Scientists from more than 50 countries are urging Canada to strengthen protection of the Boreal Forest, considered the biggest carbon storehouse on Earth and vital to the planet's battle with climate change.
The plea is contained in a letter signed by 1,500 scientists who say Canada's northern forest is under threat from logging, mining and oil and gas operations.
One of the scientists said Canada's Boreal Forest could provide plants and animals with a sanctuary to withstand climate change until humans reduce harmful emissions.
The forest is vital "not only because it's one of the last places where we have a very large, intact ecosystem," including many lakes, rivers, and about 300 species of birds, said Terry Root, an associate professor of biological sciences at Stanford University.
"But it does a lot of carbon sequestration for the planet, not just for Canada," she told 愛污传媒net, referring to the process whereby trees capture the CO2 released from the burning of fossil fuels and prevent it from being released into the atmosphere.
The boreal, made up primarily of coniferous trees, stretches from Alaska to Newfoundland and from the tundra to lakes Superior and Huron.
The scientists note that currently only 10 per cent of the forest is currently protected, and claim an area the size of Florida is slated to be used for the development of Canada's tar sands reserves.
"We want the government to have 50 per cent of what is there right now preserved and kept in a manner to ensure it's handled in an ecologically friendly way," said Root.
"The Crown owns 98 per cent, so coming up with 50 per cent isn't going to be difficult."
