Conserving Canada’s Forests
Canada’s forests are among the most extensive in the world, ranging across the country from the Pacific coast to the Atlantic coast, and stretching to the freezing Arctic tundra in the north. An estimated 42 per cent of all of Canada’s land acreage is covered by forests, which taken together constitute 10 per cent of the entire world’s forested land. It is one of five countries, along with Russia, China, the US and Brazil, which are home to half of the world’s forests. The majority of Canada’s forests are part of what is known as the ‘boreal forest’, which circles the globe from Canada to Alaska and on to Russia and Scandinavia. Canada’s portion of this vast northern forest accounts for 28 per cent of the total, and constitutes around 75 per cent of the total forested land in the country. The Canadian part of the boreal forest is considered to be the largest intact forest on Earth, with the majority of it – almost 3 million square kilometres – completely devoid of human infrastructure. This mighty forest has been called the ‘lungs of the planet’ by environmentalists and protecting it from the threat of deforestation is an ecological priority.
Government legislation currently protects around 8 per cent of the forested area of Canada, whilst around 1 per cent of the forests are logged every year. Most logging companies operate in Quebec, British Columbia and Ontario, leaving much of Canada’s vast northern region, and the boreal forest within it, untouched. This logging doesn’t strictly constitute deforestation, since there are regulations which require logging companies to reforest areas after they are harvested. Although only a small amount of land is logged every year, Canada is nevertheless the second largest exporter of wood in the world. This booming industry accounts for much of Canada’s surplus balance of trade, and contributes over $23 billion to the economy annually. The forestry industry also employs around 190,000 people, which is almost 1.3 per cent of the country’s total population. Thus, although only a small proportion of Canada’s massive forests can be logged, the industry is big business. Considering the amount of money flowing through the industry, it is commendable that Canada has managed to restrict the activities of loggers to such an extent.
The strict laws that delineate where logging can occur were put in place partly as a response to rapid deforestation in the colonial era. During the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries logging by European settlers was pervasive, as the population boomed and land was cleared for agriculture. This was halted in the twentieth century as a series of measures was introduced to ensure that Canada’s forests were safe from deforestation, despite the logging industry’s economic importance. It is estimated that Canada’s annual rate of deforestation now stands at 0.02%, which is one of the lowest in the world. That rate has been falling for over 25 years, and has dropped by almost half in the last few decades. Around 60,000 hectares of forest were lost to deforestation in 1990, but in 2014 that figure was closer to 30,000. These days, the most prominent factor causing deforestation is the clearing of forested areas for agriculture, but this is a trivial amount compared to many other countries.
Despite such a low rate of deforestation in Canada, managing and conserving the country’s forests is still a difficult and complicated enterprise, and there are various potential threats which environmental agencies must monitor. One such threat is wildfires, which have consumed on average around 2.5 million hectares a year of forest over the last few decades. There are around 7,500 forest fires per year, although only 3 per cent of those fires grow to an area of more than 200 hectares. The largest forest fire ever recorded in Canada was the Great Miramichi Fire of 1825, which destroyed about 3 million acres and devastated several towns, killing at least 160 people. Nowadays wildfires have a range of causes, including lightning or human carelessness , but many are started intentionally by forest managers. Intentional fires are intended to mimic natural fire processes, which are an important part of maintaining healthy ecosystems. They are also deployed as a means of forestalling uncontrolled forest fires and therefore minimising the damage they could cause. This is called ‘prescribed burning’ and involves starting fires in forested areas with a large build-up of combustible wood.
A further threat to the health of Canada’s forests comes from a less immediately menacing source, the mountain pine beetle. This small, seemingly innocuous beetle, which is only around 5mm long (the size of a grain of rice), has been ravaging Canada’s lodgepole pine forest, destroying around 16 million of the 55 million hectares of forest in British Columbia alone . These tiny creatures infest trees by laying eggs beneath the bark, which spreads blue stain fungus throughout the sapwood and blocks water and nutrients from circulating around the tree, thereby killing it. The beetles have been a persistent problem in Canada’s forests, where it is estimated that they have contributed to a loss of approximately 723 million cubic metres of pine trees. Efforts to stop their infestation have focused on logging contaminated areas and using pesticides or controlled fires. The beetles are being aided in their infiltration by climate change since successive warm winters have allowed them to thrive and to survive further north than they would usually venture. Climate change is likely to impact on Canada’s forests in many other ways, particularly if, as projected, temperatures rise. This will make preserving Canada’s forests even more difficult, and, as they are the ‘lungs of the Earth’, even more essential.
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