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Forest Products Industry Calls for Greater Scrutiny of Forest Management Practices

The Forest Products Association of Canada (FPAC) called on other forestry nations to follow Canada’s sustainable forest management lead.

“There is absolutely no question that the world’s forests are a precious resource that requires enormous care and management,” said Andrew Casey, FPAC Vice President. “As concluded in recent reports by Sir Nicholas Stern and the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, deforestation is one of the largest contributors to global warming. In addition, recent United Nations reports on the state of the world’s forests concluded that globally, deforestation accounts for about 20% of the world’s greenhouse gas emissions. That same UN report noted that Canada, one of the world’s largest and most successful forest products nations, has a deforestation rate of zero, primarily because Canada is committed to sustainable forest management, recycling, and sound environmental performance.”

“In this context, customers are quite rightly considering the environmental impacts of the forest products they buy, and the environmental policies and processes of their suppliers and the regions they draw resources from,” concluded Casey. “With zero deforestation, more original forest, protected forest and third-party certified forest than any other country in the world, an excellent track record in recycling and greenhouse gas emissions reductions and some of the toughest forest management regulations in the world, our customers can be assured that when they are buying from Canada they are making a very responsible environmental choice.”

“While Canada shares stewardship of the boreal forest with other boreal nations, including Russia, Scandinavia, and the United States, it is a vital part of Canada’s environmental, economic and social landscape,” continued Casey. “If all countries of the world could eliminate or virtually eliminate deforestation as Canada has done, this would have an impact comparable to eliminating fossil fuel emissions in the United States in terms of advancing GHG mitigation efforts. FPAC has also joined other leading international stakeholder groups in the global forest community in support of initiatives aimed at reducing deforestation, eliminating illegal logging and improving sustainable forest management practices worldwide.”