Tackling climate change: New options for BC's forest sector

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British Columbia’s forestry sector can potentially make a major contribution to meeting the province’s climate targets through using a mix of regionally-specific harvest and stand management techniques, bioenergy investments and creating more long-lived wood products.

That’s a key message from a public presentation held this morning by the Forest Carbon Management Project, a multi-year collaborative effort created by the Pacific Institute for Climate Solutions (PICS), involving scientists from Natural Resources Canada (NRCan), the University of British Columbia (UBC) and other agencies.

British Columbia’s forestry sector can potentially make a major contribution to meeting the province’s climate targets through using a mix of regionally-specific harvest and stand management techniques, bioenergy investments and creating more long-lived wood products.

That’s a key message from a public presentation held this morning by the Forest Carbon Management Project, a multi-year collaborative effort created by the Pacific Institute for Climate Solutions (PICS), involving scientists from Natural Resources Canada (NRCan), the University of British Columbia (UBC) and other agencies.

Project researchers from UBC showed that climate change is already impacting the region’s 55 million hectares of forest lands, with some wetter areas benefitting from the warmer conditions and increased carbon dioxide levels, while drier areas are experiencing slower growth and increased tree mortality.

NRCan scientists then shared modelling results on the impact of different management options, including extracting more wood from harvested areas, using waste wood to create bioenergy instead of slash burning, and substituting more long-lived wood products in place of carbon-intensive steel and concrete.

 

Continue reading at University of Victoria.

Photo via Pacific Institute for Climate Solutions (University of Victoria).