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Boreal Songbird Initiative
Project Goal
$100,000.00

Description of the problem:


The Boreal Forest is the largest remaining intact forest in North America.  It stretches from interior Alaska across Canada to the Atlantic Ocean.  At 1.3 billion acres, it is 13 times the size of California.  Together with the Amazon Rainforest and Siberian Taiga, North America’s Boreal Forest is one of the three largest remaining unspoiled forests on earth.   

The Boreal Forest provides the nesting grounds for over 50% of all of North America’s birds.  It also boasts some of the planet’s largest populations of woodland caribou, wolves, lynx and grizzly bears.  Globally, Canada’s boreal holds more fresh water in wetlands, lakes and rivers than any place on earth.  The Boreal Forest constitutes the world’s largest storehouse of carbon, making it one of the earth’s most important defenses against global warming.  It is truly a global treasure.

But North America’s Boreal Forest is under threat.  Oil and gas, agriculture, timber, mining, and hydro-electric development are pushing northwards at increasing rates. Timber companies in Canada cut approximately 2.5 million acres of timber per year, the majority of which is clearcut in the boreal forest. Given existing and proposed development in virtually every Canadian province and territory, the future of the boreal ecosystem will be largely determined over the next 5 – 10 years.  

Much of the resource development in the boreal is being driven by U.S. consumption.  The U.S. is the leading importer of Canadian forest products and oil and gas. 81% of Canada’s forest product exports go to the U.S. Almost two-thirds of the wood cut in Canada’s boreal is used to make paper including catalogs, junk mail, magazines and newspapers. And many Americans would be surprised to learn that the U.S. buys more of its oil and gas from Canada than from any other single source.

Canada’s boreal forest offers an unparalleled opportunity to conserve one of the Earth’s most important ecological treasures.  

Description of the project/solution:


Historic efforts are underway in Canada to craft a plan for protecting and responsibly managing the boreal:  the Boreal Forest Conservation Framework. 

Last year, some of Canada’s leading environmental organizations, First Nations, and oil and timber industry representatives set aside their past differences and announced a groundbreaking vision to protect and responsibly manage the entire boreal region.  Together, they share a vision to protect at least 50% of the region with a network of large interconnected areas and apply cutting-edge sustainable development practices, such as Forest Stewardship Council certification of wood and paper products, in other areas that are developed.  The Framework presents an opportunity to maintain Canada’s Boreal Forest as the most important terrestrial barrier to global warming and home to abundant wildlife.

Amount that Channel G seeks to raise in order to help the organization achieve its goals:


We are trying to raise $100,000 in outside contributions to carry out our project.  The funds raised on Channel G will be used to: develop boreal bird monitoring programs in Canada and the U.S. to identify trends and any decreases in bird populations; conduct scientific analyses to demonstrate the critical importance of the Boreal to birds, wildlife, and the global environment; work with other bird conservation organizations to influence:  1) consumer purchasing choices related to forest and other natural resource products (e.g., paper used for catalogs, tissue paper); and 2) Canadian governments to implement the Boreal Forest Conservation Framework (see above); encourage book publishers to publish books on paper that is not harming the Boreal Forest and the birds that live there; conduct outreach to hunting and fishing organizations to join the effort to protect the Boreal Forest; and provide educational opportunities for adults and children to learn about the importance of the Boreal Forest to birds.   
 

Other support needed by the project:


We would like to have people help protect the Boreal Forest by writing e-mails to certain companies and/or governmental organizations.  To get involved and write an e-mail, go to www.borealbirds.org, and click on “Take Action”.