Centre des médias

La Forêt Boréale dans l’actualité

Canada's forests are big climate-change fighters

July 03, 2007
Larry Innes, Executive Director, Canadian Boreal Initiative - Ottawa Citizen

Re: Canada's trees not a fix for its pollution, June 22.

This article questions whether our northern forests fight climate change by storing and absorbing carbon from the atmosphere. While the study on which this article is based does suggest that tropical forests have been more efficient in this regard, it in no way diminishes the important role played by Canada's forests in the fight against climate change.

The study's findings do not represent scientific consensus. Recent research in the science journal Nature suggests that northern forests are sequestering more carbon each year than previously thought, not less. Even if one accepts the finding that northern forests are sequestering 40 per cent less carbon each year than previously thought, it would be a mistake to ignore the other 60 per cent.

As the scientific debate suggests, calculating the amount of carbon absorbed annually by Canada's forests is complex. Forest ecosystems are complex. What is uncontroversial, however, is that regardless of how much carbon is added to this carbon bank account in any given year, Canada's Boreal currently stores more than 186 billion tonnes of carbon -- that's equal to 913 years' worth of greenhouse-gas emissions in Canada.

While forests alone will not save the planet from increased carbon emissions, the implications of not protecting these carbon banks account are dire. Deforestation is one of the main sources of carbon released into the atmosphere, accounting for between 20 and 25 per cent of global emissions. Deforestation also impairs the ability of forest ecosystems to store more carbon in the future, resulting in long-term damage.

Boreal conservation must be considered an essential part of a climate strategy that includes both emissions reductions and ecosystem protection.