Kanada

A decade of cuts has left a priceless resource facing a homemade crisis...
There is an old saying that if the forest service is not planting trees, then it is not doing its job.

Less than six months before the global climate summit in Copenhagen, this summer is giving us another taste of climate change. The extended heat wave reminded us that we're on the edge of a dangerous threshold unless we reduce carbon emissions quickly.

The tree-planting carbon offset proposed by B.C.'s Ministry of Forests in July doesn't inspire confidence that the province understands how forests can truly help us meet this challenge.

China’s potential fibre-supply gap (the difference between total demand and total domestic supply) is projected to reach approximately 150 million m3 (roundwood equivalent) by 2015 - or a volume that is more than the entire Canadian timber harvest in 2009 - a strong indication that China’s wood imports must continue to rise in the short- to medium-term period to match with projected consumption reports International WOOD Markets Group,.

Pine trunks rumble down conveyors and sawdust clouds the air. The noise inside the sawmill nearly deafens, but in this remote town of 3,500 people, some 700 kilometres north of Vancouver, there are few sounds as welcome as the buzz and clatter of a mill back at work.

John Innes, to be officially named as the new dean of the University of B.C.'s Faculty of Forestry today, said his priorities include developing links with China and other international partners, and working closely with first nations representatives.