Special report
Canada's forests in peril
A series documenting the impact of a changing climate on Canada's forests and what people are doing to protect species at risk. Produced in part thanks to the generosity of Rudy North.
B.C. misses the mark with old growth update, critics contend
The province's progress report and latest action plan to reform forestry is a hollow effort with none of the needed steps, specific details, or deadlines urgently required to keep what little old growth remains from being cut down, say environmental groups.
B.C. needs fire. Meet the man bringing it back
Skeetchestn fire keeper Joe Gilchrist is on a mission to make the regenerative burning practices his grandfather taught him commonplace. At stake is an important practice for culture, food security and the future of B.C.'s forests.
The spiritual qualities of ancient forests
Is it possible that we are adversely affected by the loss of species, the polluting of pristine watersheds and the elimination of wildlife habitat?
A warming climate is sending more tree-destroying pests north
According to Environment Canada, the overall economic impact of invasive species in Canada, including plants and living creatures, is staggering: about $7.5 billion annually.
Wealthy cool it while others sizzle
Journalist Jesse Winter ventured out with a thermometer during a heat wave last summer. The temperature differences between wealthy and poor neighbourhoods were staggering.
A community faces wildfire — alone
The White Rock Lake wildfire hammered B.C.'s Paxton Valley last summer, levelling houses, destroying ranchland and killing cattle. But even after the worst of the fire had moved on, residents knew one nasty wind could whip up the flames again.
Can Canada's forests survive climate change?
Ten thousand years ago, when the last ice age gave way to the Holocene, a great migration was triggered in North America: trees began travelling northward, colonizing newly thawed landscapes at a pace of up to 500 metres a year. In a geoclimatic blink of an eye, trees colonized 38 per cent of the landmass now known as Canada, ultimately giving us nearly a 10th of all the forest in the world.
B.C.’s at-risk old growth still on the chopping block
At least 50,000 hectares of the at-risk forest identified by the province for logging deferrals — an area four times the size of Vancouver — is already approved for logging, has approvals pending or may already be cut down, says the Wilderness Committee.
Three years after a landmark report, it’s logging as usual in Nova Scotia’s forests
Only five of 45 recommendations on how to improve forestry practices in the province have been implemented since the Lahey report came out in 2018.
The great tree robbery
As more old-growth trees topple and forest industry jobs plummet, an obscure government subsidy scheme fuels the collapse.
One of Canada’s biggest carbon sinks is circling the drain
Canada's continent-spanning forest used to remove massive amounts of CO2 from the air each year. It was a hugely valuable "carbon sink", slowing the pace of climate change and benefiting our logging industry.