Bowater and the Boreal Forest

For decades, Bowater has worked with governments, communities, First Nations groups and other stakeholders to protect wildlife habitats, breeding grounds, and unique or culturally important ecosystems in the boreal forest.

Ontario Parks and Protected Areas

• Bowater has designated 688,000 hectares as protected areas over the past 24 years. 

• Fully 20% of Bowater-managed areas are regulated as parks where no harvesting is permitted.  This significantly exceeds the 12% target set by the province in its “Living Legacy Land Use” strategy.

• In 1983, Bowater voluntarily surrendered 155,000 hectares of their license area to create Wabikimi Provincial Park.  The park was expanded in 1997, when Bowater donated an additional 297,000 hectares of license area.  The park is now an 892,000 hectares in size and is the largest boreal forest reserve in the province.

• In 1999, Bowater working in partnership with several environmental groups and the Ontario Ministry of Natural Resources created a series of new protected spaces, through the Ontario Living Legacy.  Through this agreement, Bowater manages 210,000 hectares of new parks and 116,000 hectares of Enhanced Management Areas.  Forestry is permitted in an Enhanced Management Area, but only if the other values can be protected.

• In 2004, Bowater committed to creating some addition protected spaces.  Bowater worked with several environmental groups and the ministry.  The area involved in that exercise involved an additional 26,000 hectares.

• In 2007, Bowater voluntarily deferred all forestry activities in the St. Raphael Enhanced Management Area until at least 2018 to give the Ministry of Natural Resources time to complete their management plan for this area.

Ontario Boreal Diversity

Bowater actively works to protect caribou and other wildlife in Ontario’s boreal forest.

• Ontario regulations require that Bowater identify old growth areas of the forest it manages, and manage its operations to maintain those areas in the forest.

• Since the early 1990s, we have partnered with the Ontario government on caribou research and policy initiatives, including a Caribou collaring project designed to learn more about the forest landscape requirements of the woodland dwelling caribou.  This information was used to establish the Caribou line, which represents the southern limit of the existing caribou population.

• Bowater maintains many large, intact areas of forest, 10,000 hectares in size or larger, across Ontario as forest cover for woodland caribou, pine martin, and other wildlife.  Each of these areas will be deferred from harvesting for up to one hundred years.

• In addition to managing forest cover at the landscape level site specific buffers are established around potential calving sites and other identifiable values.

• Bowater works with government to protect water quality, estimate fish populations, protect aquatic habitats, and study the effects of harvesting and other commercial activities in watersheds.

Quebec Parks, protected areas and other non-harvestable forests

• In Quebec, Bowater works closely with the provincial Government to complete a representative network of protected forest areas across the province.

• In addition, approximately 15% of Bowater’s forest will never be scheduled for harvest for water, fauna and landscape protection reasons under Timber Supply and Forest Management Agreements.

Quebec Boreal Diversity

• In Quebec, Bowater supports fish and wildlife research, including research on caribou in the boreal, through organizations such as the Partner's Council of the Northern Wildlife Fund of the Fondation de la Faune du Québec. 

• Bowater also participates in government research aimed at recovering caribou habitat by helping finance a collaring program to collect information on herd migration and seasonal activities.

• As in Ontario, Bowater works with the Quebec government to protect water quality, estimate fish populations, protect aquatic habitats, and study the effects of harvesting and other commercial activities in watersheds.

Learn more about our commitments:

• Protecting woodland caribou
• In partnership with First Nations
• Forestry Certification