05/24/2010 - If you're someone who cares about the environment,
you're probably ready—really ready—for some good news right now.
Despite decades of disputes, loggers and environmentalists have
recently joined together to craft one of the world's largest
forest conservation agreements. And this bold new plan to
protect Canada's boreal forest could influence efforts to save
other remaining wild areas around the world. Though often
unheralded in the media, the great Canadian boreal forest rivals
the Amazon rainforest in size and ecological importance. In
fact, it's teeming with billions of migratory songbirds, tens of
millions of ducks and geese, millions of caribou, countless
moose, as well as numerous black and grizzly bears. Stretching
from coast to coast, the vast green expanse of forests also
captures and stores twice as much carbon as tropical forests.
Further, it supports the world's most extensive network of pure
lakes, rivers and wetlands. Canada's boreal forest is a global
treasure. It is also serves,