Canada's boreal forest is the world's largest forest and a pristine ecosystem, and a group of American scientists say it is also a keeper of the planet's fresh water.
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| Canada's Boreal Forest [Credit: Bruce Peterson] |
The Pew Environmental Group released an extensive report Wednesday, detailing decades of research.
The report, A Forest of Blue: Canada's Boreal Forest, the World's Waterkeeper, highlights the boreal forest's lakes, river systems and deep carbon storage capacity.
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| The Canadian Boreal Forest is one of the largest pristine ecosystems in the world |
"It is imperative that the world recognize and protect the fresh water that is left. Canada has an extraordinary opportunity that does not exist anywhere else in the world to keep its aquatic ecosystems intact and to create a positive ripple effect on the land, animals, birds and people who depend on these resources," says Dr. Stuart Pimm, Doris Duke Chair of Conservation Ecology at Duke University.
The report says that while about 12% of the 1.2 billion-acre forest has been preserved, at least half of it should be permanently protected.
Author : Kris Sims | Source: Toronto Sun [March 16, 2011]