Forest Capital of Canada | Mackenzie Region
In late 2023, the Mackenzie Region of Northwestern Alberta was awarded the title of Forest Capital of Canada (FCC) 2024.
Throughout the year the FCC Board has run a multifaceted marketing campaign—earning engagement through collaboration by promoting FCC 2024 at dozens of events, on social media, with a podcast series and more.
With 2024 starting to wind down, the FCC Board recently launched “Boris in the Boreal Forest” as a forest legacy brand that will live on well into the future. Boris the Spruce Tree is an animated boreal buddy promoting the importance and significance of forests for years to come.
“Everyone around the world can take part in the Boris in the Boreal Forest adventure online to get a taste of Northwestern Alberta’s forest and learn from local experts,” said FCC Board Co-Chair Lisa Wardley. “We launched locally with the ‘Boris in a Bag’ package delivered to all our local students with Boris-branded swag.”
Kathleen and Dražen Rukavina, owners of Long Sleeve Productions
Dražen and Kathleen Rukavina, owners of Long Sleeve Productions, are the husband-and-wife duo behind Boris.
“The Boris adventure is a mix between a nature show and an interactive video game,” said Kathleen.
Kathleen initially came up with the idea for Boris and his forest adventure. She wanted to add more positivity and education to the dialogue about local forests—especially since they are one of the region’s greatest natural resources.
“I thought a character could break through the clutter and bring back a sense of adventure and exploration for kids,” said Kathleen. “My goal was to take the fear out of forests and replace it with wonderment and excitement instead.”
Long Sleeve Productions pitched the concept of Boris to the FCC Board as a legacy character to mark the Mackenzie Region’s time as Forest Capital of Canada and introduced the idea of an interactive video as a way to engage younger audiences.
“As soon as I spoke with Kathleen, I knew this was something we had to support and expand on,” said Wardley. “Boris might be targeted to a younger audience, but even I learned a thing or two, so all ages will enjoy him.”
The FCC Board approved the Boris project at the beginning of this year and the Rukavinas immediately started planning where he would travel, who he would collaborate with and what he would highlight.
During his interactive adventure, Boris travels through Mackenzie County starting south of La Crete. Then, he makes stops throughout the region at places such as Fort Vermilion and Machesis Lake where the online participant can select which multiple choice answer is correct or which adventure to take next.
Users can join Boris to visit a real pioneer home, an Indigenous Elder, a forester, a woodland supervisor and a wildfire centre. They can take a hike with Gale and John to discover a real bear den and learn how to make forest crafts. Then, they can spend time kayaking, go on a helicopter ride, and learn about planting trees, building houses and more.
Boris’ interactions with numerous local experts are integral to the adventure—all of whom made filming an easy and fun process for the Long Sleeve Productions team.
“The experts, educators and historians we worked with are naturally entertaining and engaging. They were eager to share their knowledge,” said Kathleen. “This region is innovative with active groups of people, and they never disappoint. The content we got was incredible and so genuine.”
Boris’ adventure is geared toward youth, and many of the local experts have experience educating children about the outdoors.
“Knowing who the audience would be made them want to be involved right from the beginning,” said Kathleen.
“The Long Sleeve team added perspectives from a 360-degree camera and drone to enhance the experience of being in the adventure.
“We created many iterations of how Boris would look,” said Kathleen. “And, ultimately the committee decided on a white spruce because it was important for him to be a tree that represents the region.”
Drawing inspiration from many late ‘90s cartoons—such as Dora the Explorer, Freddi Fish and Zaboomafoo—Kathleen’s goal was to create something that would appeal to all ages.
“We wanted Boris’ adventure to be exciting for kids to watch and showcase the immense forest knowledge of the people in the Mackenzie Region,” said Kathleen. “Even though Boris is an older tree, he’s still learning, so it was important to incorporate some of that childlike-wonder in his discovery of the forest.”
On top of highlighting interesting forest facts, Boris’ adventure serves to foster love for nature and quell some of the fears people may have about exploring wooded areas.
“Boris is a way to bridge that fear. Even if you’re still afraid to explore on your own, you can watch these videos and feel like you’re there,” said Kathleen. “He truly brings the forest to you and shows all the possibilities of the great outdoors.”
In addition to the forest focus, Boris promotes the Mackenzie Region.
“We created him to showcase the boreal forest and how different and unique it is in Northern Alberta,” said Kathleen.
“I think people from further away will be inspired to explore forests in their areas after watching him, and maybe they’ll be more inclined to travel to the region.”
The full adventure is made up of 11 stops and takes about two hours from start to finish. Viewers can return to the interactive adventure at anytime on the same device and continue from their last stop.
The FCC Board provided regional schools with a Boris package for students in hopes his adventure will catch on.
Students and teachers can pick and choose which adventures they want to encounter and can easily break up his trip into portions that are engaging and exciting on their own.
“The Northern Lights Forest Education Society played a huge role in making this educational, and it was important to us to keep it interactive, entertaining and to ensure the information is broken down easily,” said Kathleen.
Bringing Boris to life was made possible by many people, and the Rukavinas have been grateful for the support and the opportunity to do something new.
“We loved working on this project and are just as excited as the FCC Board,” said Kathleen. “Working with this group of people was nothing short of amazing. I loved every second of it.”
On October 9, the FCC Board officially launched the Boris in the Boreal Forest adventure at the Alberta Forest Products Association’s annual general meeting held in Banff attended by hundreds of representatives from the forest industry. It was a great success.
“This whole thing has just been amazing from the start,” said Wardley. “Now we’re having discussions with Forest Resource Improvement Association of Alberta about creating more student education packages and fanning this whole thing out province wide. What a great campaign this has been for our region.”
Try out Boris's Online Adventure here: https://www.fcc2024.com/boris/adventure
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