The boreal forest proposed as a World Heritage Site should be recognized for its huge economic value, says a report. (CBC)

A vast tract of boreal forest in Manitoba and Ontario, touted by some as a potential World Heritage Site, has an estimated economic value of between $121 million and $130 million a year, a study suggests.

The study was produced by the International Institute for Sustainable Development for a non-profit group pushing to have the site designated an international treasure, similar to other World Heritage Sites like Australia’s Great Barrier Reef, Egypt’s pyramids at Giza and Canada’s Rocky Mountains.

IISD researchers Stephan Barg and Vivek Voora assessed the value of some well-known economic activities in the boreal forest — such as hunting and trapping — for the First Nations of Pauingassi, Pikangikum, Poplar and Little Grand Rapids, and the governments of Manitoba and Ontario.

The proposed World Heritage Site consists of the communities and traditional lands of those First Nations, as well as Atikaki Provincial Park in Manitoba and Woodland Caribou Provincial Park in Ontario.

Hunting and fishing in the area are valued at $30 million a year, while the region is also rich in natural assets such as the forests and peat lands that store carbon. The region's carbon storage capacity has an estimated value of $2.7 to $17.5 billion.

"Using green economics to value natural environments is a new way of thinking for some people, but it is part of a growing international effort. And it is common sense for people who live on the land," said Sophia Rabliauskas of Pimachiowin Aki — the aboriginal and government-sponsored non-profit group that commissioned the study.

"As First Nations, we already know the value of this land — because we live on it and live with it every day. Now we want our neighbours, people who live in cities and people around the world to understand how important it is. This study brings a new perspective that validates what people have been saying all along," Rabliauskas said.

A World Heritage Site designation could derail plans to log or mine down the east side of Lake Winnipeg, or to build a hydroelectric transmission line as proposed by Manitoba Hydro.