Our Forest Resources

1. Our Forest Resources

2. Forest Facts • Canada’s most abundant renewable resource • Canada owns 10% of the global forest • Continuous band of forest stretches between British Columbia and Newfoundland • Forests cover 42% or 4 187 820 square km of Canada’s total area

3. Forests • Provides lumber, pulp and paper • Also: • Produce Oxygen • Store carbon • Prevent soil erosion • Collect snow and purify groundwater • Provide habitat for many species of animals

4. Types of Trees in Canada • Coniferous Trees: cone bearing with needle leaves (pine, spruce, etc.) • Deciduous Trees: lose their leaves every year in fall (poplar, white birch trees)

5. Economic Standpoint • Forests are classified as COMMERCIAL or NON-COMMERCIAL (about 50% each) • Commercial Forests: Trees are large enough and close enough to markets to harvest profitably • Warmer, wetter areas of Canada • Non-commercial Forests: Poor soils and a short growing season in northern Canada make trees that are generally too small to harvest

6. Canada’s Commercial Forests • There are 5 regions of Canada’s commercial forests that vary greatly • The diversity provides a wide range of environments to be used in different ways • Also provides the forest industry with the raw materials (primary) from which a wide range of goods (secondary) can be produced

7. Forest Regions of Canada

8. Boreal Forest Region • HUGE! It is the largest region by far • Mainly coniferous trees (black spruce, white spruce, balsam fir, jack pine, cedar) • Some deciduous such as white birch are also common • Long winters and low precipitation make tree growth slow • Smaller trees = pulp and paper production more important than lumber production

9. Taiga Forest Region • Very thin soils, cool temperatures, short growing season and areas of permafrost define this region • Stunted trees as a result • Coniferous trees (black and white spruce, jack pine) Deciduous trees (poplar, aspen) • Mostly inaccessible and far from markets • Picture: stunted black and white spruce interspersed with open bogs and rocky barrens

10. West Coast Forest Region • Most productive forest in Canada • Western slopes of the coastal mountains • Abundant precipitation, moderate temperatures, long growing season • Produces trees to grow larger than any other in the country • Large amount of trees spaced tightly together • Douglas fir, sitka spruce, western red cedar, western hemlock

11. Montane Forest Region • Lower precipitation and shorter growing season than the West Coast Region • Smaller coniferous trees are a result (spruce, lodgepole, ponderosa pine) • You still get a large amount of trees spaced tightly together but not quite as dense as the West Coast Region • Therefore, it is still a very viable commercial forest

12. Mixed Forest Region • Longer growing season and more precipitation than the boreal forest region • Forest blends from coniferous (fir, spruce) to mixed to purely deciduous forest • Warmer temperatures, longer growing season and lots of precipitation • The raw materials provide a large mix of goods • Both hardwood lumber and sugar maple trees • Growth of birch, walnut, cherry trees used in furniture • Large population centres and busy commercial use has left very little left

13. Computer Lab to fill in blanks • http://www.fpac.ca/index.php/en/ • Forest products association of Canada • Hit enter on English side • Click on “Explore Forest Regions of Canada”