Forests & Trees
The Boreal Zone covers 1.9 billion hectares of Earth. 24% of it is in Canada.
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348 million
hectares of forest in Canada
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9%
of the world’s forests
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318 billion
trees
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8.953
trees per person
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3.67 billion
tons of carbon emissions captured by the earth’s forests, farms and grasslands
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80,000
acres of forests disappear from Earth every day
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1.6 billion
people rely on forests for their livelihoods worldwide
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47 billion
cubic metres of wood in Canada’s forests
What the research shows
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Biomarkers show that physiological stress (measured by cortisol levels, muscle tension, and blood pressure) begins to drop within minutes of entering natural green spaces.
Source Ontario Parks / Environmental Psychology Research
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Regular physical activity in natural environments reduces the risk of developing mental health conditions (such as anxiety and depression) by up to 50% compared to urban indoor environments.
Source Ontario Parks / Health & Wellbeing Research
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Long-term exposure to residential greenness and tree canopy across Canadian urban areas is associated with reduced overall mortality, lower risk of cardiovascular disease, and improved overall psychological health.
Source Statistics Canada – Health Reports
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Globally and in Canada, Indigenous-managed lands and waters encompass roughly 20% of the territory while harboring 80% of remaining biodiversity.
Source Canadian Parks and Wilderness Society (CPAWS)
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70% of Indigenous children aged 1 to 5 (off-reserve) participated in harvesting or cultural activities (e.g., gathering plants, egg harvesting, or traditional ceremonies) during the previous year.
Source Statistics Canada – 2022 Indigenous Peoples Survey
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Nearly 48% of projects funded under Canada’s Indigenous Forestry Initiative (IFI) focus explicitly on safeguarding, creating, and applying Traditional Knowledge to sustainable forest management.
Source Natural Resources Canada – Indigenous Forestry Initiative
