A nation of trees

	Big Cedars Boardwalk, Mount Revelstoke National Park, B.C. Photo: John and Ainsley Bristowe

After Russia, Canada has the largest continuous forested area on earth. Covering nearly half the nation's land mass and constituting 10% of the globe's forest cover, Canada's forests dominate our landscape and psyche alike by providing a wide array of ecological, economic and spiritual services. Our forests moderate the climate, cleanse the water, and shelter some 200,000 plant and animal species. They contribute approximately $27 billion to our GDP annually and provide 1 out of every 44 Canadian jobs. And they are havens for Canadians in search of tranquility and simple beauty.

All together, some 245 million hectares of Canada's forests are classified as timber-productive. Each year, roughly one million hectares of this area, or 0.4% of Canada's productive forests, are harvested. British Columbia is the giant of Canadian forestry: West Coast loggers harvested about 17% of Canada’s total harvest area in 1999.

Gillies Grove, Arnprior, Ont. Photo: Emily Burton

Once extracted from the forest, timber is generally referred to as 'roundwood'—trees stripped of their branches, tops and stumps. Roundwood includes products such as logs and bolts, which are used primarily by sawmills in the manufacture of lumber and plywood, and pulpwood, which is used to produce paper and newsprint. From 1985 to 1999, the volume of roundwood harvested from our forests increased almost 15%, from 168.7 million to 193.2 million cubic metres.

The Canadian forestry sector is a prodigious exporter of its products, accounting for 9% of all Canadian exports. In 2000, Canada was the world’s number one exporter of wood pulp, paper, sawn wood and wood based panels. Exports have expanded tremendously over the past two decades, reaching a total value of $36.2 billion in 2002.