It Takes A Forest

Our forests are the places where we camp and hike, where we go to watch and listen for wildlife, and an important source for the wood products we use every day. In Ontario, we manage the forests in a way that makes sure that all of these values will continue to be here for everyone to enjoy over the long-term.

That is what we mean by a multi-use resource. It’s not only about making sure that we are able to get the benefits we want from the forest today, it’s about making sure that we can get them forever.

Our forests are the outdoor playgrounds for some of Ontario’s largest cities including Toronto and Ottawa, and every year millions of people visit to enjoy the outdoors. Whether you are a canoer, a moose or a woodworker, we all need the forest for different reasons. As a multi-use resource, the forests are managed in a way to meet everyone’s needs.

Forests and green spaces are linked to our health – they reduce our stress, speed up recovery and improve our learning. Trees and forests are integral components of healthy ecosystems that support healthy human populations. By connecting with the forest, we can start to understand how important it is in our lives.

Having healthy forests in Ontario takes planning. We do this by taking into account all of the values – like recreation, forest products, and ensuring healthy habitats for all of our wildlife species.

Get out into Ontario’s forests and learn why Ontario is considered to be a world leader in managing healthy forests and experience the benefits for yourself. Learn more about the health benefits through our Healthy Dose of Green publication.

Did you know that Algonquin Park has over 2,000 kilometres of canoe routes and portages across hundreds of lakes and rivers, nearly 2,000 camp sites, and that it attracts over a million visitors a year?

Algonquin Park is a great example of how we manage our forests for a variety of values. It also provides a sanctuary for many kinds of wildlife including moose, deer, beaver, turtles, woodpeckers, owls and the elusive and mysterious eastern wolf – to name only a few. Check out the Wildlife and Biodiversity in Ontario page to learn more.

At the same time, it provides the wood we need to make a wide variety of products such as the lumber we use in our homes, utility poles to transport electricity to our schools, and even firewood that we burn to keep warm during the winter.

Our ability to manage for all of the benefits and values at the same time is what makes Ontario a world leader in forestry. For more information on forestry and Algonquin Park, you can visit the Algonquin Forestry Authority or Friends of Algonquin Park websites.

Did you know that Ontario and Canada are considered leaders in forestry?

Less than 0.5 per cent of Ontario’s forested are harvested every year. It’s true – and the law requires that forests are regenerated after harvesting to ensure that new forests grow back. It is all part of the Crown Forest Sustainability Act (CFSA) – the law that requires any public forest land is managed in a sustainable manner – taking into account the environment, economy and society.

You may also not know that more than 24 million hectares of Ontario’s public forests have been certified. Certification is a process where independent experts make sure that the forests are being used and harvested wisely in a sustainable manner. Even though Ontario has only 2 per cent of the world’s forests, we have 7 per cent of the world’s certified forests. This means that we manage our forests in a responsible way.

National and international studies agree that nobody does it better.

“Canada (British Columbia and Ontario) and Australia (New South Wales) are the countries with the most demanding legislation on the studied elements.” – Forestry Innovation Investment

"Within the Canadian context, Ontario has developed one of the most comprehensive and prescriptive forest management planning systems in the country." – Canadian Boreal Forest Agreement

In Ontario, for every tree that is cut on public land, a plan is in place to make sure that trees will grow back. It’s true. In fact, it’s the law. In central Ontario natural regeneration is the most common way of growing the forest. When the forest is harvested, conditions are created that allow young trees to flourish. Taller trees are left to provide seed to regenerate the forest after it’s cut, and provide valuable diversity and wildlife habitat. In some forest types we plant trees to ensure that harder-to-grow species, such as white pine and red oak, succeed. For more information on how we grow new trees on public land visit Forest Renewal.

On private lands, landowners are educated on how to make their forests healthy through managing their forest or planting a new one. Landowners are encouraged to maintain forest cover through the Managed Forest Tax Incentive Program. On private lands, trees are planted in areas that were previously farmed but determined to be unsuitable for agriculture. To restore forest cover, the Ontario Government has committed to planting 50 million new trees on privately owned land by the year 2025. For more information on the 50 Million Tree program and other tree planting projects visit 50 Million Tree Program.

Did you know that managing our forests to make forest products is one the best ways to take carbon out of the atmosphere?

It’s true – trees are made mostly out of carbon. As trees grow they suck up carbon dioxide. Through a complicated process known as photosynthesis, trees take carbon dioxide and convert it – pushing out oxygen for us to breathe, and keeping the carbon for growth. Over 50% of trees are made up of carbon.

When trees are turned into wood products like lumber, furniture, and musical instruments, they lock up this carbon. In the forest where the trees were removed, new trees take root, grow and take additional carbon out of the atmosphere. Managing our forests to ensure they are healthy, meet the needs of communities and that they give us the products we need, are all part of sustainable forest management.

Helping to fight climate change requires us to look at ways to take carbon out of the atmosphere. Managing our forests in a sustainable way achieves this. By growing healthy forests to be turned into wood products for construction, furniture or books, we are taking carbon out of the atmosphere and locking it up.

The potential of forestry and forest products to help fight climate change is so important that the United Nations International Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) has recognized that sustainable forest management, combined with the use of wood products, is one of the best things we can do to remove carbon from the atmosphere. It takes a forest to help fight climate change. Learn more about the relationship between our forests and carbon in this Natural Resources Canada page.

"In the long term, a sustainable forest management strategy aimed at maintaining or increasing forest carbon stocks, while producing an annual yield of timber, fibre or energy from the forest, will generate the largest sustained mitigation benefit." – International Panel on Climate Change

Did you know that you can improve your environmental impact by choosing wood?

When you think about the environmental impact of a product, you need to think of every stage of its production from the making of the product to its disposal. Through a Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) all the environmental impacts are considered to make a product and compared with other materials. Wood is found to have the clear environmental advantage. Wood uses less energy in production, produces less air and water pollution, is renewable, and its overall carbon footprint is lower. These are all important factors to be considered when doing an LCA.

Wood also is a great insulator, which is important when most houses are made of wood. This can mean lower heating and cooling bills. It is also a carbon friendly choice, with wood products locking up carbon for years. Most importantly, because wood is a renewable resource we know that if we manage it in a good way that we will have resources for generations.

Click on the following links to learn more about Carbon Storage, Life Cycle Assessments, or Wood Products and Carbon Sequestration.