Table 22C.1. Annual change in area (1000 ha) of forest land by IUCN1 category, ownership and terrestrial ecozone in Canada.
Terrestrial ecozone IUCN category Ownership Total
Federal Provincial Territorial Municipal Indigenous Private Other2
Taiga Plains NA 7.66 14.09 -188.75 -6.13 1.80 0.08 2.14 -169.11
IB - -3.45 55.71 - 0.08 - 0.00 52.34
II 16.98 3.19 56.74 - - - -0.01 76.90
III - - -8.43 - - - - -8.43
V - - -0.12 - - - - -0.12
VI 7.37 - 17.38 - 1.51 - - 26.25
OTHER - - 39.10 - 1.72 - <0.01 40.82
Subtotal 32.01 13.83 -28.37 -6.13 5.11 0.08 2.13 18.66
Taiga Shield NA 0.13 -216.93 30.02 -1.64 12.29 -0.54 -0.42 -177.09
IB - 54.91 0.25 - 1.93 - 0.00 57.09
II - 180.46 - - - 0.00 0.44 180.90
III - -4.78 - - - - -0.02 -4.80
V - -3.34 - - - - - -3.34
Subtotal 0.13 10.31 30.27 -1.64 14.22 -0.54 0.00 52.76
Boreal Shield NA -0.63 -346.05 - 6.24 3.02 9.91 93.10 -234.41
IA - -9.44 - - - 0.00 0.00 -9.44
IB 3.44 47.73 - - - -0.01 0.00 51.16
II 1.18 190.56 - - 0.00 -0.11 8.23 199.86
III - -128.75 - - - 0.14 -0.24 -128.86
IV 0.00 71.07 - - - 0.02 0.00 71.09
VI 0.49 -7.80 - - - -0.13 0.00 -7.44
OTHER - 57.53 - - - 0.35 0.00 57.89
Subtotal 4.47 -125.14 - 6.24 3.02 10.17 101.08 -0.15
Atlantic Maritime NA -0.01 3.40 - -1.56 0.00 1.96 0.61 4.40
IA 0.00 2.59 - - - -0.40 0.00 2.19
IB - 11.81 - - - 1.11 0.00 12.92
II 0.07 21.29 - 0.00 - -0.02 0.02 21.36
III - 1.06 - - - - - 1.06
IV - -8.22 - - - -0.21 <0.01 -8.43
VI - 1.61 - - - 0.00 - 1.61
OTHER - 0.36 - - - 0.35 <0.01 0.71
Subtotal 0.06 33.90 - -1.56 0.00 2.79 0.63 35.82
Mixedwood Plains NA -0.00 6.60 - -0.00 0.93 8.73 -0.05 16.20
IA -0.01 0.00 - - - 0.62 0.00 0.61
II 0.03 0.05 - - - 1.24 0.00 1.32
IV 0.00 -0.71 - - - 3.25 0.01 2.56
VI - -0.06 - - - 0.03 - -0.03
OTHER - - - - - 0.77 -0.02 0.75
Subtotal 0.02 5.88 - -0.00 0.93 14.64 -0.05 21.42
Boreal Plains NA -26.53 65.80 1.71 0.29 0.62 87.92 -53.87 75.95
IA - 0.05 - - - - 0.00 0.05
IB 2.91 -6.08 - - - - 0.00 -3.17
II 2.44 5.63 -0.02 - - -0.00 -0.02 8.03
III - 1.65 - - - - 0.00 1.65
IV - 1.66 - - - 1.74 -0.82 2.58
V - -0.76 - - - - -0.14 -0.90
VI - -0.56 - - - - -0.47 -1.03
OTHER - 13.69 - - - - - 13.69
Subtotal -21.17 81.09 1.69 0.29 0.62 89.66 -55.33 96.85
Prairies NA 0.06 4.67 - 0.08 0.07 49.54 -35.46 18.96
IB - 0.00 - - - <0.01 - <0.01
II - 4.09 - - - 0.04 -0.02 4.11
III - 0.11 - - - <0.01 - 0.11
IV - 0.33 - - - 0.62 -0.46 0.50
V - -1.92 - - - - -0.01 -1.92
VI -0.00 -0.43 - - - -0.58 -0.02 -1.03
OTHER - 2.04 - - - - 0.00 2.04
Subtotal 0.06 8.90 - 0.08 0.07 49.62 -35.97 22.76
Taiga Cordillera NA -0.01 - -69.19 - -0.48 - 0.00 -69.68
IB - - 1.89 - - - - 1.89
II 1.37 - 35.35 - - - <0.01 36.72
III - - -0.01 - - - - -0.01
IV - - -1.78 - 2.07 - 0.00 0.29
V - - -0.49 - - - - -0.49
OTHER - - 36.22 - 0.40 - 0.00 36.62
Subtotal 1.35 - 2.00 - 1.98 - <0.01 5.34
Boreal Cordillera NA 0.25 -6.49 -15.43 -0.15 1.57 0.18 -0.15 -20.22
IB -0.01 -28.42 - - - - 0.00 -28.43
II 4.57 67.03 15.89 - -0.01 - 0.05 87.53
IV - 0.82 -2.33 - - - 0.00 -1.51
Subtotal 4.80 32.94 -1.87 -0.15 1.56 0.18 -0.10 37.36
Pacific Maritime NA 2.05 -17.36 - 8.20 14.21 -2.40 5.68 10.38
IA - 0.42 - - - - -0.19 0.23
IB - 17.63 - - - - 0.00 17.63
II -4.69 43.17 - - -0.01 -0.62 0.00 37.84
III - 3.97 - - - 0.05 - 4.02
IV - -0.00 - - - 0.43 - 0.43
Subtotal -2.65 47.83 - 8.20 14.20 -2.55 5.49 70.52
Montane Cordillera NA -0.07 24.35 - 5.08 11.52 28.33 22.07 91.28
IA - 2.68 - - - - - 2.68
IB - -39.20 - - - -0.04 0.00 -39.24
II 3.94 67.29 - - - 1.04 0.01 72.28
III - 0.00 - - - - - 0.00
IV - 0.64 - - - 7.27 - 7.91
VI - -1.08 - - - - - -1.08
OTHER - 4.00 - - - - - 4.00
Subtotal 3.87 58.68 - 5.08 11.52 36.60 22.08 137.83
Hudson Plains NA - -30.29 - <0.01 -0.07 0.05 28.23 -2.08
IB - 8.78 - - - - 0.96 9.74
II 0.23 6.51 - - - - <0.01 6.75
III - -0.94 - - - - -0.04 -0.98
Subtotal 0.23 -15.94 - <0.01 -0.07 0.05 29.15 13.43
Canada NA -17.11 -498.21 -241.64 10.41 45.49 183.77 61.86 -455.43
IA -0.01 -3.70 - - - 0.22 -0.19 -3.68
IB 6.34 63.70 57.86 - 2.01 1.06 0.96 131.92
II 26.12 589.27 107.96 0.00 -0.02 1.56 8.71 733.61
III - -127.67 -8.43 - - 0.19 -0.30 -136.22
IV 0.00 65.59 -4.11 - 2.07 13.13 -1.26 75.42
V - -6.01 -0.61 - - - -0.15 -6.77
VI 7.85 -8.31 17.38 - 1.51 -0.68 -0.49 17.25
OTHER - 77.62 75.32 - 2.12 1.47 -0.01 156.52
Total 23.19 152.28 3.73 10.41 53.18 200.71 69.11 512.61
Source: Canada's National Forest Inventory, combined remeasured (2007-2017) and projected (2006-2017 with NFI projection system) data, where plots with strong indicators of artificial change are removed. Artificial change between successive plot measurements can be caused by using different image sources, incorporating vintage baseline inventories, and updating photo-interpretation techniques (Version 3.1, November 2025) (http://nfi.nfis.org)
Note: The Arctic ecozones (Arctic Cordillera, Northern Arctic, Southern Arctic), and the Taiga Plains and Hudson Plains ecozones located in Nunavut, are not inventoried. These non-inventoried areas total 262,189.89 thousand ha.
1 IUCN: International Union for Conservation of Nature (http://www.iucn.org). Data obtained from the Canadian Protected and Conserved Areas Database (CPCAD) (https://www.canada.ca/en/environment-climate-change/services/national-wildlife-areas/protected-conserved-areas-database.html).
2 Missing, unknown or other ownerships.
International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) category
IUCN Category Description
NA Not protected
Ia Protected area managed mainly for science
Ib Protected area managed mainly for wilderness protection
II Protected area managed mainly for ecosystem protection and recreation
III Protected area managed mainly for conservation of specific natural features
IV Protected area managed mainly for conservation through management intervention
V Protected area managed mainly for landscape/seascape protection and recreation
VI Protected area managed mainly for the sustainable use of natural resources
Other Protected with missing or unknown category