Certified Sustainable and Legal
British Columbia is a leader in third-party sustainable forest management certification. Suppliers of Western Red Cedar are committed to high environmental standards, upholding harvesting practices that are recognized as legal and sustainable. There are three Certification processes in use in BC; Canadian Standards Association's Sustainable Forest Management Standard (CSA); Sustainable Forestry Initiative (SFI); Forest Stewardship Council (FSC). All involve independent, qualified third- party audits that measure the company's planning, practices, systems and performance against predetermined standards. These three certification processes all ensure that forest management promotes sustainability. They all examine how operations address a range of forest values such as biological diversity, wildlife habitat, soils and water resources. They all ensure that harvest areas are reforested, that laws are complied with, and that there is no unauthorized or illegal logging. Customers of BC-based companies have the added confidence of knowing that certification is not a substitute for government regulation but rather an added assurance. A recent independent review found that BC is among the top of the 38 jurisdictions studied. These policies are backed by enforcement and the independent Forest Practices Board, which monitors both industry and government actions.
Harvests
Less than 1% of BC's Cedar growing stock volume is harvested each year, with three quarters of the harvest originating from the coastal forest areas. Clearcut harvesting is now being phased out on the BC coast. A system called variable retention, which requires retaining enough trees, snags and coarse woody debris to keep the forest structure intact, is now widely practiced. The degree of retention depends on the designated zoning of the forest. For zones in which the emphasis is on conserving old-growth, most of the trees will be retained. This may dictate leaving groups of trees or even single trees untouched.
Growth and Reforestation
Artificial regeneration of Western Red Cedar began in British Columbia in the late 1960s in association with other species. BC is aggressively replanting Cedar. An average of approximately 8 million seedlings are planted each year on the coast which represents about 15% of total coastal planting. The result is expected to be an increase in Cedar available for harvest in 70-plus years. Old-growth remains the larger portion of BC's timber, but second-growth Red Cedar is on a steady gain. This second-growth is already being harvested for the high value wood it produces. |
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