To achieve the goals being set out by these scientists-- who are perhaps still acting *conservatively* in what they collectively state needs to be done to achieve a healthy biosphere-- we need to speak as plain as day:
Because of the extent to which the forests are being mowed down as "overburden" (the second highest rate of deforestation on the planet, behind the Amazon) to mine the tar from the sand, because the Boreal Forest will be decimated by a Mackenzie Gas Project that not only cuts a straight line to the Arctic Ocean but enables the decimation of forests in the vast NWT area around Colville Lake, north of Great Bear/The Sahtu, because this forest canopy cannot survive as "50% whole" and simultaneously allow this energy destruction to it-- for all of these reasons and a "little matter of genocide" that is already happening to nations in the way, we must urge a simple, phased shut down of the tar sands. We must "be realistic (about the environment), demand the impossible (from the energy corprations)."
--M
Protect Canada's boreal forest, scientists urge
1,500 sign letter urging that half be protected, up from 10 percent now
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/18675703/
Updated: 2 hours, 15 minutes ago
OTTAWA - Canada's vast forests should be protected much more than they are now to preserve wildlife and water and to fight global warming, a group of 1,500 scientists from around the world said on Monday.
The scientists say Canada's boreal forest, stretching from the Alaskan border and running north of the plains all the way to Newfoundland on the Atlantic, is one of largest intact forest-and-wetland ecosystems remaining on Earth.
The mainly coniferous forest is the single largest terrestrial carbon storehouse in the world, which helps stem the greenhouse effect. It supports 3 billion migratory songbirds, the world's largest caribou herds and large populations of bears, wolves, lynx and fish.
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"We are losing so many of the world's great forests, despite the best efforts of conservationists," said University of Alberta ecologist David Schindler. "Canada's boreal forest offers what may be our last, best chance to do things right, but only if our leaders act decisively and act now."
The scientists called for half of Canada's boreal forest to be protected, up from 10 percent now, and for development in the rest to be carefully managed, particularly in the face of pressure from logging, mining and oil and gas operations.
For example, they said an area the size of Florida is slated to be used for the development of Canada's vast tar sands energy reserves.
Stanford University professor Terry Root said a stable forest system is particularly important for the survival of all kinds of species in the face of global warming.
"One of the ways that we can help species to survive is to be in a place where there are very few other stresses — things like habitat fragmentation and invasive species," she told a news conference.
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