Many people are concerned about global warming, and they want action taken to slow it down and possibly stop it. One approach is to reduce greenhouse gas emissions. Another approach is to remove greenhouse gases from the atmosphere. Forestry in British Columbia is working hard on both approaches.
B.C. forestry is reducing greenhouse gas emissions that result when forests burn by reducing the amount of wood that is burned or available to be burned. This wood, that would otherwise decay or burn and therefore emit greenhouse gases, is instead turned into sustainable green building products and green energy which can displace energy that might have been alternatively produced from fossil fuels.
B.C. forestry is also working hard to use trees to ‘suck’ carbon out of the air. As trees grow, they absorb carbon dioxide from the atmosphere. Photosynthesis is nature’s way of using the power of sunlight to combine carbon dioxide with water, which in turn produces wood and oxygen. This is the reason why planting trees is so good for the environment.
Following disturbances to a forest such as insects, disease, wind, fire, harvesting, etc., trees will grow back naturally from seed, but that can take years. Instead, B.C. usually plants over 200 million trees per year, right away without delay. The sooner trees are growing, the sooner they can start absorbing carbon dioxide.
Tree planting in British Columbia is strictly regulated. The collection, cultivation, storage, transfer, use, and growing of tree seeds must comply with the laws of B.C. The British Columbians who grow the baby trees are some the best in world using the latest science and decades of know-how. The survival rate and growth of the planted trees in British Columbia is outstanding.
Most of the people who grow B.C.’s trees belong to the Forest Nursery Association of British Columbia (HOME | FNABC). These are the forest seedling nurseries which supply tree seedlings for reforestation efforts in British Columbia. We recognize the highly skilled tree seedling nursery people who grow the trees and the roughly 5,000 people who plant the trees in the forest each year, providing example after example of how forestry works for B.C. and takes action on climate change.
