Ecosystem Assessment: Lake Temagami Ecoregion
A comprehensive IUCN Red List of Ecosystems assessment of one of Ontario's most significant ecological regions.
Ecological Features
Old-Growth Pines
The world's largest continuous old-growth red and white pine stand at Obabika Lake
Unique Geology
Rock-knob uplands, esker formations, kettle depressions, and high-elevation ridges
Source Waters
Source waters for 10 major river systems
Rare Species Habitat
Habitat for Eastern Cougar, Aurora Trout, Blanding's Turtle, and Little Brown Myotis
Temagami's old-growth forests now exist in just 1% of their pre-colonial extent. Without transparent, scientifically grounded data on ecosystem health, the region remains vulnerable to unsustainable industrial pressures.
These ancient forests support exceptional biodiversity and genetic diversity, providing the structural complexity needed for species to adapt, evolve, and persist. Old-growth pine ecosystems are also among the world's most important natural climate solutions, acting as long-term carbon reservoirs and stabilizing local hydrological systems.
Why Ecosystem Assessments Matter
Ecosystem-focused risk assessments are essential for understanding how landscapes function, how species depend on them, and whether they are at risk of degradation or collapse. They link species conservation to ecosystem integrity and provide the scientific foundation needed to guide land-use decisions, restoration efforts, and long-term protection.
A Region Long Recognized for Its Conservation Importance
For decades, the international conservation community has raised concerns about Temagami's vulnerability. The IUCN listed Lady Evelyn–Smoothwater Provincial Park as a Threatened Protected Area in 1988 due to logging and road-building pressures, and repeatedly urged Ontario to safeguard the wider Temagami landscape.
Despite these warnings, Temagami has never been formally evaluated for its conservation status using global standards — leaving a critical gap in regional and national ecosystem knowledge
Using the IUCN Red List of Ecosystems Framework
Earthroots is undertaking a comprehensive assessment of the Lake Temagami Ecoregion (4E) using the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) Red List of Ecosystems (RLE), the world's leading standard for evaluating ecosystem health. Recognized globally since 2008, the RLE is a transparent, evidence-based tool used at national and regional scales to determine whether an ecosystem is healthy, threatened, or at risk of collapse, and to identify the drivers behind those risks.
The RLE process informs policymakers, guides conservation strategy, shapes land-use planning, supports public awareness, and directs both private and public investment toward ecosystem protection. Around the world, RLE assessments have led to stronger regulations, expanded protected areas, restoration initiatives, industry best-practice standards, and community-driven conservation projects. Only one region in Canada, the Interior Wetbelt and Inland Temperate Rainforest of British Columbia — has undergone an IUCN-certified assessment to date.
What the Assessment Will Deliver
Earthroots' Temagami Ecosystem Assessment will provide:
-
A scientifically rigorous evaluation of ecosystem health, threats, trends, and risk of collapse
-
Baseline data for long-term monitoring, restoration, and climate adaptation planning
-
Evidence-based guidance for governments, planners, Indigenous communities, and conservation organizations
-
A foundation for stronger protections, including potential regulatory triggers for at-risk ecosystems
-
A tool for prioritizing conservation action, identifying vulnerable ecosystem types, and informing land-use decisions
Assessing this landscape using the IUCN Red List of Ecosystems criteria, will provide the evidence needed to protect one of Ontario's most significant ecological and cultural regions. It will help direct conservation investments, support voluntary and regulatory stewardship practices, and bridge global ecosystem science with local and regional decision-making.
Learn More
Indigenous and Local Knowledge
The history of the Temagami Region in terms of both its natural and cultural heritage, is diverse and extensive. Temagami, meaning "Deep-Water-By-The-Shore," has been inhabited by the Anishnabai people for 10,000 years. Earthroots Fund recognizes and respects the contribution of Anishinaabe knowledge to the conservation and sustainable use of biodiversity and ecosystems. We believe that the Anishinaabe people have an important role to play in environmental decision-making, management, policy, and assessments. They bring a unique and rich source of information that has evolved over centuries.
The IUCN actively support and encourages the input of Indigenous and Local Knowledge experts in the RLE process. Applying ILK in the Red List promotes and gives formal recognition to that knowledge, and its inclusion in a global process can itself be empowering to IPLCs and further support their role as key rightsholders and stakeholders in decisions and conservation actions. Applying ILK will also contribute to continuing inter-generational transmission of knowledge.
Journal of Applied Ecology (2024)
Tracing Eastern Wolf Origins From Whole-Genome Data in Context of Extensive Hybridization
Molecular Biology and Evolution (2023)
Ontario Species at Risk Evaluation Report for Eastern Wolf
COSSARO (2022)
Spatial population genetics reveals competitive imbalances threatening local apex predator persistence
Biological Conservation (2021)
Population Genomic Analysis of North American Eastern Wolves Supports Their Conservation Priority Status
National Library of Medicine (2018)
COSEWIC Assessment and Status Report on the Eastern Wolf
Government of Canada (2015)
The Lake Temagami Ecoregion: A Globally Significant Landscape
The Lake Temagami Ecoregion covers nearly 4 million hectares of northeastern Ontario and contains almost 50% of the world's remaining old-growth red and white pine forests. This landscape sits at the transition between the Great Lakes–St. Lawrence and Boreal Forest regions and holds some of the oldest Precambrian rock formations in Ontario.