Get informed

Perhaps the easiest action any of us can take is to expand our understanding of the state of BC’s forests. Evergreen Alliance has gathered some useful tools below that will help you better understand the logging industry in BC and the impacts it is having. We encourage you to share this information. If you have an idea for a useful addition to our toolbox, please let us know.

 

Forest Science library

Scientific studies and reports from ENGOs related to the impacts of logging on forests: loss of primary forests; destruction of habitat and loss of biodiversity; loss of the hydrological functions of forests; increase in forest fire hazard; loss of carbon sequestration capacity; increase in forest carbon emissions; plantation failure; ecologically damaging practices; impact of logging roads; soil loss and damage

 

Maps

We’ve gathered over 3o maps created by the Province that can be used to determine the forest attributes and legal status of any location in BC.

 

 

Forest Trends

We have gathered statistical information from credible sources and, using that information, developed graphs that show the trends in the fundamental characteristics of BC’s forest industry, from the area being logged each year to the value of public subsidies. 

 

Clearcut Carbon Calculator

This is a tool for estimating the amount of carbon prematurely released to the atmosphere as a result of clearcut logging in BC. This allows attribution of carbon release to specific logging operations or timber processing facilities such as mills. The calculation involves reconstructing the entire forest stand that was clearcut based on the volume of merchantable wood that was scaled from that clearcut.

 

Ministry of Forests Harvest Billing System

This is the publicly accessible portal to HBS. The system goes back to 2006, inclusive. This tool can be used to determine the volume of cut and the stumpage paid by month or year, by region, management unit, forest file ID, or timber mark. Requests for data can be filtered by species, product, grade and billing type. If you would like to learn how to use this tool, contact us.

 

The state of wood product manufacturing and processing facilities in BC

Find the location, ownership, annual capacity, number of employees, volume of trees being processed and associated forest carbon emissions of all wood products manufacturing and processing facilities in BC. Map includes basic measurements of output, carbon emissions and employment.

 

Forest-related legislation in BC

 

Economic State of the BC Forest Sector

The ministry of forests’ latest account of the forest industry written by Alex Barnes. Latest year covered is 2020.

 

BC Greenhouse Gas Emissions Inventory 1990-2020

To comply with Canada’s international commitments, BC reports its GHG emissions annually. Reports are 2 years behind current date. The BC GHG Inventory includes reporting of emissions related to the Other Land Use category, which includes  four aspects of forest-management-related emissions: “Forest Growth Minus Decay,” “Slash Pile Burning,” “Wildfires,” and “Decomposition of Harvested Wood Products.” These are not yet included as part of our provincial emissions although they are certainly carbon emissions to the atmosphere.

 

BC Wildfire Dashboard

This is the BC Wildfire Service’s online interactive map showing the current forest fire situation in BC. The Evergreen Alliance uses this information to track the coincidence of clearcuts, plantations and forest fires.

 

Most recent satellite imagery of BC

This link will take you to the Sentinel Hub EO Browser. If you haven’t used this tool, go here to find out how to use it. The browser can be used to monitor changes in forest cover in BC, including logging and forest fires. Depending on the time of year, cloud-free, or nearly-cloud-free images allow assessment of changes that have occurred in the last few days.

 

Google Earth Forest Removal Time Lapse Generator

This tool can be used to determine when logging occurred in a specific place of interest. The time-lapse sequence covers the period from 1984 to 2020.

 

Measure distance and area, or determine latitude and longitude

This tool will help you measure the area of land, the distance between two points, or the latitude and longitude of a point on the land.