About Canada's Boreal

British Columbia

British Columbia’s Boreal Forest:

• is 299,000 km2 (74 million acres) in size – larger than the United Kingdom.1
• comprises 5% of Canada’s Boreal Forest.
• is home to 11 aboriginal communities.2
• stores 5 billion tonnes of carbon in its soils, peat and forests – an amount equivalent to 27 years of Canada’s annual carbon emissions.3
• is the breeding ground for 50 to 150 million birds of approximately 170 species, including Olive-sided Flycatcher, Canada Warbler, Blackpoll Warbler and Rusty Blackbird.
• supports approximately 1,000, or 3%, of Canada’s threatened boreal Woodland caribou population, and large populations of other wildlife.4
• features 212,000 km2 (52 million acres) of intact forest, peatland and wetland habitat free from industrial development, making up 70% of the province’s boreal region.5

 

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. Environment Canada. 2008. Scientific Review for the Identification of Critical Habitat for Woodland Caribou (Rangifer tarandus caribou), Boreal Population, in Canada. August 2008.
5. Global Forest Watch Canada. 2009. Canada’s Forest Landscape Fragments: A Second Approximation.