How Sustainable is BC’s Forestry Industry?

1. Define and list the benefits and drawbacks of:

Clearcutting & Silviculture:
The definition of Clearcutting is cutting all of the trees in an exact area for view or any specific reasons. Also, the definition of Silviculture is not far different from clearcutting, it means the method of cultivation of trees in the forest. Thus, the cut trees by clearcutting can be used as the resource of people for silviculture.

Benefits:
– Financial profits
– More increased water flow
– More increased farmlands

Drawbacks:
– Affecting on environmental problems
– Affecting on wildlife

Selective Logging:
The definition of Selective Logging is the practice of cutting down specific trees and still leaving other species.

Benefits:
– Supports more wildlife
– Building up tolerance and resistance to disease
– Carbon dioxide that is stored by the trees will regenerate
– Helps the forest grow back faster

Drawbacks:
– Expensive
– Time-consuming
– Some species will not regenerate as fast
– More exposure to weather damage

 

2. Answer the key question above using your research and your understanding of the economy of the Forestry Industry.

As humans are evolved, most of the resources of human civilizations that are from forests. The forest industry is one of the sides that show a dependence of people on nature. However, the current forestry industry in British Columbia is not sustainable. The loss of the forestry industry is bigger than economical profits. In addition, it is still impossible to restore all of the destroyed environment including ecosystems, wildlife, some species of trees, etc. Even though people try to regenerate them in a forest, the time of restoring trees always has been slower than the spent time of cutting down trees and destruction of the forest. In fact, according to the 2018 Economic State of the B.C. Forest Sector, the rate of deforestation in BC is higher than the reforestation rate. The sustainability of the forestry industry seems still having some possibility to be continued but there are too many obstacles to the future. We need to think about the prevention of the side effects like water pollution and the destruction of the ecosystem first. The forestry industry should be continued after the perfect remedy of the side effects is discovered.

http://ohsroom12and13.weebly.com/uploads/6/0/4/9/60491981/harvestingtrees.pdf

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Silviculture

https://www2.gov.bc.ca/gov/content/industry/forestry/competitive-forest-industry/forest-industry-economics

https://www2.gov.bc.ca/assets/gov/farming-natural-resources-and-industry/forestry/forest-industry-economics/economic-state/2018_economic_state_of_bc_forest_sector-no_appendix.pdf

Pros & Cons of Harvesting Timber on a Hunting Tract