But there are still many threats to the boreal forest. One of the side effects of a warming climate has been the migration of the mountain pine beetle from British Columbia into northern Alberta. The pine beetle, which wiped out 40 per cent of B.C.'s pine trees, was once thought unable to survive the cold long enough to travel across the Rockies. But warm winters have allowed it to flourish, and it could have a devastating impact if it's allowed to cross the country.
“If we can no longer count on the cold winters the boreal has always had then not just the pine beetle but other pests can move into the boreal and cause problems,” Mr. Innes said. “In the East we're also seeing outbreaks of spruce budworm and hemlock looper, which we've never seen before and it's causing great concern.”
In Ontario, logging and mining expansion has pushed the woodland caribou into a shrinking range of forests and made them more vulnerable to predators. In Alberta, the massive development of the tar sands will have a major impact on the boreal forest, as trees are cut, roads are expanded and pools of contaminated water fragment the landscape, Mr. Innes said.
In Manitoba, a fierce debate is raging over whether to run a power line through the pristine boreal forest on the east side of Lake Winnipeg. Premier Gary Doer hopes to have the area designated a United Nations World Heritage Site, and is pushing ahead with plans to transport power from northern hydro dams via a longer, costlier route on the west side of the province.
He has ensured that more than 800,000 hectares around Poplar River First Nation on Lake Winnipeg's east side are protected by a land-use agreement, which led to a local woman, Sophia Rabliauskas, being named the winner of this year's prestigious Goldman Environmental Prize.
Conservation and economic development are often pitted as competing interests in the debate over environmental stewardship, Mr. Innes said. When oil hits $100 a barrel – when uranium, diamond and other kinds of mineral exploration are bringing wealth to long-depressed northern regions and the embattled forestry sector is still Canada's largest exporter – it can be difficult to resist the urge to develop first and worry about the environment later.
But the lands set aside in the Northwest Territories are an example of a working consensus reached between aboriginal communities and local and federal government.
“Because of the balance that exists in that jurisdiction, where the aboriginal people have a very strong voice, we're seeing a real desire on the part of these communities to find a balance [between conservation and development] and set aside their important areas first,” Mr. Innes said.
“Conservation biology is often described as lifeboat biology: How much do we need to do to protect this remnant species? In the boreal we actually have the opposite opportunity,” he said. “How much development can we accommodate within this landscape without harming the underlying ecology? It's a tremendous opportunity but one we need to keep our eye on, because it's so easy to slip into the old mode of developing all of it and then designating a few parks to protect the remnants of what's left."
