Unbelievable TED talk exposes Canadian tar sands destruction

Garth Lenz: The true cost of oil

TEDx Victoria

Garth Lenz’s photographs capture the detailed reality of what happens when a pristine landscape is confronted by an industrial project. His work as a photojournalist has won him top awards at Pris de la Photographie Paris and the International Photography Awards. He is also a fellow of the International League of Conservation Photographers.

The world's largest and most devastating environmental and industrial project is situated in the heart of the largest and most intact forest in the world, Canada's boreal forest. It stretches right across northern Canada, in Labrador, it's home to the largest remaining wild caribou herd in the world, the George River caribou herd, numbering approximately 400,000 animals. Unfortunately, when I was there I couldn't find one of them, but you have the antlers as proof.

All across the boreal, we're blessed with this incredible abundance of wetlands. Wetlands globally are one of the most endangered ecosystems. They're absolutely critical ecosystems, they clean air, they clean water, they sequester large amounts of greenhouse gases, and they're home to a huge diversity of species. In the boreal, they are also the home where almost 50 percent of the 800 bird species found in North America migrate north to breed and raise their young.

(View the talk here.)