Wood Buffalo is Canada’s largest National Park and one of its prized World Heritage Sites and yet, the very reasons the park is internationally recognized are degrading at an accelerated rate from industrial pressures beyond the park’s borders and the compounding effects of climate change.

In a recent article, the value of our forests are highlighted as an important nature-based climate solution. But the rich forests and ancient peatlands found in abundance in Wood Buffalo National Park are impacted by an increasing wildfire regime, resulting in the release of carbon that has been stored for hundreds of years.

Wood Buffalo National Park experienced its worst wildfire season this summer. We are surprised that the reality of the wildfires in Wood Buffalo National Park are not more widely known. The provincial estimate for area burned by wildfires in Alberta is 2.2 million hectares. Yet, that stat provided by the Government of Alberta does not include hectares burned within national parks. Parks Canada estimates about 930,000 ha hectares have burned in Wood Buffalo National Park this summer. This is a huge loss to biodiversity as intact habitat for many species was destroyed, and fires burned at such a searing intensity that many ecological benefits from fire will not manifest themselves.

While the boreal forest is a fire-dependent ecosystem, climate change will bring hotter and more frequent wildfires. Luckily, as is the case with Wood Buffalo National Park, protected areas help reduce other ecosystem stressors so managers and communities can focus on responding to wildfires as quickly and safely as possible.