Forest Stewardship

B.C. is a world leader in sustainable forest management with leading-edge environmental practices. 94% of British Columbia is designated as Crown land. This allows the province to sustainably manage forest resources. 

Adapting to climate change

Adapting our forestry practices is an important part of the work being done in the province to stay resilient to the impacts of climate change. 

• Access tools and information to help shape your forestry plans and practices
• Find out about forest and land carbon, and carbon offsets
• Read about the forest stewardship plan for climate change action

Compliance & enforcement

The law enforcement arm of the province's natural resource sector is known as compliance and enforcement (C&E). Natural Resource Officers enforce the range of laws to protect B.C.'s land, water, forests and cultural resources. Conservation Officers focus on natural resource law enforcement and human/wildlife conflicts prevention and response.

The main purpose of C&E is to make sure that resource management laws are being followed on and in our public lands, water and forests and to take action where non-compliance occurs. Natural resources officers and conservation officers actively patrol, inspect, investigate and enforce a broad cross-section of resource management laws.

• Natural Resource Law Enforcement
• Report a violation

Forest health

Maintaining healthy forests is critical to our province’s environmental and economic well being. The province dedicates a great deal of time and energy to keeping our forests thriving—from an in-depth exploration of the effects of the mountain pine beetle, to seed research and tree breeding.

Find out more about:

• Mountain pine beetle
• Forest health programs and strategies

Forest certification

British Columbia has more certified forest land than any other jurisdiction in the world, with the exception of Canada as a whole, demonstrating its commitment to world-class sustainable forest management. Many forest companies and BC Timber Sales have achieved certification under one or more systems. Forest certification is seen as one component of the overall provincial commitment to the goal of sustainable forest management.

• Forest Certification Status Reports: Statistics
• Certification Systems:
  • Sustainable Forestry Initiative (SFI)
  • Canadian Standards Association Forest Certification (CSA)
  • Forest Stewardship Council (FSC)
  • Environmental Management System (ISO 14001)
• Certification Information Sites:
  • BC Sustainable Forest Management Information
  • BC Timber Sales Forest Certification