About Canada's Boreal

Alberta

Alberta’s Boreal Forest:

• is 465,000 km2 (115 million acres) in size – larger than Sweden.1
• comprises 8% of Canada’s Boreal Forest.
• is home to more than 40 aboriginal communities.2
• stores 14 billion tonnes of carbon in its soils, peat and forests – an amount equivalent to 72 years of Canada’s annual carbon emissions.3
• is wetland-rich, supporting more than 3 million waterfowl annually.
• is home to the Peace-Athabasca Delta, a globally recognized freshwater delta which supports more than 2 million waterbirds that breed and migrate throughout the region, including species of concern such as Whooping Crane, Tundra Peregrine, Bald Eagle and Osprey. Vulnerable waterfowl species that breed within the delta include Northern Pintail, Canvasback Redhead and Lesser Scaup.4
• is the breeding ground for 80 to 240 million birds of more than 200 species, including Short-billed Dowitcher, Bay-breasted Warbler and Rusty Blackbird.
• supports over 2,000, or 6%, of Canada’s threatened boreal Woodland caribou population, as well as large populations of wolves, bear and other wildlife.5
• features 164,000 km2 (40 million acres) of intact forest, peatland and wetland habitat free from industrial development, making up 35% of the province’s boreal region.6

 

1. Canadian Boreal Initiative. 2003. Canada’s Boreal Region.
2. Aboriginal Canada Portal (www.aboriginalcanada.gc.ca) and Global Forest Watch.
3. Tarnocai, C. and Lacelle, B. 1996. Soil Organic Carbon Digital Database of Canada. Eastern Cereal and Oilseed Research Center, Research Branch, Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada, Ottawa, Canada.
4. Benke, A., and Cushing, C. Rivers of North America. 2005.
5. Environment Canada. 2008. Scientific Review for the Identification of Critical Habitat for Woodland Caribou (Rangifer tarandus caribou), Boreal Population, in Canada. August 2008.
6. Global Forest Watch Canada. 2009. Canada’s Forest Landscape Fragments: A Second Approximation.