Increasing demand for wood

Over the next 20 years, economists predict that global GDP will double and per capita income in developing countries will triple. This bodes well for people whose standards of living will substantially increase. However, it will also increase the demand for natural resources such as wood, energy and water, placing tremendous pressure on a planet that's already under huge pressure.

While economists point to increasing world demand, the industry is all too aware that the global production of wood and paper products will be insufficient to meet the new requirements. Competition for the land base will be fierce. The need to keep up with demand by establishing fast-growing plantation forests in the tropics will compete with the growing need for food (both agricultural and animal proteins) and the growing need for bio-fuels such as those made from sugar cane and palm oil.

This will give a significant market advantage to those jurisdictions and companies that can produce goods sustainably without displacing additional land that could be used for other purposes. In other words, it will give a significant advantage to British Columbia.

BC is already recognized as a source of high quality forest products. We have a substantial forest land base and yet harvest only a fraction of one per cent each year. And, while this telling statistic may not be as widely known as we would hope, our commitment to third party certification-and the fact that we have more independently certified forests than any other jurisdiction (with the exception of all of Canada) is contributing to a greater awareness of our companies as world leaders in sustainable forest management.