Go to your mailbox, and take a look at all of the junk mail you received today. Chances are, at least some of that mail is made from the pulp of trees taken from Canada’s boreal forest. Canada’s boreal forest is part of a larger band of coniferous forest that encircles the globe, extending into Siberia and Scandinavia. It makes up a full 35% of the land area of Canada, according to Natural Resources Canada.
The boreal forest is important for a number of reasons. First, it is a natural carbon sink. According to the Natural Resources Defense Council, “the thick layers of moss, soil and peat of the boreal are the world’s largest terrestrial storehouse of organic carbon and play an enormous role in regulating the Earth’s climate.” That’s not all-the boreal is forest is one of the few relatively undisturbed forest ecosystems left on the plant, and an amazing variety of plants, animals and First Nations people call it home. Let’s take a look at some of the inhabitants:
Plants
The boreal forest is made up mainly of conifers, including larch, spruce, fir and pine. A few hardwood species such as willow and mountain ash are scattered throughout. Underneath, ferns jostle for space with wild flowers, including the rare lady’s slipper orchid.
Animals
The trees shelter rare animals such as the wood bison, which is only found here. Wood bison are usually larger than plains bison and lack hair on their forelegs. The rare woodland caribou is also found in the boreal forest. It lives mainly off of lichen. According to Defenders of Wildlife, lichen grows slowly, and it can take a patch of forest 80 to 150 years to be able to grow enough of it to support caribou.
In Newfoundland, the boreal forest supports the last few Newfoundland pine martens. Only about 300 are left. Lynx, wolves and deer also call the forest home. Many of the songbirds you hear outside your window raise their young in Canada’s boreal forest-according to the Natural Resources Defense Council, 30 percent of North American songbirds raise their young here, as do 40 percent of North American migratory waterbirds.
Threats
Each year, about one percent of the boreal forest is destroyed, according to Nature.org. US demand for wood products, including newsprint and catalog paper used to send junk mail, incites logging companies to clear-cut large stretches of the forest. In fact, according to the Natural Resources Defense Council, 80% of Canada’s forest products go to the US.
It’s hard to say what percentage of junk mail comes from the boreal forest, but really, even one piece should be too much. The only more pointless waste of trees from an ancient wilderness that I can think of is toilet paper, and yes, that happens too.
Author Alison Kroulek is a freelance writer living in Chattanooga, TN. She likes hiking, backpacking, gardening and doing what she can to save the planet.
