But, the boreal is under growing pressure. Recent studies have shown that globally, boreal forests are being lost faster than any other ecosystem, largely due to logging, mining, and oil and gas development.
To date, The Pew Charitable Trusts has played a critical role in securing some form of protection for more than 350 million acres of Canada's boreal forest—an area three times as large as the United States National Park System. In addition, another 350 million acres are to be managed under stringent sustainable development rules.
Bold new conservation measures have come from Ontario and Quebec and other provincial governments, First Nations, and federal ministries. Most recently, Pew and its partners engaged the forest products industry in what could become the largest forest conservation plan in history. The trends bode well, promising to eventually make Canada's boreal the most protected forest on earth.
See one of the last great forest regions on Earth—and meet the people who call it home.
