---

Canada's boreal forest is part of a great northern circumpolar band of mostly coniferous trees extending across the subarctic latitudes of Russia, Scandinavia and North America. Globally, the boreal forest comprises almost 25% of the world's closed canopy forest as well as vast expanses of open transitional forest.

The boreal forest plays a significant role in the earth's environmental balance. Besides being a producer of oxygen, the boreal forest absorbs and stores carbon dioxide and so plays a critical role in mitigating global warming. Canadians cannot forget they are custodian to one third of this essential global resource.

The distribution of the boreal forest is closely related to climate. The climate of the boreal forest is characterised by long, extremely cold, dry winters and short, cool, moist summers.