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 The Boreal Forest ecosystem supports nearly 50% of the world's remaining intact forests and is the world's largest and most important carbon storehouse – holding 22 percent of the total carbon stored on the earth's land surface, and almost twice as much carbon per unit area as tropical forests.
The Canadian Boreal Forest stores an estimated 186 billion tons of carbon in forest and peatland ecosystems, equivalent to 27 years worth of the world's carbon emissions in 2003 from the burning of fossil fuels.
Scientists recognize that hand-in-hand with emissions reductions, protecting this super-efficient carbon storage ecosystem is critical to protecting our planet against global warming. Conservation efforts will both minimize release of additional greenhouse gases and help local communities and wildlife species in the Boreal respond and adapt to global warming.
Canadian governments must act soon to adopt the Boreal Forest Conservation Framework to conserve at least 50 percent of the region in a network of large interconnected protected areas, and support community-based conservation land use planning prior to new industrial development. |
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Media Information:
Press release >
Press contacts >
Resources:
Media coverage >
Carbon Maps >
Overview of Boreal & Global Warming >
Fact Sheets [PDFs]
Canada's Boreal & Climate Change >
Canadian Peatland & Climate Change >
Strip Mining for Oil in Endangered Forests >
IBCC at UN Climate Convention in Bali:
Invitation [Word] >
Information >
Media Advisory >
Links:
Boreal Framework >
IBCC web site >
CBI web site >
BSI web site >
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Canada's Boreal Forest is home to billions of migratory birds,
some of the world's largest populations of wolves, bear, and caribou,
and hundreds of First Nations communities.
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Carbon Storage in Canada's Boreal Forest
Peatlands in the Canadian Boreal |
Click on the map to download a PDF of this map.
Download a PDF including all three maps >
Map prepared by Global Forest Watch Canada for the International Boreal Conservation Campaign and Natural Resources Defense Council. Data Source: Tarnocai, C., I.M. Kettles and B. Lacelle. 2002. Peatlands of Canada Database. Geological Survey of Canada, Open File 4002
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Peatlands are recognized worldwide as highly important for carbon storage. Although they cover only 3% of the world’s land area, peatlands contain almost 30% of all carbon stored on land. Peat is formed when decaying plant matter from mosses, sedges, grasses, shrubs, or trees accumulates in permanently waterlogged conditions. When left undisturbed, peatlands can effectively store the carbon sequestered in these plants for thousands of years.
Canada has the largest area of peatlands in the world, encompassing 12 percent of the nation’s land area. Canada's peatlands stretch from Newfoundland to the Northwest Territories, with especially high concentrations found in northern Ontario and Manitoba. These peatlands are essential to the global environment because they retain, purify, and deliver fresh water; store carbon; absorb pollutants; and support numerous species of unique plants and wildlife.
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“The Boreal is to carbon what Fort Knox is to gold.
These maps document where and how these vital reserves
– a virtual shield against global warming –
are
distributed across Canada. We should do everything
we can
to ensure that the carbon in these storehouses is not released.”
– Dr. Jeff Wells, Senior Scientist, International Boreal Conservation Campaign
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Permafrost in the Canadian Boreal |
Click on the map to download a PDF of this map.
Download a PDF including all three maps >
Map prepared by Global Forest Watch Canada for the International Boreal Conservation Campaign and Natural Resource Defense Council. Data Source: Atlas of the Crysphere Data Sources, The National Snow and Ice Data Center, University of Colorado, Boulder, CO (Available at: http://nsidc.org/data/atlas/crysphere_atlas_north_info.html)
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Permafrost is permanently frozen soil, sediment, or rock that remains at or below zero degrees Celsius for at least two years. Nearly 25% of the earth's land surface is covered by permafrost, including about 50% of Canada's land area. Carbon is stored under the frozen ground through a slow freeze-thaw process that progressively moves organic matter deeper into the ground where it is sealed off from decomposition by the cold temperature.
As indicated by the map, northern portions of Canada’s Boreal Forest, particularly the western Boreal region, are occupied by vast areas of carbon-rich permafrost. Although often overlooked in global carbon accounting, permafrost regions worldwide store an estimated 400 billion metric tons of carbon. The thawing of permafrost dramatically increases the decomposition of organic matter contained in it, with a resultant release of carbon into the atmosphere.
More information:
Circum-Arctic Map of Permafrost and Ground-Ice Conditions >
Assessment on Peatlands, Biodiversity and Climate Change [PDF] >
Permafrost and the Global Carbon Budget (Science) [PDF] >
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“The carbon frozen into Canada’s permafrost,
including roughly one-third of the Boreal region, is one of North America’s
largest stores of carbon. It’s similar to a bank vault
containing one of the world’s most valuable and most influential
resources for impacting climate change.”
– Dr. David Schindler, Professor of Biology, University of Alberta
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Soil Organic Carbon in the Canadian Boreal |
Click on the map to download a PDF of this map.
Download a PDF including all three maps >
Map prepared by Global Forest Watch Canada for the International Boreal Conservation Campaign and the Natural Resources Defense Council. Data Source: Charles Tarnocai and Barbara Lacelle, Eastern Cereal and Oilseed Research Centre, Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada
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Much organic carbon is found within soils, especially from the decay and break-up of trees, mosses, and other plants. Globally, nearly 30% of this soil organic carbon is locked in boreal and tundra ecosystems, while in Canada, almost 90% of this carbon is estimated to occur in such ecosystems. This map of the organic carbon found in soils within a meter of the surface highlights the carbon-rich soils found throughout the Canadian Boreal.
More information:
Temperature sensitivity of soil carbon decomposition and feedbacks to climate change (Nature) [PDF] >
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Selected Media Coverage
Additional media coverage > |
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