarter of the earth’s original forest. 80% of the world’s unfrozen fresh water. 136 Billion tons of sequestered carbon. Three billion migrant landbirds every summer. But with the easy sources of energy disappearing and the insatiable demand for Kleenex, there are also scary numbers. Two hectares are clearcut every minute. In Ontario alone, 4400 mining claims have been staked. 1,000 square kilometres are staked for coal bed methane production. 62,000 kilometres of logging roads run through it. According to the Boreal Forest Conservation Framework, the portion that should be park and preserve: 50%. The portion that should be managed sustainably: 50%. Portion that actually is protected, notwithstanding the Government’s pledge to “institute meaningful planning”: 5%. Scary. Read the Fight for the Forest by Tim Tiner in ::On Nature magazine, unfortunately not online.
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Scary? Not really.
North America's forests are abundant and growing. Between them, Canada and the United States contain 15 percent (10 percent in Canada and 5 percent in the U.S.) of the Earth's forest cover. The United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization's (FAO) State of the World's Forests 2001 reports that North American forest cover expanded nearly 10 million acres (4 million hectares) over the last decade.
Most of Canada's forest is in the boreal zone which stretches in a broad band from northern British Columbia to Newfoundland. The balance, mainly in the western and southern regions, is in the temperate zone.
Canada's forests occupy 1.5 times the land area of the entire European Community and represent 10 per cent of the world's forested area.
Canada has retained more than 90 percent of its original forest cover. With a land base of 921.5 million hectares (2.3 billion acres), Canada has 417.6 million hectares (one billion acres) of forest, of which 56 percent, or 235 million hectares (588 million acres), is managed for timber production.
Of Canada's total forested area of 417.6 million hectares, 56 percent, or 234.5 million hectares, are commercial forests. Softwood forests represents 67 percent of the total forests, mixed wood cover 18 percent, and hardwoods account for 15 percent. With a small population compared to its large area, much of which is unsuitable for agriculture, Canada has converted only six percent of its forest land to farms and cities.