The Boreal forest is an awe-inspiring and diverse wilderness of lakes, forests, rivers and marshes. It is the largest intact forest ecosystem in North America.
The trees here are among the tallest and oldest in the world and
the forests provide a refuge for large mammals such as the grizzly
bear, puma and grey wolf, which once ranged widely across the
continent. In Canada it is estimated that ancient forests provide
habitat for about two-thirds of the country's 140,000 species of
plants, animals and micro-organisms. Many of these species are yet
to be studied by science.
The ancient forests of North America also provide livelihoods
for thousands of indigenous people, such as the Eyak and Chugach
people of Southcentral Alaska, and the Hupa and Yurok of Northern
California.
Of Canada's one million indigenous people (First Nation, Inuit
and Métis), almost 80 percent live in reserves and communities in
boreal or temperate forests, where historically the forest provided
their food and shelter, and shaped their way of life.
Victory for Great Bear Rainforest
After a 10 year, worldwide campaign a victory was achieved for
the protection of the Great Bear Rainforest in Canada. We would
like to acknowledge and thank all the people who lent their time
and voice to save this beautiful forest. For information about the
Great Bear Rainforest visit the Greenpeace Canada
website.
Under threat
Two thirds of the regions forests and woodlands are in large
tracts of potentially intact ancient forests, that areas 20,000
hectares or larger. The majority of these are located in the
northern most regions of the continent in Canada and Alaska. They
consist of a mix of forests and tundra. Forests of the lower 48
states in the US are relatively fragmented with only 20 percent of
forest cover remaining in large, potentially intact blocks. Most of
them are located in the Rocky Mountains and the coastal range of
the Pacific Northwest.
The US has already lost more than 94 percent of its ancient
forest, and up to 85 percent of its remaining forest is under
immediate threat from timber companies clear-cutting land.
The US government has refused to make a formal commitment to the
Convention on Biological Diversity, in effect, refusing to commit
to saving its remaining biological and cultural diversity, which
includes ancient forests.
Between 1990 and 2000 North America lost at least 12.3 million
hectares of natural or ancient forest, and although on paper there
has been some increase in the area of land designated for
conservation from 6.9 to 11.1 percent, little of this is within the
remaining intact ancient forests.
Canada and the US are G8 countries, which committed at the 1998
G8 meeting in Birmingham to eliminate the trade in illegal timber.
This commitment was reaffirmed at both the 1999 and 2000 G8
Summits.
However, the US, in particular, continues to import
indiscriminately from ancient forest regions, including the Amazon,
where illegal logging is rampant.
Kleenex clear-cutting ancient forests
Kleenex, one of the most well known brands of tissue products in
the world, is destroying the ancient forests of North America. Its
manufacturer, Kimberly-Clark, the largest tissue product company in
the world, continues to destroy ancient forests to manufacture
products that are used once and then thrown away or flushed down
the toilet.
- You can help save these ancient forests from becoming dirty
tissues - go to www.kleercut.net and take action
for our forests!
copyright 2002 Greenpeace/Global Forest Watch
Potentially intact ancient
forest, >50,000 heactares
Other forests
Sources: Current forest cover, University of Maryland
Transportation grid, Canada: DMTI, US: US Geological Service,
Alaska: Chartr of the World
Potentially intact ancient forest, Global Forest Watch