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Canadian Boreal Forest Conservation Framework

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Canada’s Boreal is the largest intact forest left on the planet. Conserving this continent-wide stronghold of nature requires bold measures.

Modern conservation science shows that maintaining an abundance of plants and animals and the benefits of clean air and water requires protecting at least 50 percent—a much larger portion of a landscape than previously thought.

Guided by this science, a group of conservation organizations, Indigenous communities and industry leaders came together in 2003 to create a common vision for sustaining the Boreal Forest. Known as the Canadian Boreal Forest Framework, it set out to establish the boreal as the best conserved landscape on Earth.

The framework calls for preserving at least half of Canada’s Boreal Forest and using state-of-the-art stewardship practices in the remaining landscape. By creating networks of large protected areas, honouring the rights of Indigenous Peoples and fostering careful development in Northern communities, Canada’s Boreal Forest can be sustained for generations to come. 

More than 1,500 scientists worldwide endorsed the framework. And many Indigenous communities, companies and provincial and federal governments have made great progress toward this ambitious vision.