Threats to the Boreal Forest

Canada's Boreal forests are being clearcut to create building materials and consumer products such as toilet paper, office paper, books, and catalogues. Read more about the threat unsustainable tissue products pose to the Boreal forest

The logging industry continues to cut down over 290,000 hectares of forest in Quebec, 185,000 hectares in Ontario and 67,000 hectares of forest in Alberta every year. This means that an area of forest larger than Prince Edward Island is lost every year in these three provinces alone.

Approximately half of the Boreal forest has been allocated or licensed to logging companies. The heaviest development is concentrated in the southern reaches of the Boreal, which also is the most productive wildlife habitat. Over 90 per cent of this area is clearcut, with individual clearcuts sometimes extending over 10,000 hectares in size or approximately 17,000 football fields. This makes them some of the largest clearcuts in the world.

A disappearing forest means increased threats to the survival of the species that inhabit it. Already, the Labrador marten, wolverine, woodland caribou, eastern wolf are listed on endangered species lists. Global warming is another real threat to Canada's Boreal forest. Scientists predict that parts of the forest will become much warmer because of climate change. This will mean increased forest fires and outbreaks of insect infectations.