 | ||||||
| Articles | Projects | Resume | Cartoons | Windsurfing | Paintings | Album |
Sustainable Development Series:
Forestry Practices in BC and Ecosystem Health
by Waterose
How Much is that Tree Worth?
So, just how much is that tree worth? Which tree? Any tree in BC, and it depends on ones’ point of view. The government of British Columbia has no idea how much our trees are worth because the value of a tree is determined by global market prices that fluctuate (Travers, 1998). The real value is the role the trees have in protecting the health of our ecosystems. According to Marren Smith of the Sierra Club, the ancient coastal temperate rainforests are the most unique and endangered forests on the globe (Smith, 1998).
These forest ecosystems are ten thousand years old. It takes one thousand years for one inch of topsoil to form. These forests have the most biomass per unit of land. The flora and fauna are as interdependent with our old growth forests as our forestry industry is. Trees provide shelter and ecological niches for a wide diversity of mammals; snags provide special nesting habitat for large birds and boles provide habitat for animals and seedlings (Miller, 1994). BC is home to special species including the grizzly bear, Marbled murrelet, caribou, elk, seabirds, newt salamanders, and lichen. The extensive underground networks of fungi have a symbiotic relationship with the mature forest that is essential to the health of the ecosystem (Smith, 1998). Forests function as a sponge and absorb precipitation, slowly releasing water into the ecosystem. Tree roots hold valuable soils in place and prevent mass wasting. Tree canopies provide sheltering shade for salmon streams and dead salmon provide nutrients for the forest (Mid-Coast, 1997). The health of the ecosystem relies on the links between the land, flora, and fauna.
The health of this ecosystem is endangered by clear cut logging. Fifty-three per cent of these forests have been clear cut in BC, and seventy-three per cent have been clear cut on Vancouver Island (Smith, 1998). The root of the cause of the problem is the method of how we determine the economic value of our forests and how we complete on the global market. The BC forest economy is based on an administrative price system where stumpage plus profit risk equals the selling price less the cost of the log (Travers, 1998). The stumpage fees are set by the BC Forest Commission and are related to the profit risk which includes the fixed capital costs. The selling price is the fluctuating variable that depends on the global market economy. The problem is exacerbated because BC tries to compete with the global market. Other tropical forests grow much quicker than our BC forests, but they produce second grade wood. The BC trees grow slower and produce dense high quality wood that is much more valuable. Irregardless, the BC solution to competing on the global market is mechanising and increasing the amount of harvests by increasing clear cutting.
Clear cutting of old growth forests in BC is damaging the health of the ecosystems beyond repair. The loss of forests means loss of habitat and range corridors for large mammals and birds (Smith, 1998). The removal of forest cover means loss of salmon habitat because the forest canopy shades the streams and keeps the temperature from becoming too hot. The loss of forests means increased erosion and siltation in salmon streams which kill the young salmon fry. Clear cut logging directly exposes steep mountainous slopes to precipitation without the protection of the forest ecosystem. Consequently, there are flash floods and as many as one-hundred slides over a three day rain event. These are the consequences on the health of the ecosystem due to forestry in BC today. Local communities in BC have relied on forestry and fishing for decades for economic vitality. The BC solution to use mechanisation is partially responsible for the economic depression that these communities are experiencing today.
There are proposed solutions or alternatives to modify the way the forestry industry operates in BC. The proposal is to shift to sustainable logging by changing the method that forests are harvested. Proposed methods include patch logging, strip logging, selective logging, horse logging, helicopter logging and tree planting. Tree planting creates monoculture stands of even aged trees that have neither the extensive underground network of fungi, a unique feature of the old growth forest, nor the diverse canopy layers and habitats for biodiversity. Selective logging preserves patches of forest for biodiversity; however, the harvested timber is still competing on the global market (Travers, 1998). The proposed methods for sustainable logging are a band-aid solution that misses a real solution to the core problem.
The core problem is the economic structure of forestry in BC. The real solution is to create a market niche for the real value of trees from BC. Our forests are the highest quality wood in the world and should be sold on the free market as such, and not as cheap second grade building timber or as wood pulp. The economic vitality of BC could be restored with subsidies and tax incentives given to community operated secondary manufacturing industries that create wood products from our BC timber.
Our trees are worth a lot more than we give them credit for. Perhaps they are worth even more standing undisturbed for thousands of years and generations to come.
References:
Written for Royal Roads University ES311 Sustainability Lecture Series: Ecosystem Health and the EnvironmentMid-Coast, 1997. Cut and Run. Sierra Club of B.C. Vancouver, BC.
Miller, T. 1994. Sustaining the Earth: An integrated Approach. Wadsworth, Belmont, Ca. 360 Pp.
Smith, M. January 19, 1998. Seminar. Ancient Rain Forests in BC. Royal Roads University. Victoria, BC.
Travers, R. January 26, 1998. Seminar. New Roots for Forestry. Royal Roads University. Victoria, BC.
Return to Index of Articles
email Waterose
Please Sign My Guestbook
Please View My Guestbook
| Articles | Projects | Resume | Cartoons | Windsurfing | Paintings | Album |
 | ||||||