world news - 03.04.2008
Canada must adapt to climate impact on forests
Canada's lumber and paper industry must also address its declining
competitiveness and use trees for non-timber products such as
biochemicals, the provincial and federal officials said in a draft
report on the future of the country's forests. Canada is home to about 10 percent of the world's forests, and more
than 90 percent of the country's forest land is government owned. The report, which was light on specifics, said the forests will feel
the impact of global warming even if steps are taken internationally to
reduce emissions of greenhouse gasses linked to climate change. Potential problems include more large-scale fires in Western and
Northern Canada, outbreaks of tree-eating insects that are normally
controlled by cold weather, and wetter conditions and ice storms in
Atlantic Canada. The country must also look at using some of its forest as "carbon
sinks" that can offset greenhouse gas emissions by capturing and
storing carbon dioxide from the air, according to the report, which is
still subject to public comment. Canada must recognize that changing technology has made its lumber
and paper firms less competitive with those in other countries with
lower labor costs, but the traditional way of dealing with that
situation will not work in the future. "Investments to reduce costs and increase efficiency in commodity
paper and lumber production can slow this trend, but they cannot stop
it," the report warns.
See also:
- — Russian timber protectionism
- — European paper/forest products companies face continued decline in credit quality
- — Pulpmills in Finland and Sweden increase pulpwood imports as domestic wood fiber costs rise
- — EU urges Russia to reconsider rise in export duties on timber
- — Illegal cuttings and the world market of wood
