Understanding the Role of the Boreal Environment in Supporting the Well-Being of Remote First Nations Communities in Canada

The briefing note introduces a simplified assessment framework, based on the Millennium Ecosystem Assessment and community insights from Bloodvein and Poplar River First Nations, to link boreal environmental products, services, and benefits to community health, livelihoods, and social relations. It highlights how local pressures, such as over-stressing immediate environments and climate-driven changes to ice roads and water filtration, impact community security. The framework is intended to inform natural resource development, northern strategies, and climate adaptation planning in Canada's North.

• IISD developed an assessment framework that categorizes the boreal environment's role into three areas: products for living, services for sustaining, and cultural and spiritual benefits, which correspond to health and security, livelihoods, and social relations respectively.
• Community members in Bloodvein and Poplar River First Nations reported that a shift toward hunting and gathering in the immediate vicinity of their communities is over-stressing the local environment and reducing its productivity.
• Environmental changes are affecting critical sustaining services, including the loss of peatlands (muskeg) as natural water filters and the reduction of clean water access during hot summer days.
• Climate instability is impacting the reliability of winter ice roads, which are essential for the financial and psychological well-being of the community and the affordability of their diet.
• The ability of youth to derive cultural and spiritual benefits from the environment is being hindered by a breakdown in the transfer of traditional knowledge from elders.
• Global climate change is increasing pressures on remote Canadian communities, leading to less reliable winter ice roads and a resulting demand for permanent road systems through the boreal forest to prevent food and energy supply disruptions.

APA

International Institute for Sustainable Development (2011). Understanding the Role of the Boreal Environment in Supporting the Well-Being of Remote First Nations Communities in Canada. https://www.iisd.org/system/files/publications/understanding_boreal_environment.pdf

Chicago

International Institute for Sustainable Development. Understanding the Role of the Boreal Environment in Supporting the Well-Being of Remote First Nations Communities in Canada. 2011. https://www.iisd.org/system/files/publications/understanding_boreal_environment.pdf.

Wikipedia

{{cite report |author=International Institute for Sustainable Development |title=Understanding the Role of the Boreal Environment in Supporting the Well-Being of Remote First Nations Communities in Canada |date=October 2011 |url=https://www.iisd.org/system/files/publications/understanding_boreal_environment.pdf |access-date=17 August 2026 |via=Climate Insights Directory}}

BibTeX

@techreport{internationalinstituteforsustainabledevelopment2011understanding, author = {{International Institute for Sustainable Development}}, title = {{Understanding the Role of the Boreal Environment in Supporting the Well-Being of Remote First Nations Communities in Canada}}, institution = {International Institute for Sustainable Development}, year = {2011}, month = oct, url = {https://www.iisd.org/system/files/publications/understanding_boreal_environment.pdf}, urldate = {2026-08-17}, note = {Indexed by Climate Insights Directory} }