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Canada's forests under threat

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While fires and insect infestations have always posed natural threats to Canada’s forests, human activity also plays a major role in spreading forest fires.

Though destructive, forest fires play a natural role in the forest renewal cycle. In 2002, a total of 7,792 forest fires destroyed 2.8 million hectares of forest across the country. To put that into perspective, the forestry industry harvested 974,000 hectares that year—roughly one-third of what was destroyed by fire.

Human activity was responsible for almost half of these fires. More than1,000 were caused by individuals involved in recreational activities like camping. Industry was responsible for another 564 fires that burned 241,076 hectares of forest—an area far larger than that destroyed by all other human activity. Lightning is the major natural source of forest fires. Lightning strikes in 2002 burned more than 1.5 million hectares of forest.

Chart: Forest fire sources, 2002Human activity is also contributing to infestation by introducing alien insects to our forests. This is an ongoing side effect of international trade. Wood packaging from abroad, for example, is thought to have been the source of the Asian longhorn beetle, which has no natural predators in Canada. The Asian longhorn has the potential to destroy a whole range of hardwoods by burrowing deep under the bark. Earlier alien invaders include the gypsy moth, which attacks oaks and other broadleaf trees.

Canada’s native species of insects also cause enormous damage to forests. One example is the mountain pine beetle, which attacks many Western Canadian pine trees such as the Pinus ponderosa. In 2002, more than 18 million hectares of forest suffered moderate to severe damage from defoliation and beetle-killed trees. As a forest management practice, about 250,000 hectares of forest were sprayed with insecticides in 2002.