Criteria and indicators

Criteria and indicators are practical, science-based measures that give government, industry, researchers and the public a consistent way to define, assess, monitor and report progress in achieving sustainable forest management (SFM). They also help identify where improvements can be made.

• Criteria describe the different forest values that make up SFM: environmental, economic, and social. These are the forest values that Canadians want to enhance or sustain.
• Indicators describe the ways in which a criterion actually gets assessed. They are objective measures that can be supported by data.

At the national level, Canada uses a set of 46 indicators that represent the full range of forest values Canadians want conserved or sustained. Because sustainability requires balancing environmental, economic and social values, no single indicator can be used to assess SFM. Getting a full, clear picture requires taking the whole range of indicators into consideration.

Canada’s forest sector has undergone substantial economic trials in the last decade. Segments of the industry continue to struggle, but there are encouraging signs of sector recovery and transformation. For example:

• The contribution the forest products sector made to Canada’s GDP rose.
• The value of forest product exports increased.
• The industry’s financial performance improved, particularly for return on capital employed.

These and related economic figures are still below their previous peaks, but an upward trend is clear. Several factors have driven this favourable shift, but notably: growth in Asian demand for Canada’s forest products; continued economic recovery globally; and restructuring by many forest sector firms.

Despite a decline in forest industry jobs in Canada in recent years, the sector remains a major employer nationwide, particularly in rural communities where forest-related work is often the main source of income. Although the number of forest-dependent communities has declined over the last decade as the sector has shrunk, the forest industry is still the main economic driver in nearly 200 such communities.

Third-party forest certification continues to increase in Canada, sending the message to new and emerging markets that Canada’s forest products come from legal and sustainable sources. Today Canada has the largest area of certified forest in the world: 40% of the world’s total.

Less than 0.2% of all forest and other wooded land in Canada is harvested each year. Total harvest rates remain well below the level of harvest deemed necessary for maintaining sustainable stands. On top of that, natural and artificial regeneration (that is, through seeding and planting) are ensuring that areas harvested stay productive and able to provide essential ecosystem services such as regulating water quality and quantity.

Deforestation has annually affected about 0.01% of all forest and other wooded land in Canada in recent years, but even that low rate is declining.

Natural forest disturbances caused by fire, insects and disease are an essential part of the process of forest renewal. However, these natural disturbances have had serious economic impacts in several regions of the country over the last decade. A notable example is in British Columbia, where more than 18 million hectares have been affected by the mountain pine beetle infestation. As well, habitat loss and degradation associated with some forest disturbance threaten many wildlife species. In all, 349 forest-associated species are currently at risk.

However, natural disturbance processes are recognized today as being a normal part of forest renewal. Forest management practices are therefore increasingly being designed to mimic natural disturbances and so help preserve the healthy attributes of Canada’s forests.

The forest sector has also made considerable progress in decreasing its reliance on fossil fuels, increasing its energy efficiency and reducing its energy use. During the past two decades, the sector’s overall greenhouse gas emissions have dropped by 51%.