How sustainable is BC’s Forestry Industry?

If it is done correctly BC’s Forestry Industry is sustainable, this is only if trees are being re planted, The waters are not contaminated and the loss of habitats for wildlife are kept to a minimum. If we were to take what we wanted, without considering the effects, this is when this industry would fail and BC would run out of valued forest areas.

Benefits of:

Clear Cutting
– efficient for harvesting and replanting trees
– Financially sound
– increased water flow
– Increased farm land
Silviculture
– less expensive
-easy and efficient operations
– avoided damage to regeneration
Selective Logging
– allows ecosystems to support more wildlife than clear cutting
– allows forests to retain resistance to disease and pests.
– reduced ecological damage

Drawbacks of:

Clear Cutting
– Negative impacts on nature, wildlife, habitats and plant loss.
– loss of recreation land due to loss of aesthetic appeal
– loss of 1000 year old forests.
Silviculture
– exposure to erosion
– takes away habitats for many animals

Selective Logging
– takes away strong trees in the forest leaving the weaker trees.
– difficult regrowth
– harmful to other trees (macenery easily damages other trees)

How sustainable is the mining industry? What should the future look like?

The mining industry is not sustainable, The more we take, the less we will have in the future. The things we mine (fossil soil, gas, gold, coal……) are non renewable resources, meaning once they are gone, they are gone and will not regenerate for thousands and some maybe millions of years. If we continue to mine the way we do, not only will our resources be gone but our earth will be all torn up, habitats destroyed due to gaping mines in the middle of wilderness.

Staring now humans need to learn and adapt to relying less on materials, things that need to be mind. Although eliminating this completely in our society is next to impossible, we will need to figure it out. By reusing and recycling the metals we already have, we will cut down on what we need to continuously extract from the earth.By changing your mindset, this will help retain our resources in the earth before they are extinct and inexcusable to us in our time.

First of all, by reducing the amount we buy, throw out and create, we can cut down on all that we put into our landfills. Places around the world have figured out amazing ways to cut down on waste, ways that would not be difficult to implement here in Canada.
Germany:
-banned local garbage dumps
-planned to decommission remaining landfills by 2022
-Utilize the waste that is created+ the energy produced by it
-”Manufacturers and retailers have to pay for a green dot on the packaging of their products. The more packaging, the higher the fee creating an incentive for businesses to reduce packaging and facilitate recycling.”
Belgium:
–75 percent of their waste is reused, recycled or composted
-The green event and assessment guide is a digital tool that is used in Belgium in the fight against waste generation…. calculate the ecological impact of an event and is even able to prevent waste during them
-Ecolizer: web-based calculator that helps promote sustainable design and clean low waste production
If we were to implement some of these techniques to cut down on waste, the world may see a huge impact, or a change. If other first world countries can figure out systems such as these, we can too.