Canada's Amazing Boreal Forest

Canada's boreal forest is like a giant green blanket stretching across almost all of Canada! It's so huge, it's about one-third of all the boreal forests in the whole world. It starts in the very east of Newfoundland and Labrador and goes all the way to the border of Yukon and Alaska in the west. It's mostly north of where most people live, where it can get pretty cold.

This forest is mostly made of pointy, cone-shaped trees like spruce and fir, which stay green all year. But it's not just trees! There are also lots and lots of wet, squishy places called wetlands, like bogs and fens.

These are like giant sponges for the land. The trees grow close together, making a thick canopy, but sometimes there are also trees that lose their leaves in the winter, like aspens.

Even though it's a big forest, not too many people live here. Only about 13 out of every 100 Canadians call the boreal forest home. Many of them are Indigenous peoples who have lived there for a very, very long time. They know all the secrets of the forest and how to live with it. It's also home to amazing animals like moose, bears, and lots of birds.

This giant forest is super important for our planet! It helps clean the air we breathe and stores lots of carbon, which is good for fighting climate change. It also gives homes to tons of animals and plants. People who live there use the forest for jobs like cutting down trees for paper and wood, and also for fun things like fishing and camping.