Carbon Sinks Afforestation
In 1997 Canfor purchased 5,700 hectares of marginal
agricultural land with the objective of converting the
property into productive forests. The land was originally
primarily forest but was converted to cropland under
a Provincial government agricultural land-lease program
in the seventies by the Rice family, the original owners
of the property.
The Kyoto Protocol agreement recognizes the creation
of forest sinks as a means of reducing CO2 atmospheric
concentrations. Article 3.3 specifically recognizes
afforestation and reforestation as activities that can
lead to CO2 sequestration. Neither of these terms is
defined in the Protocol, and their definition is the
subject of ongoing international discussions. However,
the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC)
outlines definitions as follows:
afforestation is defined as tree planting
on lands that have not historically contained
forests,
reforestation is defined as planting trees
on lands, which have previously contained
forests but have been converted to some other use,
(therefore planting after harvesting is considered
restocking, and not reforestation).
The Rice property fits the latter definition of reforestation
as the property was partially deforested and converted
to agricultural use and is now being converted back
into forest cover. The company planted 165 ha in 1999
with support from Forest Renewal BC. An additional 695
ha was planted in the summer of 2000 and a further 860
ha planned for 2001.
It is Canfor's intent to manage this property on a
sustained yield basis and in this context the lands
will be included in its Tree FarmLicense 48. This license
agreement with the BC Ministry of Forests requires the
preparation of a Five Year Management Plan and Annual
Reports that must be submitted to the Ministry of Forests
for approval.
The property is being planted with a combination of
white spruce and lodgepole pine, species native to the
region. The estimated growth rate is 3.7 m3/ha/yr.
The plantations are being managed on a 90-year rotation.
The estimate represents an annual average over the 90-year
rotation and will average somewhat less than this estimate
for the first few decades until the plantations become
fully established. By year-end 2000, 860 hectares were
afforested resulting in the sequestration of 4,641 t
of CO2 per year.
Reforestation
In keeping with our License agreements and company
policy of sustainable forest management, we continue
to immediately reforest harvested areas to ensure that
young, growing forests become effective carbon sinks.
In 1999 we reforested 17,627 hectares, planting 23.2
million seedlings. In 2000, we planted a further 44.4
million seedlings on 32,148 hectares. |
