Trees store carbon in the form of wood. Even when trees are harvested, carbon remains stored in the wood. Products created from the harvested wood like lumber, plywood, flooring and furniture lock away carbon in our homes and workplaces for decades.
Forest products are a sustainable and renewable resource. Using sustainable forest resources to displace materials and processes with more carbon intensity and environmental impact will accelerate a transition to net-zero emissions while supporting rural and Indigenous communities. Forest products, bioenergy, and forest management are economic development opportunities and climate solutions.
New Brunswick's environmental regulations around forest industry activity are some of the strongest in the world.
Over 4,245,580 hectares of our forests are third party certified as sustainably managed, one of the highest rates in country and in the world. Sustainable forest management helps NB forests remain healthy and productive while supporting a strong forest industry and provide people with jobs and forest products. It also conserves biodiversity and enhances and protects wildlife habitat and watersheds. Sustainable forest management practices also help to adapt to and mitigate the effects of climate change.
The Sustainable Forestry Initiative (or SFI) is one of the most common certification programs New Brunswick forestry companies participate in. SFI is a non-profit organization that awards certifications based on measures to recognize and respect Indigenous Peoples' rights, protect water quality, biodiversity, wildlife habitats and species at risk, and other important social and environmental considerations.
The products we make in New Brunswick are important, but how we make them matters just as much.
By using a carefully planned and regulated set of techniques, forest managers ensure that Canadian forests remain a healthy patchwork mosaic of different forest types and ages. This allows forests to be naturally resilient to disturbances, while also providing native wildlife, such as moose and deer populations, with the diversity of habitats they need to thrive.
Our industry works to ensure that New Brunswickers benefit from our forests by providing essential renewable products and well-paying jobs while ensuring our forests stay healthy and continue growing. Forests are essential to New Brunswick, and Forest NB brings our forest companies together to steward them with care and respect.