The boreal forest stores more carbon than any land-based ecosystem on the planet, according to a new report that says the Amazon is no match for Canada’s boggy bush.
North America’s boreal forest contains nearly twice as much carbon per hectare as tropical forests, says the report by Canadian and American researchers. And Canada, home to the largest blocks of forest left on Earth, has by far, the lion’s share of the carbon, it says, and a responsibility to ensure it stays locked in trees, soils and peatlands.
“Canada is unique in the world with its carbon stores and its intact ecosystems,” says Jeff Wells, of the Boreal Songbird Initiative, and lead author of the report by Canadian and U.S. groups pushing for inclusion of the boreal in upcoming climate talks in Copenhagen and for the forest’s protection.
It’s been endorsed by an international panel of leading scientists who write in a forward that it is “imperative that the world’s policy-makers and public now make a concerted effort to ensure that both the boreal forest and its vast stores of carbon remain intact.”
[More]
Notes:
I wonder if we could start charging the world a “storage fee”?
In other words Canada has more than enough capacity to look after its own carbon emissions, hence, no need to go to Copenhagen.