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Boreal Information CentreInformation for effective conservation and management of the boreal forest |
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Boreal Information CentreInformation for effective conservation and management of the boreal forest |
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| Home | Select Location | Select Topic | Download | Feedback | ||
The North American boreal forest is widely recognized as one of the last remaining large wild regions of the world. It is a focus of global conservation efforts. Approximately 70% of the forest is considered intact. It functions as a nursery for billions of breeding songbirds and waterfowl, and contains countless freshwater lakes. The forest also functions as a carbon sink, and is therefore a potentially valuable buffer against global climate change. The vast forest also cleans the region’s air and water and provides habitat for the world’s largest remaining populations of woodland caribou, wolves, bears and lynx.
At the same time, the forest is also an important timber and energy resource. The southern portion of the boreal in particular has been allocated by the Canadian provinces to companies for resource use. The fate of the forest will probably be decided in the next decade or so. The Centre has been formed to provide an informed, scientific basis for making wise decisions.
The Centre will provide the most current and accurate, data and information at multiple mapping scales and will make such information available freely and widely through the Internet.
The pressures on the North American boreal forest are being experienced by other forested regions of the world as well, and we hope the Boreal Information Centre will serve as a model for an eventual global resource for forest land-use and conservation planning.
