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Forests take along time to grow and we don’t have a lot of time

Forest fires in B.C. mean our forests now emit more CO2 each year than they sequester (BC Provincial Inventory Reports).
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Forest fires in B.C. mean our forests now emit more CO2 each year than they sequester (BC Provincial Inventory Reports).

When will the penny drop with politicians? Big-treed old-growth forests in B.C. store more carbon in trees and soil, store more water and hold more biodiversity than any other type of forest we have. The IPCC has said this is the vital decade; if humanity does not turn around our levels of CO2 generation this decade, feedback loops will mean we are toast.

Current forestry practises may feed some families today, but many other families face starvation today, as crops fail from heat, drought, floods, disease and pests. Soon enough these forces will kill our forests too.

Better management of second and third growth forests in B.C. can give increased rates of carbon sequestration. Thinning, prescribed burning, ecosystem restoration, mass timber, tourism, banning raw log exports, there are so many opportunities for contributive forestry.

To those who suggest new forests, (plantations), sequester more carbon, take a look at a group of seedlings. Forests take a long time to grow. And we don’t have time.

Amanda Vaughan,

Black Creek