The European Commission and the Council of Europe have defined the Boreal Region for the purpose of reporting on conservation efforts and results.

The typical western taiga forest contains Norway spruce (Picea abies) and Scots pine (Pinus sylvestris) growing on shallow soil covered in moss, lichen and ericaceous shrubs.

[1] Petersen et al. in their 1995 review of Nordic rivers distinguish two biogeographic regions in the Fennoscandian Shield.

Their Southern mixed forest rivers group in southeast Finland has short, low-gradient streams in mixed coniferous forest, connecting many clear or humic lakes, ponds, peat bogs and wetlands, which overlap the boreo-nemoral zone.

"[3] Within the European Union, the list of Natura 2000 sites in the Boreal Region was adopted in January 2005 and has since been updated several times.