Impacts of Climate Change and Forest Harvesting on the North American Boreal Forest
Aaron Wee, MLWS 2025
The North American boreal forest is one of the world’s largest remaining intact forest ecosystems, providing essential carbon storage, critical wildlife habitat, and cultural and subsistence value for hundreds of Indigenous communities. Despite its global importance, the boreal forest is threatened by forest harvesting practices, as well as climate change and its long term effects. Species such as the boreal caribou have been pushed to threatened status due to extensive habitat fragmentation, weak provincial protections, and inadequate enforcement of federal recovery strategies. Furthermore, the loss of boreal peatlands and caribou habitat undermines food security, cultural identity, and intergenerational knowledge sharing for many Indigenous communities that rely on these ecosystems. This project examines the impacts of climate change and forest harvesting on the North American boreal forest. For instance, how current forestry practices contribute to habitat loss and carbon emissions. The project also evaluates the effectiveness of provincial and federal conservation efforts, highlighting examples such as British Columbia’s more collaborative approach. The paper concludes with recommendations to strengthen habitat protections, improve transparency, integrate Indigenous co-management, and modernize harvesting methods to balance economic viability with long term ecological resilience. Enhanced carbon accounting and expanded research on sustainable practices are identified as key steps to align boreal forest management with global climate goals and biodiversity commitments.
