Birds and wildlife of the boreal forest are breathing a little easier today.
The Boreal Songbird Initiative has reported the wonderful news that 8,000 square kilometers of boreal forest and wetlands have been protected in Manitoba.
“A vast stretch of pristine boreal forest and shoreline adjacent to Lake Winnipeg—a place where indigenous peoples, now members of the Poplar River First Nation (PRFN), have thrived for millennia—was finally placed under formal protection after years of hard, behind-the-scenes work between PRFN and the Government of Manitoba.
The traditional territory of PRFN, around the size of Yellowstone National Park, lies deep in the heart of Canada’s boreal forest and is a part of the single largest intact block of forest on Earth (which extends north and east of their territory). It also makes up a sizable portion of the hopeful Pimachiowin Aki UNESCO World Heritage Site, a proposed future Site which would protect much of this region under both natural and cultural designation due to the still-flourishing presence of indigenous communities.”