Canadian forests could be world's best preserved

[Azure]

Canadian governments, companies and First Nation group have been preserving a greater percentage of their forests than any other country, making one American environment research group conclude that Canada's boreal forest is on its way to become the world's most protected forest landscape.


"It's already more protected, we believe, than any other intact forest ecosystem in the world — more than the Amazon, more than Siberia," Steve Kallick of the Pew Environment Group told The Vancouver Sun. "But we think it's on track to be way beyond what anybody's anticipating for those places."


Kallick will present his findings at the annual conference of the Society for Conservation Biology in Edmonton. He tells the paper that 4.4 million of Canada's 5.5 million square kilometres of boreal forests are intact and that if governments keep up with their environmental plans, three million square kilometres of that untouched forest could be protected.


By comparison, about two million square kilometres of the Amazon rainforest are under protection.


Still, Kallick cautions that the promises and agreements made by governments and industries still need to work out things like funding and timelines in order for Canada to be a global leader in protecting ecosystems.

http://www.torontosun.com/news/canad.../14604061.html

Clearly we do not care about the environment.

[Bigtime]

Will the pine beetle threaten this?

[CaptainCrunch]

Originally Posted by Bigtime

Will the pine beetle threaten this?

Not if we breed Pine Beetle eating bears.

[Bigtime]

Originally Posted by CaptainCrunch

Not if we breed Pine Beetle eating bears.

Bears beat beetles.

[killer_carlson]

Originally Posted by Bigtime

Will the pine beetle threaten this?

yes. Absolutely.

Nature will respond though with some massive forest fires after the pine beetles have killed or weakend most of the trees and it will start over.


I'm all for a huge clear cut along the border to try and prevent the pine beetles from crossing into Alberta, but the BC government is putting it's head in the sand on this one.

[Regulator75]

Fact: Bears eat beets. Bears Beets Battlestar Galactica.

[Bigtime]

Originally Posted by killer_carlson

yes. Absolutely.

Nature will respond though with some massive forest fires after the pine beetles have killed or weakend most of the trees and it will start over.


I'm all for a huge clear cut along the border to try and prevent the pine beetles from crossing into Alberta, but the BC government is putting it's head in the sand on this one.

Well at least we had those big forest fires in the valley's along highway 93 a few years ago. Hopefully that slowed up their advance towards Alberta.

I did notice what looked like some cutting around Panorama to fend them off also.

[killer_carlson]

to be fair, many biologists have said clear cutting wont work and that the pine beetle isn't a threat.

Then the rest of the world looks with their own eyes and sees the forests decimated and think that something needs to be done.

[Shazam]

There have been many pine beetle infestations over the past few millennium.

Pines aren't really long lived trees. They're the first to grow in an area, are fodder for everything, then the spruce move in.

[llama64]

Last time I read one of those dioramas (near Radium on highway 93), it explained that the pine beetle and massive forest fires are interrelated and balance each-other.

The disruptive factor is human interference fighting forest fires and generally preventing fires as much as possible.

I often wonder if our efforts to "preserve" nature are just as destructive as our consumption of nature.

[MelBridgeman]

Don't tell us we are doing a good job! That only leads to complacency! We need fear to progress further!

[Daradon]

Originally Posted by Azure

http://www.torontosun.com/news/canad.../14604061.html

Clearly we do not care about the environment.

Well we do have some success stories.

Still, I think we have a long way to go for all the chest thumping we have (or at least used to have) in regards to being a leader in environmental responsibilty.

A good snipet though, thanks for sharing.

[Hack&Lube]

It's cool that the Canadian boreal forest is probably the best preserved but sadly, in terms of biodiversity, it is on the lower end of the scale.