The Taiga Biome: The Bleeding of a Beast

Fig. 1: The Taiga biome highlighted in green ("File," n.d.)

The Taiga biome is the largest biome on planet earth ("TRN," n.d.). The Taiga stretches almost all the way around the northern world, from North America to Eurasia, located just south of the northern-Tundra biome ("Taiga Biomes," n.d.). Also known as the boreal forest, the Taiga biome is characterized by its dominant "needleleaf'" trees, perhaps better known as coniferous ("The Boreal," n.d.). The Taiga's great size, however, works against itself as its very often viewed as a resource for mans consumption, one that does not require much protection because its so large; how could man ever harm such a large organism as the boreal forest? The Taiga biome is in fact being over consumed and ecological harm is the result; the Taiga serves a great benefit to our world and is home to a great number of species, some of which are endangered due to the degradation of their habitat by logging, damming, and drilling. The Taiga needs to be protected from over consumption of its resources or the boreal forest may end up as another one of mans' great environmental mistakes upon hindsight.

The greatest threat to the Taiga biome is timber extraction. In fact, the boreal forests account for 60% of the world’s supply of industrial roundwood ("TRN," n.d.). An incredible amount of timber is removed annually from the boreal forests across the world, however, this timber is not just turned into lumber for construction, it's also milled into pulp and paper. About 42% of all wood harvested annually in the world goes towards paper production ("TRN," n.d.). This equates to over 300 million pounds of paper produced per year. The Taiga Rescue Network (TRN) reports that, if staked, this amount of paper would "reach to the moon and back more than eight times!" (n.d.).

Fig. 1.1: A clear-cut section of the Canadian boreal forest ("August," n.d.)

The modern world needs wood and paper as resources for construction and communication, respectively. To protect the entirety of the densely wooded Taiga biome is unrealistic, however, the current practices utilized to log the Taiga are reckless and extremely harmful to the ecology and history of our world. Old-growth forests are identified as forests with very old or ancient trees, and thus, trees of a more substantial size; ergo, more money for loggers. However, old-growth forests are also identified by multiple layers of canopy and diverse plant associations ("Definitions," 2001). They must also be unchanged by man. Old-growth forests are incredibly important to the biodiversity of our planet, they are home to a number of species that can only thrive in the unique habitat provided by old-growth forests. The following excerpt describes this relationship;

"Certain features - presence of large, old trees, multilayered canopies, forest gaps, snags, woody debris, and a particular set of species that occur primarily in old-growth forests - do not appear simultaneously, nor at a fixed time in stand development. Old-growth forests support assemblages of plants and animals, environmental conditions, and ecological processes that are not found in younger forests (younger than 150-250 years) or in small patches of large, old trees" ("Definition," 2001).

Many who argue and lobby for logging the Taiga suggest that replanting the logged areas will essentially eliminate the devastation in the long run, as the forest will simply regrow for future generations. However, old-growth forests and replanted forests, or 2nd generation forests, are not the same. 2nd generation forests cannot harbor the same relationship with ecology as old-growth forests can. Building bio-diversity takes a great deal of time, and by logging the old-growth forests of the Taiga, this great biological diversity is simply erased off the planet.

Fig. 1.2: The Northern Spotted Owl only exists in old-growth forests where it nests in ancient, broken tree trunks ("Northern," n.d.)

Another great, environmentally damaging threat to the Taiga comes in the form of hydroelectric power. Hydroelectric power is considered a source of renewable energy, however, it is hardly environmentally friendly energy ("Renewable Energy," n.d.). In order to capture hydroelectric power, a river must be dammed, a valley or cannon flooded, and the local ecology compromised. Canada is the largest producer of hydroelectric power in the world, about 15% of the worldwide total. The great majority of that 15% derives from hydroelectric dams located in the Taiga ("TRN," n.d.). According to the Taiga Rescue Network, hydroelectric dams in the Taiga cause "loss of terrestrial habitats, wildlife and habitat disturbances, shoreline erosion, altered aquatic regimes and increased mercury, carbon dioxide and methane releases from flooding" (n.d.).

Fig. 1.3: A flooded valley in Quebec fueling a hydroelectric project ("The Taiga," n.d.)

The final looming threat to the Taiga biome is the exploitation of natural gas and oil reserves. It's estimated that vast amounts of petroleum and natural gas lie underneath the northern belt of boreal forest, from Alaska to Canada, all the way to Russia ("The Taiga," n.d.). The exploitation of underground resources in the Taiga is already occurring, and the air pollution from these drilling facilities are affecting air and soil quality in the surrounding areas. Often times, these oil drilling sites are taking place on indigenous peoples land, having an adverse affect on these first peoples through air pollution and soil degradation ("TRN," n.d.).

Indigenous peoples live throughout the world in the Taiga biome. Though these groups of people differ greatly from region to region, country to country, and continent to continent, there are some common traits shared among them all. The most common thread is the indigenous peoples weak ownership rights to their traditional lands (Plumley, n.d.). As per usual, industry is searching for increasingly cheaper raw materials; these cheap raw materials are being found on indigenous peoples traditional lands, where inadequate legislation cannot protect their lands from the free market (Plumley, n.d.) The majority of the indigenous people that call the boreal forest home live off the beaten path in wooded areas, and often, do not have the political know how to fight for their rights ("TRN," n.d.).

Fig. 1.4: Here the children of the Grassy Narrows tribe of Canada are fighting for their rights through staging a blockade against further development of a hydroelectric power project ("TRN," n.d.)

For example, in northern Scandinavia, the Sami are the largest group on indigenous peoples living in the Taiga ("TRN," n.d.). Though now more modernized, the Sami peoples still base their lives around the traditional practice of reindeer herding ("TRN," n.d.). However, these peoples are increasingly having their herding lands stolen from them by private forest owners ("TRN," n.d.). Previously, these peoples existence was endangered little by the industrial world, but now, after much of the Taiga has been consumed, these peoples lands are being encroached upon and pulled out from under them.

A change of thought and attitude towards the land will be the greatest savior of the Taiga biome. Aldo Leopold wrote of a "Land Ethic" in his classic A Sand County Almanac. To sum up the idea of the land ethic plainly, Leopold writes, "A thing is right when it tends to preserve the integrity, stability, and beauty of the biotic community. It is wrong when it tends otherwise" (Leopold, 1949). The Taiga biome is incredibly huge, seemingly endless. This "endless" mindset, however, is the Taiga's greatest enemy. For hundreds of years the boreal forest has been mans giving tree, constantly providing resource after resource without much thought at all about conservation or preservation. Some areas of the Taiga have already been devastated by man, although, there are still areas around the world, such as the interior and remote parts of Alaska, Canada and Siberia, that still remain intact ("TRN," n.d.). However, these areas also show all of the characteristics of first phase industrial forest exploitation; the idea of unlimited land remains, reforestation efforts are close to non-existent, and the consideration of ecology is very minimal ("TRN," n.d.). All the while the "timber frontier" pushes further and further into the interior.

Fig. 1.5: Leopold fully equiped with bow and arrow ("Arizona," n.d.)

The Taiga biome, or boreal forest, has been bleeding resources for hundreds and thousands of years around the world. The forests are logged, drilled, and flooded at an increasing rate as human population and need grows. Little consideration, now or ever, has been taken towards the idea of conserving the Taiga. It has always been a behemoth in the time of man, with size and resources that seem unlimited. However, the Taiga certainly is being degraded environmentally; pollution compromises air and soil quality, old-growth forests are disappearing forever, ecology and biodiversity are being harmed, and the people whom call the Taiga home are forgotten. In order to reverse man's destruction upon the Taiga, man must first reverse his idea of the Taiga; it is not limitless, and its sheer size does not justify resource extraction at the modern rate. To save the Taiga we must begin to treat the Taiga like an organism all its own; if you cut it, it will bleed, and if it is not feed, or in this case not reforested, it will perish. A land ethic must be employed if the Taiga is to live on, and man must stop considering himself the ever-entitled king.

References

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