Rendezvous with the Wild: The Boreal Forest

David Allinson is the president of the Rocky Point Bird Observatory in Victoria, B.C.

Canada is home to more than a billion acres of boreal forest, a huge
amount of the world’s fresh water, and more than 600 Aboriginal
communities. In the summer of 2003, a number of prominent Canadians,
conservationists, and Native leaders travelled across the Boreal by
canoe on 10 river trips to celebrate this rich but not so well-known
part of Canada (a region covering half of Canada, or 11 percent of the
earth). More than 70 people contributed stories, artwork, poems, songs,
and photographs to this book, which celebrates the work of the Canadian
Parks and Wilderness Society (CPAWS), the David Suzuki Foundation, and
the Canadian Boreal Initiative to conserve the Boreal for all Canadians
and future generations to enjoy. Notable authors include David Suzuki,
Ken Dryden, Candace Savage, Cathy Jones, and Justin Trudeau.

Splendid photographs abound throughout the book, capturing the beauty
and wonder of the Boreal with poignancy and even a little bit of humour
(e.g., imagine hordes of mosquitoes in summer in the Far North).

Rendezvous with the Wild is an important book for all Canadians.
Moreover, its teachings should be made a part of every high-school
curriculum.