"Group Urges Protection of Northern Forests"

"A coalition of conservation groups are calling on international climate negotiators in Copenhagen next month to develop land-use policy incentives intended to encourage governments to protect natural carbon storehouses -- especially those in northern boreal forests and peatlands found in Canada, Scandinavia and Russia.

'The 208.1 billion tonnes of carbon estimated to be stored by forest and peatland ecosystems within Canada’s Boreal Forest region is equivalent to 26 years worth of the world’s carbon emissions from fossil fuel burning, as measured in 2006,' noted a report released Wednesday by the Canadian Boreal Initiative.

Undisturbed northern boreal forests, the report says, account for almost 60 percent of the world’s forest-based carbon sinks. By contrast to rain forests, much of the boreal carbon is stored in underground root and soil systems, and will accumulate for thousands of years."

John Lorinc reports for the New York Times November 12, 2009.

See Also:

"Boreal Forests Store Carbon, Need Help: Canada Study" (Reuters)