The boreal forest is a world resource.  About 25 per cent of the world’s remaining original forests are found in the boreal forest.  More than 186 billion tonnes of carbon are stored in the Canadian boreal forest.  The Canadian Boreal Forest Agreement is a collaboration between 21 forest products companies, all members of the Forest Products Association of Canada (FPAC), and nine environmental organizations and covers more than 72 million hectares of forest in Canada from the Pacific to the Atlantic. The agreement will help conserve a significant proportion of Canada’s boreal forest, protect woodland caribou and provide a competitive advantage for forest product companies participating in the Agreement.  The 21 forest companies who participated in the Agreement manage two-thirds of forest land in Canada. Part of the agreement is the suspension of new logging on nearly 29 million hectares of boreal forest to enable development of conservation plans for woodland caribou.  Market campaigns against certain wood products sponsored by Canopy, ForestEthics and Greenpeace will be suspended while the Agreement is being implemented.  The main objectives of the Agreement are

• Create a protected spaces network for the boreal forest.
• Protect for species at risk such as boreal caribou
• Implement sustainable forest management practices
• Implement a full life cycle approach to forest carbon management
• Improve the prosperity of the Canadian forest sector and the communities that support it.
• Achieve recognition in the marketplace for the environmental performance of the participating companies

Environmental organizations participating in the Agreement:

• Canadian Boreal Initiative
• Canadian Parks and Wilderness Society
• Canopy (formerly Markets Initiative)
• David Suzuki Foundation
• ForestEthics
• Greenpeace
• Ivey Foundation
• The Nature Conservancy
• Pew Environment Group’s International Boreal Conservation Campaign.

In August 2008, the Province of Ontario committed to protecting 50% of the Province’s boreal forest.  The Province of Quebec has made a similar commitment.