The BC Council of Forest Industries (COFI) has put together a comparison of annual harvest levels in British Columbia (BC), New Zealand, and Finland. This analysis also provides context on differences between these three major forest jurisdictions such as forest types, ownership structures, Indigenous participation, forest management practices, wildfire impacts over a 10-year average, and the value of forest sector exports.
BC is home to one of the largest forested areas in the western world, with 57 million hectares of forests, 95% of which are publicly owned. Of this total, 22 million hectares are available for sustainable timber harvesting. Finland has a total forested area of 23 million hectares with 20 million hectares available for harvesting. New Zealand has 10 million hectares of forests with 1.7 million hectares available for harvesting. Despite these differences in size, the annual harvest from New Zealand in 2023 was 31 million cubic meters, nearly matching the 35 million cubic metres harvested by BC, while Finland produced nearly double that volume, with 66 million cubic metres.
This comparison suggests that notwithstanding BC’s larger forest area and strategic focus on diversifying and enhancing manufacturing of higher value forest products, other forest jurisdictions are excelling in capturing the growing demand for low-carbon and sustainably produced wood products and biomaterials. By examining key differences in ownership, forest management, and the manufacturing profiles across these jurisdictions, BC can identify opportunities to develop a more robust and competitive forest sector.
The chart of the jurisdiction comparison is available here – COFI Forestry Jurisdiction Comparison August 2024
Media contact:
Travis Joern
Director of Communications
BC Council of Forest Industries (COFI)
joern@cofi.org