Forestry sector has a role in fighting climate change.

• Date: 01 October 2019
• Author: Robinson, David

A study by the Ontario Forestry Research Institute describes Ontario's forestry sector as "the managed forests AND the harvested wood products (HWP) originating from these forests." Forestry isn't just trees and the companies that harvest and process trees. According to this definition, our forestry sector includes all the houses built from northern wood in Toronto. And in Mississippi, if there are any. And in China. It includes wooden bowls and wooden tables, but not pellets, pulp, or paper.

The question the researchers were trying to answer using this definition is whether our forests are any good at carbon capture and sequestration. In other words, can this Northern Ontario resource industry contribute to the fight against climate change?

There is no doubt that there is a huge stock of carbon caught up in Northern Ontario trees and soils. The trouble is that mature forests give off about as much C02 as they...