Some Facts About British Columbia, Canada
• Canada is the world's second largest country. The province of British Columbia has a total land and freshwater area of 95 million hectares, larger than France and Germany combined. Only 30 countries are larger.
• British Columbia occupies about 10 per cent of Canada's land surface. It is Canada's westernmost province, a vast land bounded by the Pacific Ocean on the west and the Rocky Mountains to the east.
• Canada has more than 15% of the world's entire softwood forest stock. British Columbia is at the heart of the Canadian wood products industry.
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Facts About British Columbia Forests
• Two-thirds of British Columbia's land base – 60 million hectares (149 million acres) – is forested.
• British Columbia harvests a fraction of one per cent of its forests each year.
• British Columbians participate directly in decisions related to the development, protection and use of public lands, which make up nearly 95 per cent of the province.
• All public lands that are logged must be reforested with native species suited to local ecological conditions. Each year, about 200 million seedlings are planted to reforest areas after logging, wildfire and insect infestations.
• British Columbia has a comprehensive set of laws governing forest practices, backed by multi-faceted enforcement activities.
• British Columbia is a world leader in third-party forest certification, with 44.6 million hectares (more than 110 million acres) certified to at least one of three globally recognized programs.
• Wood from British Columbia's well-managed forests is an excellent building choice for the environment.
• British Columbia has more than 25 million hectares (62 million acres) across the province that meet the definition of old-growth forest. About 15 per cent of this is fully protected.
• An independent academic study comparing international forest practice regulations found that British Columbia has some of the most stringent forest sustainability requirements in the world.
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Facts About British Columbia Forest Products
• British Columbia produces a wide range of wood products. From dimensional construction lumber to value-added specialty wood products to pulp and paper.
• British Columbia manufacturers produce all the dimensional lumber, plywood and oriented strandboard products needed in wood-frame construction. We export a wide range of structural wood products, such as prefabricated trusses, I-Joists, machine stress-rated lumber and glulam beams. These products are used in both commercial and residential building types.
• British Columbia manufacturers offer a wide range of finished wood products such as windows, doors, mouldings, flooring, cabinetry, and staircase components. Exterior wood products are available for wall and roof cladding, exterior trim, decking, fencing and garden accessories of all kinds.
• British Columbia ships prefabricated wood buildings to international clients worldwide. Such buildings range from traditional hand-crafted log homes to modern factory-built housing, and most are exported complete with the best finishing materials.
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