Higher Value, Lower Volume: The Future Of Canadian Forestry - CleanTechnica

Canada’s forests, covering nearly 350 million hectares and representing about 9% of the world’s forested land, are vital to the nation’s identity, economy, and climate efforts. However, recent trends show these forests are no longer reliable carbon sinks; instead, they have become net carbon sources in many years due to wildfires, insect infestations, and current harvesting methods. Canada harvests about 130 million cubic meters of wood annually, but natural disturbances like wildfires (averaging 2 million hectares burned yearly, with spikes such as 15 million hectares in 2023) and insect damage significantly reduce forest availability. Without adaptive forest management, harvest levels risk exceeding ecosystem capacities, threatening biodiversity and carbon storage. From a climate perspective, harvesting mature forests releases stored carbon over decades, with only a fraction locked in long-lived products like mass timber. The rest quickly returns to the atmosphere, especially when wood is used for short-lived products or bioenergy. The article highlights the problematic practice of