Wednesday, 13 January 2010 - 13.30pm - 14.45pm
Speaker:
Abstract
The Boreal Biome occupies 58.5 percent of Canada’s surface area and contains over 80% of the country’s freshwater. In the last 40 years, commercial exploitation of natural resources in the Boreal has increased rapidly, largely in the form of logging, hydroelectric generation, base metal mining, and oil and gas exploitation.
A recent report (Anielski and Wilson 2009) estimated that the combined net market value of Canadian Boreal resources in 2002 to be $50.9 x 109, the result of a gross market value of $62.0 x 109 minus estimated environmental costs of $11.1 x 109, the latter resulting from air pollution and government subsidies to industry. The net market value was 4.4% of the Canadian GDP.
In contrast, the non-market value of ecosystem services was estimated to be $703 x 109 (average $1204/ha). Carbon storage was the most valuable service, followed by flood control and water filtration by forests, flood control, filtration and maintenance of biodiversity in non-peatland wetlands, pest control by boreal birds, and nature-related activities.
Climate change, and rapid human exploitation of the boreal biome are rapidly eroding ecosystem services and natural capital. Among the foremost problems are decreasing water renewal in lakes and rivers, water pollution, increased insect outbreaks, continuing acid precipitation over large areas, decreased carbon sequestration resulting from melting permafrost and increasing forest fire, and increasing damage from hydroelectric development.
Biodiversity is also being lost from the Boreal at increasing rates. Woodland caribou are declining rapidly country wide, and grizzly bears, lynx, wolverine and other predators are in decline. Several species of woodland birds and rare plants are also declining. In a species-poor biome like the Boreal, this does not bode well for ecosystem services.
I will argue that the non-market value of boreal natural capital and ecosystem services should be even higher for a variety of reasons, including the fact that the Boreal contains most of the world’s standing freshwater, that carbon storage has been badly underestimated, and that the cumulative effects of direct human activity and climate change will cause losses of biodiversity that pose serious threats to ecosystem services from these species-poor ecosystems. A catchment-based approach to conservation, where water and chemical inputs and losses can be monitored, shows promise for detecting erosion in some types of ecosystem services.
Some comparisons with the Eurasian boreal biome and other forest biomes will be made where comparable information is available.
Anielski, Mark, and Sara Wilson. 2009. Counting Canada’s Natural Capital: Assessing the Real Value of Canada’s Boreal Ecosystems. Canadian Boreal Initiative and Pembina Institute. iv+ 78 pp.