Time to include carbon in forest management: report

Global warming is going to force forest-rich British Columbia to rethink the way forests are managed, putting carbon storage at the top of the list, according to a new report by the Canadian Centre for Policy Alternatives.

The report shows that the mountain pine beetle has killed a billion trees in B.C., turning the province’s forests into carbon emitters instead of carbon storehouses. Warmer winters have been a factor in the beetle epidemic and it is only one of many pests on the increase in the province’s forests.

Report author Ben Parfitt, resource analyst for the centre, said there is an urgent need to re-establish a carbon balance in our forests.