Nov 22

Nov 22 Lesson Thirty-Nine: Forestry

In Canada we are VERY fortunate to have a lot of trees … like BILLIONS of trees. That being said, I believe there can be a bit more awareness brought to Canadian forests and the role they play in climate change.

Wood you like to start with a question? (I hope you don’t think my puns are sappy). 😉

It is estimated that out of the world’s 3 trillion trees, Canada is home to ~10% of them with 318 billion trees.

Russia leads with a whopping 642 billion trees…which is a lot of trees. 👀

ECONOMIC IMPACT

Throughout history, forestry has always been a big part of Canada’s economy. In 2018 it:

accounted for about 7% of Canada’s total exports
employed about 210,600 people across the country
contributed roughly $25.8 billion to Canada’s economy

Deforestation Myths

It is often said that deforestation in Canada is at its highest. However, despite it contributing to the economy, Canada has strict logging regulations which prevents that from being true.

Canada accounts for 10% of the world’s forests, but only 0.3% of global deforestation - which is among the world’s lowest.

About 94% of Canada’s forests are publicly owned which ensures strong oversight of forest management activities.

Climate change and our forests

Despite deforestation being low, a changing climate will affect Canada’s forests in a range of complex ways.

Some effects will be sudden and dramatic, and others will be gradual and subtle. Some of the current major impacts (as stated by the Government of Canada) are:

The major infestation by mountain pine beetle in BC
The increased fire activity in the western boreal forest
The increased aspen dieback in the prairies

We’ll also see shifts in animal habitats, fluctuations in forest productivity, and more tree species maladapted to new climate regimes.

This does not only impact our wildlife, but it continues to be a huge blow to Aboriginal communities who will see the loss of their forest values.

It’s also important to understand how our forests are impacted by other forces in the grand scheme of things. On the right you’ll see breakdown pulled from the Natural Resources of Canada website.