Another dire warning is coming from B.C.\u2019s forest industry, but this time from the tree-planting side, with those working in reforestation saying funding is running out as record wildfires took out huge sections of the province\u2019s forests.<\/p>\n
A Western Forest Products greenhouse in Saanichton produces hundreds of thousands of tree seedlings. Many will be planted on Vancouver Island, according to Christina Lavoie, nursery supervisor, Western Forest Products, Saanich Forestry Centre.<\/p>\n
B.C. logging companies are legally required to restore the trees they harvest, but as the industry shrinks, fewer trees are being planted.<\/p>\n
Add to that the loss of trees due to years of record forest fires.<\/p>\n
Watch the story below:<\/p>\n
\u201cThe numbers show that we are not keeping up. There\u2019s a substantial amount of burns, and a lot of work goes into getting those burns surveyed, and then replanted. So we are just starting to take a look at what that is going to take,\u201d Lavoie said.<\/p>\n
At the Western Forestry Contractors\u2019 Association<\/a> annual conference, there is concern about just how many trees are being lost to forest fires, and pests on public lands.<\/p>\n Rob Keen, executive director of the Canadian Tree Nursery Association said wildfires have had a devastating impact on Canada\u2019s forests,.<\/p>\n \u201cWe\u2019ve lost eight per cent of our forests in the last three years. Who knows how this is going to add on for 2026, but we, the governments, the people need to understand that if we don\u2019t get back, if we don\u2019t restore the forests, then we\u2019re going to lose all the values that those forests provide,\u201d Keen said.<\/p>\n At a time when the forestry sector, including reforestation, is facing hurdles such as softwood lumber duties, and new American tariffs, Ottawa\u2019s Two Billion Trees program<\/a>, first announced in 2020, will be scrapped.<\/p>\n There are still about 100 million trees to be planted in B.C. under the program for the next three years due to funding secured by the B.C. government.<\/p>\n Timo Scheiber, executive director of the Western Forestry Contractors\u2019 Association said seven billion trees lost in B.C. to forest fires represents a huge loss and after the federal program runs out, funding remains uncertain.<\/p>\n \u201cSo we\u2019re losing a lot of capacity in the industry. Contractors are going to shut down, we\u2019re laying people off just like the logging sector,\u201d Scheiber said.<\/p>\n Forests Minister Ravi Parmar says he\u2019s working with industry on solutions.<\/p>\n \u201cI very much believe that forestry is a strategic economic asset for our country and as part of that requires us to be able to do a lot of work in building a restoration and reforestation economy,\u201d Parmar said.<\/p>\n There is capacity to produce more trees, but without funding, B.C.\u2019s forests may well be under further stress with another summer of record breaking heat predicted.<\/p>\n