Forests in British Columbia

There is no doubt that British Columbia is an international leader in the sustainability and management of the forest and is recognized in the whole world. The existing forests in British Columbia meet the environmental, social and economic needs of present and future generations. This is because BC has strict forest laws, experienced forestry professionals, and comprehensive supervision and enforcement to support the forest's renewability (Bourgeois et al, 2018). About 95% of the British Columbia forest is own by the public and the priorities of the use of forestland are developed through community-based strategy land and resource management planning and this has made the management of the forest to be sustainable.

For British Columbia, a pleasant environment is inseparable from successful sustainable forest management.

The British Columbia Forest and Range Practice Act indicate very well that the public should take care of the forest because it supports wildlife habitat, produce timber, it provides recreational opportunities and more so it is a source of water.

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In British Columbia, 60% of the land is forested, which means that of the 95 million hectares of land in British Columbia, 55 million hectares covered by forests. The land available for harvesting is only 22 million. The forest is known to produce a lot of timber that help to sustain the economy of the country (Smith et al, 2018). All of its importance is because of good sustainability and the management of the British Columbia forest. Every individual has the mandate to take care of the forest and are restricted from the times to harvest the timber.

Only 1% of the BC forests are harvested annually and according to laws, these lands are supposed to be reforested properly. Through this, they can balance environmental and economic benefits.

Excellent sustainable forest management is inseparable from skilled forest professionals. As BC has such complete legal protection and human resources that elsewhere in the world do not have, it can ensure that the forests of British Columbia can be sustainable and pass to our next generation. Looking at the social perspective, proper forest management brings better happiness to people living in local areas and it attracts many tourists. Due to its good characteristics that have spread across the world, The British Columbian forest is known to be a tourist attraction center because of its good environment providence of good and fresh air from the forest. Most of the BC's tourist attractions sites are forest parks such as Stanley Park, Capilano Suspension Bridge and Park, and UBC's nearby Pacific Spirit Park. These parks not only provide attraction to the residence but also to the tourist across the world that visit those places and through this, they improve the economy of the country.

People spend their time in forest doing recreational activities like mountain bikes ride, hiking and enjoying the scenery of the place. With these recreational activity people get fitness and they remain health reducing the health issues that are associated with lack of exercise (Bourgeois et al, 2018). It is believed that with the presence of British Columbian forest most the people have reduce stress and anxiety because when they are down they spend their time in forest ending up forgetting all the stress and anxiety. British Columbia is a city full of trees everywhere. When there is a lot of greening in the city, people physical and mental health will be effectively treated. These treatment works are because trees provide fresh air for people to breathe, and surveys have shown that green color can alleviate people's inner anxiety and stress. And. According to the City of Vancouver's Urban Forest Strategy, 125,854 trees have been planted in the city since 2010, and 150,000 trees by the year 2020 will be planted (Kowalski & Conway, 2019).

All of these activities in the British Columbia forest happens because of good sustainability and good management in the forest. Everyone in that province understands the importance of keeping the environment clean by taking care of the forest. With the existence of the British Columbia forest, the economy of the country is stable and good. This is because the British Columbia forest sector creates and provides job opportunities to many people of the country. Though this the country will get income and improve the economy. According to the BC Lumber Trade Council (BCLTC), Forestry has produced approximately 145,000 direct and indirect jobs. According to statistics, one in every 16 jobs in BC depends on forestry, and BC has 140 forest-dependent communities (Smith et al, 2018). Forest-related activities have supported 7,000 companies in the province. Forestry not only provides a large number of jobs but also contributes to the province's GDP. The annual forestry industry in British Columbia contributes about 12 billion Canadian dollars to the province's GDP while providing the government with 2.5 billion dollars in tax revenue. British Columbia forestry also plays an essential role in international trade mostly with United States of America.

Softwood Lumber is the main export product, about 85% of the total output is exported to the global market, 50% of which are exported to the United States, and the remaining 35% of the products are exported to overseas markets such as China, Japan, Korea and India. The remaining 15% are sold directly to British Columbians and other provinces in Canada. For the United States, Canada's cork timber trade is vital to their country (Bourgeois et al, 2018). Because the United States itself does not have the conditions for a large amount of commercial timber production and corkwood is an indispensable material for building houses. Due to the shortage of resources, they must import large quantities of timber from their neighbor country Canada, to meet the housing needs of American families. In British Columbia, the substantial GDP contribution of forestry is inseparable from excellent sustainable forest management. Without good management of the forest then the GDP will be low and the number of people employed will be low leading to national economic crisis.

However, with good management and sustainability of the forest it is accompanied by increase in GDP rate hence stability in the economy of the country. The revenue that the country earns from the harvest of the tree and production of the forest products helps to improve the infrastructure of the country. The environmental sector and the economic sector are unseparated things in British Columbia forest because they help each other. With the good sustainability and management of the forest, it leads to selling of good products and earning the country good revenue helping them to build structures such as schools, hospitals, roads and many production industries (Smith et al, 2018).

The province of British Columbia is leading in collection of revenues because of forest and all is because of good sustainability and management. In conclusion, the British Columbian forest is known for long time as a leader in sustainable forest management and meeting the environmental, social and economic needs of present and future generations. British Columbia forest has succeeded in rapidly developing the economy through creation of employment, tourist attraction and exportation of trees products (Bourgeois et al, 2018). It has also met the needs of residents by providing them with fresh air and good environment of recreation. Just like British Columbia forest, successful forest sustainability management provides more opportunities for people and passes them to next generation, provide them a safe protected environment, and complete ecological environment.

Reference

Bourgeois, W., Binkley, C., LeMay, V., Moss, I., & Reynolds, N. (2018). British Columbia Forest Inventory Panel Technical Review. Prepared for the Office of the Chief Forester Division, British Columbia Ministry of Forests, Lands. Natural Resource Operations and Rural Development. Kowalski, J. M., & Conway, T. M. (2019).

Branching out: The inclusion of urban trees in urban forest management plans for Canadians. Urban Forestry & Urban Greening, 45, 126142. Smith, A. V., Sheppard, S. R., & Pinkerton, E. W. (2018).

Visible stewardship and community forestry practice and: a case study evaluation in British Columbia. In: Gobster, Paul H.; Smardon, Richard C., eds. Gen. Tech. Rep. NRS-P-183. Newtown Square, PA: US Department of Agriculture, Forest Service, Northern Research Station: 161-175. (pp. 161-175).

https://www.naturallywood.com/sustainable-forests/forest-management

https://vancouver.ca/home-property-development/urban-foreststrategy.aspx

https://bclumbertrade.com/facts

https://thehill.com/blogs/pundits-blog/economy-budget/329304-canadian-lumber-tariffs-needlessly-harm-us-home-builders