An ecozone is an area made up of a single, shared ecosystem – a unique combination of climate, landforms, soils, plants, animals, and human activities. There are 20 major ecosystems (ecozones) in Canada: 15 land ecozones and five water ecozones. Understanding your ecozone will help you understand which jobs are available there.

 

Environmental scientists developed the concept of ecozones, but did you know that the ecozone concept is, in many ways, similar to a traditional ecological view shared by Aboriginal peoples across Canada? Both perspectives view the environment as a single but complex system of closely connected natural parts – as a whole, instead of bits and pieces. Still, other people see the environment as having many separate parts, each to be studied separately like climate, geography or wildlife. Do you see the environment as a whole, made up of many interconnected parts like a puzzle, or do you see the environment as many independent parts?