This past weekend I took in Respect, an exceptional portrait of Canada's Boreal Forest:

RESPECT takes an innovative and thought-provoking look at Canada's Boreal Forest. Nine Canadian photographers braved weather and time constraints to collectively create a vibrant picture of Canada's North. The sweeping vistas captured digitally convey the fragility as well as the brutality of the Boreal Forest.

Despite being one of the largest intact forests in the world, the Canadian Boreal remains largely invisible to the world's eye. Respect brings the beauty of this remote treasure to the public in an open, accessible, and free of charge outdoor exhibit in the heart of Toronto's Waterfront.

The exhibition will run through October 12th. Stop by if you can, and see a selection of images below.

It is estimated that the mountain pine beetle has destroyed 40% of British Columbia's lodgepole pine since 1993. University researchers have now found evidence that the beetle is adapting to spruce as well.

Researchers at the University of Northern B.C. in Prince George say the pine beetle, which has destroyed about 40 per cent of the province's lodgepole pine since 1993, is now killing spruce trees as well.

"There were rumours before that pine beetles were not only killing spruce but successfully reproducing in spruce, and we have now observed that in Prince George and we have been trying to document what's going on," Staffan Lindgren, a professor of ecosystem science at UNBC, said yesterday.

Lodgepole pine is the most common timber in forest rich BC, covering 14 million hectares of land. Spruce is right behind and covers 13 million hectares. With that in mind, the threat posed by the mountain pine beetle is arguably the most visible and significant consequence of global warming yet seen on the North American continent.

In short, welcome to global warming induced evolution.

Historically, pine beetle populations are kept in check by winter temperatures that drop to -40°C for several days. But since 1993, warmer winters have meant that the beetle has been left untouched by prolonged cold periods and their numbers are skyrocketing accordingly. With greater numbers of beetles comes greater opportunity to take advantage of new evolutionary niches.

One might expect genetic variability within the pine beetle to allow rare individuals to thrive on spruce rather than pine, but they would have been few and far between and would be unlikely to form new breeding populations even if they survived the winter freeze. That changes when the natural weather cycle no longer keeps their numbers in check. What was once an insignificant genetic mutation now threatens our forests with the seeds of a whole new catastrophe.

From the disappearance of the bees that pollinate our crops, to the decimation of our forests, nature is issuing ever more severe warnings that the course our society is on is not in tune with our long term survival. It's time to stop pretending we're both deaf to the message and dumb towards action and begin changing the way we interact with the planet - for our own sake.

Not quite, but it promises to be greatly reduced thanks to a new forestry plan announced by the BC government. In it, Forests Minister Rich Coleman stated that the province would begin shifting harvesting from old growth to second growth timber, and would quickly move to reduce raw log exports from the province.

Whether or not this leads to a more sustainable forest industry will largely depend on what annual allowable cut is set and how effectively the harvest areas are managed - particularly with regard to critical wildlife habitat and salmon bearing waters. Likewise, it is also unclear what this announcement will mean for Canada's endangered spotted owls. At last count, just 16 remain in the province and a recently leaked report stated that the government was choosing to capture and breed the remaining birds, rather than protect the old growth habitat they need for survival.

Details of the new policies will be announced in the next two weeks.

A coalition of celebrities and environmental groups is launching a campaign to transform Ontario's boreal forest into a model of sustainable forestry and a global warming solutions. David Suzuki, Robert Bateman, Farley Mowat, Yann Martel, Margaret Atwood and Sarah Harmer have joined with Greenpeace, Forest Ethics, Sierra Legal and NRDC to push Premier Dalton McGuinty into:

1. Creating certainty for industry and benefits for local communities by planning for conservation and development in the boreal forest, and deferring forestry and mining development until that plan is complete;

2. Protecting a significant amount of caribou habitat within boreal forest areas that were allocated to mills that have closed;

3. Committing to keep the billions of tonnes of carbon in the intact boreal forest;

4. Supporting the certification of Ontario's forest practices by the Forest Stewardship Council and instituting a policy to ensure the Ontario government purchase only certified wood products and paper; and

5. Helping to market Ontario's forest products in global markets as sustainably harvested.

The campaign was launched with a formal letter to the Premier and an op-ed co-authored by Bateman, Suzuki and Mowat, which ran in Thursday's Globe & Mail. The campaign is being pitched as a win-win-win solution that provides critical habitat to endangered species like the woodland caribou, makes Ontario a leader in sustainable forestry, and provides a global warming solution. The boreal is one of the largest untouched tracts of forest remaining on the globe, and its unique nature allows it to store 50% more carbon then the best managed industrial forests.

A complete list of the celebrities and environmental groups involved can be seen at the campaign's website - savetheboreal.ca

The Conservatives have vowed cough up $30 million for the protection of BC's Great Bear Rainforest. The announcement comes nearly 12 months after environmentalists, native leaders, and the BC provincial government reached a historic agreement for the preservation of the area.

The federal dollars will join $60 million already contributed by private foundations, and an additional $30 million from the BC Liberals, to form a $120 million pool for the creation of a new protected area three times the size of Prince Edward Island.

Moving forward, the future of the forest will largely depend on the enforcement of the ecosystem based management system that will govern logging in the area, as the strict protected area will only cover about 1/3 of the total forest area. This was a controversial part of the agreement, and as recently as 2005 the David Suzuki Foundation published findings that showed widespread clear cutting and negative impacts from logging in the region’s most productive salmon bearing watersheds.

Background: At approximately 6.5 hectares the Great Bear Rainforest is widely considered to be the largest intact temperate rainforest remaining on the globe. It is also also home to the rare kermode, or spirit bear - a sub species of black bear whose recessive gene trait makes it snow white.