A burgeoning field in Canadian history, environmental history has made remarkable progress in illuminating the people about the importance of our environment not only to our survival but also to the continuing existence of our society.
The arrival of the Europeans in the American continent was largely driven by the dwindling supply of resources in Europe. This and coupled with a growing population drove desperate people to find better opportunities in the New World despite the risks involved. Canada’s seemingly endless resources, after only two centuries of exploitation, became vehemently clear to be finite.
Apart from the destruction of Canada’s environment. We also drove several species to near extinction such as the ever so important Atlantic Cod, which after years and years of unrestrained harvesting, plummeted to less than 95% of their original population several centuries before. The same trend holds true for our forests and wildlife.
Although that may have been the case several years before, Canada now, with its dedication to maintaining ecological stability has made remarkable strides in maintaining and revitalising its forests. Canada, through decades of effort, has become the world leader in sustainable forests.
After the collapse of the salmon and cod fisheries in the Canadian New Foundland, Canada banned all fishing of cod. And ever since, the Atlantic cod population has seemed to bounce back in its population and hopefully would do so in the coming decades.
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