Forests
Summary
- Method to measure effects of silviculture investments on greenhouse-gas emissions supporting transparency and consistency in forest carbon projections
- With this framework, the Ministry of Forests has completed both recommendations from March 2025 Office of the Auditor General of British Columbia’s report on calculating forest carbon projections
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To address a recommendation from the Office of the Auditor General of British Columbia, the Province has established a new method that measures how silviculture investments contribute to climate-change mitigation.
In response to Recommendation 1 from the auditor general’s report Ministry of Forests: Calculating Forest Carbon Projections, the chief forester has approved a new method to support consistent and transparent carbon projections for forest investment activities.
Actions on auditor general’s recommendations
- When the auditor general’s report was released in March 2025, the two recommendations were accepted by the Ministry of Forests.
- In August 2025, the Ministry of Forests addressed Recommendation 2, which defined a method for calculating forest carbon projections for use in timber supply review modelling and used to determine the allowable annual cut.
The chief forester has approved a new method to support consistent and transparent carbon projections for forest investment activities. This marks the completion of the two recommendations made by the auditor general.
Quick Facts:
- Silviculture involves sustainably managing the establishment, growth, health and quality of forests to support diverse values, such as wildlife habitat, water protection, timber production, recreation and climate.
- For example, underplanting in areas severely affected by wildfire rebuilds carbon stocks and adds diversity to a landscape dominated by slow, natural regeneration.
- By ensuring use of seeds adapted to a warming climate, tree-breeding programs promote fast growth and long-term resilience.
- These seeds have been developed through the provincial forest nutrient management program, which provides a rare opportunity to sequester carbon in the short term.
- Silviculture investments lead to a complex sequence of greenhouse-gas emissions and removals. Measuring and communicating the net outcome can be challenging, demanding a comprehensive and standardized approach to performance measurement.
- The method is a big step toward consistently and transparently measuring how silviculture programs contribute to overall climate-change mitigation from B.C.’s forestry sector.
Learn More:
- To read the Quantification Methodology: Climate Change Mitigation from Silviculture Investments, visit:
https://www2.gov.bc.ca/assets/gov/farming-natural-resources-and-industry/forestry/stewardship/forest-analysis-inventory/tsr-annual-allowable-cut/climate_change_mitigation_silviculture.pdf - To read the full report from the auditor general, visit:
https://www.oag.bc.ca/ministry-of-forests-calculating-forest-carbon-projections/ - To read about the completion of Recommendation 2, visit:
https://news.gov.bc.ca/releases/2025FOR0036-000792 - To learn more about B.C.’s silviculture systems and investments, visit:
https://www2.gov.bc.ca/gov/content/industry/forestry/managing-our-forest-resources/silviculture
