Canadian Mint, the manufacturer of Canadian currency, has come out with a new sleek coin celebrating Canada's vast and wild boreal forest. This new toonie (Canada's $2 coin) fits with Mint's current trend expanding awareness of Canada's natural heritage. It was preceded by a loonie ($1 coin) dedicated to the centennial of Parks Canada and will be followed in 2012 by three quarters featuring the Orca, Wood Bison, and Peregrine Falcon. Three noble and worthy species to showcase in my humble opinion.

The fact that Canadian Mint chose to highlight the boreal forest on their new $2 coin demonstrates the growing awareness about the importance of this critical forest. While it's significance has surely been understood by the hundreds of First Nations and Aboriginal groups who have resided there for thousands of years, its importance was less understood by more urban Canadians as well as the international community for a long time. However, over the past 20 years or so, this has gradually changed. Today the words "boreal" and "natural heritage" are practically synonymous in Canada. Its beauty, ecological and social importance are as recognized as ever, and this coin helps it take one more step forward.

It is fitting that the coin features a bird given the boreal is one of the most important breeding grounds for migratory birds anywhere on earth. Billions of migrants flock to the boreal each spring to feast on the abundance of food emerging from the snow-covered winter. It's also fitting that it features a person given humans have coinhabited this vast network of trees, wetlands, and waterways for millenia.

You can purchase 5-packs of these commemorative coins here >

Canadian Mint produced a short television ad to help promote both the coin and the boreal forest. It took a bit of heat from a reporter who argued several of the species featured in the advertisement were not common boreal species. However, in my opinion this artistic interpretation of the boreal should be primarily intended to induce amazement and awe of the boreal rather than act as a catalogue of occurring species. Here's the ad below - feel free to comment and tell us what you think about it!

-David