Information and Excerpts about
the plight of Alberta’s forests:
Numerous
economic, social, and environmental advantages come from forests. The Canadian
economy continues to be significantly influenced by the timber industry. The
industry sustains more than 300 towns that depend on the forest, generates
revenue for local employees in 2,400 villages, adds $25.2 billion to the
nominal GDP, and directly employs more than 184,000 Canadians.
The
economic and daily lives of Canadians, notably those in rural and Indigenous
communities, are greatly influenced by the country's woods. By supplying
necessary habitat, food, renewable energy, and materials, forests support life.
Additionally, they offer possibilities for spiritual and cultural development
as well as crucial environmental services. roughly 300 forest-dependent
communities are supported by the industry, which also directly employs 205,365
Canadians, including roughly 12,000 members of First Nations, Métis, and Inuit
groups. Additionally, forests offer vital habitat for wildlife, produce
commodities and services that may spur sustainable development, and are crucial
to combating climate change. In order to control carbon and lessen the effects
of climate change, sustainably managed forests and the wood products made from
them are crucial.
But
there is evidence that our Canadian forests are vanishing due to fires and the
lumber industry. We need to be extremely careful.
Trees
are mostly removed by using the logging technique known as clear-cutting. Clear-cutting
involves using large machinery to remove enormous tracts of forest. This
exposes the earth, which is therefore easily erodible. - Clear-cutting a forest alters the kinds of
flora and animals that live there. - In
the cleared regions, grasses and plants start to emerge. - Many of the forest's species must locate
new habitats and food sources. The forestry firm occasionally replaces the
trees it has removed but they never succeed in restoring the original ecology,
despite their best attempts.
Should
the size of cities be capped to prevent the exploitation of forest land? Every year, more individuals relocate to
cities. These folks require housing. The city planners have the option of
annexing more property near their borders or of constructing inside those
lines. Forest land is frequently present in an urban area. Today, many cities
prefer to build inside rather than outward. They may preserve precious forest
area outside of the city in this way.
I
propose a different way. I recently scoped out the middle east side of the
province. I drove from Lloydminster to Vermillion Alberta. While on the road I
saw so much land prepared for cows to graze on. Someone told me that the
farmers had cut a lot of the forests that use to be there to make room for
these free roaming cows. I love that they have room to walk around in and eat
but these hilly lands were bigger than most of the small cities in this Alberta
region. I think the big and successful farming businesses should give 1/3 or ¼
of their land to build cities. The trees have already been cut and are nowhere
to be seen. We need to utilize these vast hills and give the customers and
consumers of these cow products that the farmers make money on by building them
a town, or a small city so they can live and buy even more stuff. The cows
don’t need 3 hills worth of grazing pastures. I feel like that is a little
excessive.
I made this poster and website pictured below to promote better treatment of our forests and wildlife.
