Clear Cut Harvesting and Replanting
Forests are natural and should be kept this way. The tree species in our forests are amazing and they are home to wildlife and other fauna. The trees in our forests are old and replanting new trees to replace them is our way to replace what we are taking for our wood industry. However we are taking too much too fast and cannot replace and rejuvenate our forests fast enough or sustain it for future generations. Canada is home to some of the greatest forests in the world and we are killing them to fuel a dying industry. Like our notes say Canada becomes a very “resource mentality-oriented” and thinks we have a limitless supply of our natural resources and goes harvest happy. When in actuality we should be thinking of sustainable ways to harvest our trees responsibly. Yes planting trees to replace the ones we cut down however it is a quick fix and takes years for a tree to grow to a marketable size and even then it is not fully grown in our life time. We also don’t know how cutting the trees and planting new ones affect the entire ecosystem. It could have very negative impacts on our forests.
Plantations or tree farms are ok in order to grow trees for lumber and paper. It is not 100 % effective but it keeps our forests safe and a sustainable supply for lumber. How can we harvest lumber safely, efficiently and sustainably?
Enlighten Customers with Added Value
I think that Canadians need to be made aware of how the impact of buying certified wood or paper is helping improve our forestry industry. Do we really know how the wood ended up at Home Depot or where that paper we wrote our grocery list on came from? If we are made more aware not only by “enlightening” us on our wood products but what processes brought them here, was it made in Canada, where was it cut from, etc than maybe we would be more concerned for our forests and trees on a local, provincial, and national level.
I don’t really think the certifications are “schemes” but necessary to take precautions to protect our forests as a natural resource. We also need to have more knowledge of the lumber market and the government needs to have this knowledge in order to make codes and standards for lumber.
I also believe there should be more added value in our wood products, not only for our own use, but for exporting to other countries. Other countries by Canadian wood and its just raw lumber, and then they have to do the added value themselves. If Canada had some sort of certification or regulation on added value of our wood products this would add more jobs to the lumber industry, and better products to compete with internationally. This means that each log must be cut shorter, smaller and with natural defects, and more cost-efficient ways to cut the wood. With “Added Value”, comes more technology, which intun is expensive making the wood more expensive to process increasing the retail value of the wood. Added value is definitely, the way of the future for Canadian Lumber but more research and development is needed to make our industry and natural forests sustainable.
For more on added value please see:
No comments:
Post a Comment