Forestry Backgrounder

Torino 2006

BCCANADAPLACE.CA

January 2006

Forestry and wood products in British Columbia

Forestry is vital to the B.C. economy, and the province remains a leader in sustainable forest management. Wood product manufacturers have developed an international reputation for delivering a stable supply of quality wood products from well-managed forests.

Sector Highlights:

In British Columbia, forests cover 60 million hectares (149 million acres), an area larger than France. The province’s forests contain 40 different species of native hardwood and softwood trees, including cedar, hemlock, pine and spruce.
With a diverse range of wood products, the province is the leading global supplier of high quality building materials to international markets – exports represent over 85 per cent of total industry shipments.
B.C.’s wood products are competitively priced and used throughout the world. B.C. companies are the world’s preferred wood products suppliers because of their track record of quality, reliability and global experience.
B.C. has a wealth of expertise in engineered construction methods, foreign building codes, home design, and earthquake-resistant products, plus world-class institutional wood products research.
B.C.’s sustainable forest management practices ensure that less than one per cent of B.C.’s vast forests are logged each year. A recent academic study found B.C.’s forest regulations are among the most stringent in the world.
95 per cent of B.C.’s land base is publicly owned; public forests are managed by the Government and managed in accordance with strict forest management laws.
B.C. is a North American leader in protecting its diverse forest values. Its parks system is the second largest in Canada, and more than half of B.C.’s forests, making up an area as big as Germany, will likely never be logged because they are protected or unsuitable for logging due to environmental reasons.
Forestry laws are backed by a comprehensive compliance and enforcement regime. Compliance rates exceed 85 per cent.
B.C.’s forestland includes 25 million hectares (62 million acres) of old-growth forest, which is more than 140-250 years old.

More information on British Columbia’s forestry industry is available online at www.bcforestproducts.com or www.bcforestinformation.com.

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Contact:

In British Columbia
Rena Kendall-Craden
Communications Manager
Ministry of Economic Development
250 952-0152

In Italy
Paul Welsh
Communications
British Columbia-Canada Place
+39 347 247 3859

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B.C.-Canada Place

British Columbia Canada Place in Piazzale Valdo Fusi, Torino, Italy.

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Carved doors of B.C.-Canada Place

B.C. Minister of Economic Development Colin Hansen (right) and Sheldon Tetreault of the Métis Nation, open the carved doors to B.C.-Canada Place as part of the opening ceremonies on January 22, 2006.

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B.C.-Canada Place host

B.C.-Canada Place host Carmen Bressanutti greets a visitor.

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B.C.-Canada Place visitors

Crowds gather as visitors wait to enter B.C.-Canada Place in Piazzale Valdo Fusi.

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B.C.-Canada Place visitors

B.C.-Canada Place continues to be popular in Tornio, with an average of 1,000 visitors per day arriving to explore the house.

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Golden Girls

Canadian Gold Medal hockey players Vicky Sunohara (left) and Jennifer Botterill show off their gold medals at BC-Canada Place.

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Sport Hosting Event

Mayor of Surrey Diane Watts and Surrey Manager of sports venues, Gerry De Cicco, at a sport hosting function at B.C.-Canada Place. Cities from around the province are using B.C.-Canada Place to attract interest from international sporting federations who may want to use B.C. communities as training facilities in the run up to 2010.

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Street hockey

SI.com, the online version of Sport Illustrated, has called street hockey in the Piazza at B.C.-Canada Place the “killer app” of the Torino Olympic Games. Hundreds of people — including Wayne Gretzky, Kevin Lowe and their children — have picked up a stick and had some fun since the house opened in January.

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Carrying the torch

Len Jordan of Coca-Cola Canada in Kelowna and Tracy Lakeman of Tourism Whistler with the Torino 2006 Olympic Torch.

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Showcasing B.C.'s wood products

More than 100 companies from B.C. and Europe participated in the BC Wood event at B.C.-Canada Place.

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Fellowship of the Rings

Representatives from the economic development organizations working on the Vancouver, Beijing, Torino, London and Sydney Games signed a memorandum of understanding committing to work together to maximize return-on-investment when planning for the Games

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