Unit 3 - Canada and the World's Forest Land Issues

Sustainable Forest Management combines Extensive and Intensive forest practices with the goal of maintaining, or increasing, forests’ size and productivity while continuing to harvest timber, fibre, or non-wood products. At the same time, the role of forests in the environment, society, and other industries is also considered. Forests should become healthier and larger when forests are well managed. To do this, forest harvesting must be done efficiently and with as little waste as possible. Sustainability requires decisions to be made not just for the present, but also for future generations.

The graph shows how Canada's wood supply has remained relatively stable between 1990 and 2009, only decreasing slightly since then.

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Canadian Council of Forest Minsters (2019)
Image Source: National Forestry Database

Forest Facts

In 1713, Hans Carl von Carlowitz, a German accountant and mining administrator, was one of the first people to publish a book on the forestry industry. He is considered the Father of Sustained-Yield Forests. He wanted to make sure that there would be a steady supply of wood for the mining industry.

Image Source: Creative Commons

Canada is considered a leader in sustainable forestry. In Unit 1 we learned that the Canadian Council of Forest Ministers helped develop the Montreal Process in Geneva, Switzerland. The Montreal Process established criteria for the protection of the world’s temperate and boreal forests in non-European countries. In addition to Canada, member countries include Argentina, Australia, Chile, China, Japan, Korea, Mexico, New Zealand, Russia, the United States, and Uruguay—combined, these countries have 60 percent of the world’s forests.