Located 400 km north of Toronto, Temagami forest is an internationally-recognized ecological site. The region contains nearly 50 per cent of all remaining old-growth pine forests, with trees that are 15 stories high and more than 300 years old. But like many forest ecosystem around the world, the climate crisis is leaving its devastating mark on forests in Canada — this includes in 2018 where fires occurred just outside the village of Temagami and in the Temagami wilderness near Lady Evelyn Lake.
The science shows that the soils, wetlands, and trees of boreal forests, like those found in Temagami, can either act as a carbon source or sink depending on what’s happening in them. Standing forests, including old growth, continue to sequester significant amounts of carbon in their wood, bark and foliage, as well as the huge living and non-living biomass of the forest soil. Logging, and the associated roads and disturbances that come along with it, causes the release of large carbon emissions.
To help ensure we have thriving, healthy forests, we believe that climate change must be factored into plans for what activities are permitted within the region.
