1,500 Scientists Worldwide Call for Protection of Canada's Boreal Forest

May 14, 2007

1,500 highly respected scientists from more than 50 countries around the world call for protection of Canada's boreal forest. The scientists identify the 1.4 billion acre Canadian boreal forest as one of the largest intact forest and wetland ecosystems remaining on earth.

However, the boreal forest is under increasing pressure from corporate logging, mining and oil and gas operations and only 12% has been protected to date, far less than what is scientifically recognized as necessary to sustain the ecosystem over time.

The scientists' letter recommends preserving a minimum of half of Canada's boreal forest in protected areas while allowing only carefully managed development on the rest, in accordance with the Boreal Forest Conservation Framework, a plan already endorsed by Canadian conservation groups, 25 Canadian First Nations, and more than 75 major businesses with annual sales of $30 billion.


Selected Media Coverage

  The Globe and Mail: Scientists plead for protection of forests

  Nature: Canadian government pushed to protect land

  The Vancouver Sun: Scientists urge Canada to save forests

  New Zealand Herald: Plea to rescue the forests