Ontario Unveils Plan to Protect Its Huge Boreal Forest From Development

In what was described as the largest conservation commitment in Canada’s history, the province of Ontario announced it will permanently protect 225,000 square kilometers of its vast boreal forest from mining and other resource development. Ontario’s boreal region is one of the world’s largest intact ecosystems, providing habitat for more than 200 species, including polar bears and caribou, and absorbing about 12.5 million tons of CO₂ from the atmosphere each year. In announcing the move as part of a plan to combat climate change, Ontario Premier Dalton McGuinty said, “It’s unspoiled and undisturbed, and if there’s one thing we know for sure, it’s not going to stay that way forever unless we do something.”