Deforestation in British Columbia
The soil holds more than just the nutrients and plants in the forests, it consists of inorganic material, organic matter, air, water, and many micro and macro-organisms.
[9] The act of deforestation requires the forest sector to build roads, which decrease the productive land base, to be able to access the trees which went down from 4.6% of the area harvest in the mid-1990s to 3.5% in 2008.
[11] Soil conservation is an important environmental issue to consider as it maintains water quality, ecosystem productivity, and future economic benefits.
[9] Water is an essential part to the ecosystem of forests including the plants and animal species survival, stream, rivers and lakes habitats and also human activities.
[5] The passage of fish species to upstream and downstream habitats can be an essential part of survival and can be affected by deforestation practices, especially the building of roads by forest sector.
[14] In 2010 the province of British Columbia introduced a new piece of legislature called the Zero Net Deforestation Act, which plans to reduce green house gas emission as well as protect B.C.
[15] With the province of British Columbia's target of a 33% decrease in green house emissions by 2020, this act will play a key role in the goal as the great density of forests in B.C.
[15] The province British Columbia in Canada is known for its high biodiversity with over 185 wildlife vertebrate, 171 bird species, and a variety of conifer and deciduous trees.
[16] In forestry management, it is important to recognize the cumulative effects of habitat and environmental changes that have the potential to threaten BC forests.
Looking at sustainability in forest management requires comparing the ecological impacts of timber harvesting and of natural disturbances, such as fire, insects and disease.
Prescribed burning is done by intentionally setting fires in specific areas to promote the biodiversity and health of forests, while restricting the ability of it to have severe short-term socioeconomic impacts.
[18] In order to reduce the risk to resources, infrastructure, and public health, cut-block boundaries such as roads or skid trails are used as barriers.
[23][24] Management methods should also be multi-objective in practice in order to assess forest attributes such as biodiversity, timber production, carbon storage and recreation purposes.
[24] DSS outlines the complexity of actions with regards to forestry and addresses the consequences of different management techniques over a range of ecological, economic, and social indicators.
[24] This is done by highlighting potential conflicts, using a science-based framework, conveying knowledge about long-term dynamics of forest ecosystems, and providing guidance by projecting trends within indicators.
[26] Within this principle is the concept of sustainable development of natural resources which requires that the stock of capital of a product be maintained, and only harvesting what is above the base-stock.
[21] Monitoring insect and disease occurrences over long periods of time gives a better understanding of the effects of climate change and how forests respond to it.
