Canada's 'sustainable' logging policy exposed as old‑growth forests vanish

Forests in Canada constitute as much as 9% of the world's total forest cover. Their existence is pivotal in combatting global warming. However, large expanses of Canada's forests are vanishing despite the country's authorities claiming to implement "the most sustainable" logging policy. Reuters has unveiled a scandal involving the certification of wood products marketed as eco-friendly.

In the past two decades, Canada has witnessed some of the largest-scale logging of forests with critical ecological significance.

All products made from trees in Canada must bear the seal of one of two non-profit organisations responsible for the care of old-growth forests. Old-growth forests are defined as forests over 100 years old with a diameter exceeding 50 centimetres.

These organisations are FSC and SFI, which issue daily certificates to companies involved in logging and scrutinising the supply chains of consumer products. The SFI or FSC seal indicates a product was produced "responsibly." In practice, this is not always the case.

In Ontario alone, from 2016 to 2020, over 30% of the trees felled were 100 years old and older. British Columbia, often heralded as a symbol of Canada's wilderness, has lost half of its old-growth forest area over two decades.

In theory, a plan to protect Canadian forests has been in place since 2020. However, in practice, logging has never been banned in endangered areas. Additionally, each province receives specific remuneration for logging in their territories. Over the past 10 years, profits from the sale of Canadian timber have reached £5.6 billion, reports Reuters.

In Alberta, trees are being cleared to make way for open-pit mines.

It will be generations before it ever grows trees again, says Barry Robinson, an environmental lawyer in Alberta, to Reuters.

Logging in Quebec poses a dire threat to the local Indigenous population. The boreal forest area of this province is home to 30 Indigenous groups.

Old-growth and primaeval forests, being thoroughly cut down in Canada, are an invaluable resource for our planet. Scientists emphasise that they can absorb much more harmful carbon dioxide than trees replanted in previously logged areas.