How Forests Help

Forests can help to address climate change by reducing the amount of greenhouse gases in the atmosphere. They absorb carbon dioxide (CO₂), utilizing the carbon (C) to produce sugars for tree growth and releasing the oxygen (O₂) back into the air. As a tree grows, the carbon is stored in its leaves, twigs and solid woody stem, and in the soil around it. Because forests can absorb and store carbon over an extended period of time, they are considered "carbon sinks."

British Columbia forests represent a significant carbon reservoir, and the province's leadership in responsible forest management ensures that our forests will continue to play an important role moving forward.

Managed forests are efficient carbon sinks as long as they are regenerated, and Canadian law requires prompt reforestation after public lands are harvested. Nationwide, half a billion seedlings are planted each year, a key reason why the country has virtually no deforestation even after more than 100 years of forestry. In British Columbia, more than 200 million trees are planted annually to replace those harvested as well as forests impacted by fires, insects and disease-which is more than 50 new trees for every person in the province, every year.

Globally, we also have the capacity to increase the amount of carbon stored by forests by reducing the amount of deforestation in developing countries, and by converting non-forested areas to forest.

Growth, Harvest and Renewal

Young, vigorously growing trees have a higher rate of CO₂ conversion than mature trees. Trees typically grow in what is described as a sigmoid curve, with growth rate being greatest in the early to middle years, and dropping off as they reach maturity.
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Healthy Forests and Carbon

British Columbia forests are a mosaic of different forest types with different forest ecologies and life cycles. Historically - or at least since the last ice age - these forests have been rotating themselves in keeping with their natural cycle.
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Forest Adaptation

Managing forests sustainably during a general trend toward warmer conditions creates new variables, opportunities and risks. In theory, increasing levels of carbon dioxide should increase forest growth and expand forest distribution northward, and this is true of BC and the rest of Canada.
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