Biological Diversity Ecosystem Condition and Productivity Soil and Water Role in Global Ecological Cycles Economic and Social Benefits Society's Responsibility
Indicator 2.1 Total growing stock of both merchantable and nonmerchantable tree species on forest land Indicator 2.2 Additions and deletions of forest area by cause Indicator 2.3 Area of forest disturbed by fire, insects, disease, and timber harvest Indicator 2.4 Area of forest with impaired function due to ozone and acid rain Indicator 2.5 Proportion of timber harvest area successfully regenerated
Indicator 2.1 - Total growing stock of both merchantable and nonmerchantable tree species on forest land
core indicator


Indicator 2.1 is one of the most basic indicators of forest sustainability for areas potentially available for timber harvest because it measures the current volume of wood available in Canada's forests. The indicator can be related to the volume harvested each year, with increases or decreases in the total stock tracked over time. If, over time, the total volume of growing stock is seen to be declining, the general productive base of the forest may also be declining. There are obvious links between this indicator and Indicator 5.3.1 (Annual harvest of timber relative to the level of harvest deemed to be sustainable), as the latter affects the volume of wood available.

Merchantable forest trees include all tree species with commercial timber value meeting the minimum merchantable specifications regardless of whether they are growing in protected areas or not. Nonmerchantable trees include species that have no real commercial timber value (but that may have nontimber value such as the various types of yew trees and shrubs, a source of the cancer-fighting drug Taxol®) and merchantable species that are below the different minimum utilization standards set by the provinces and territories. Wood volume from merchantable and nonmerchantable trees is a measure of ecosystem productivity.

Four of Canada's 15 ecozones-the Boreal Shield, the Montane Cordillera, the Pacific Maritime, and the Boreal Plains-contain more than 81% of the country's merchantable volume of wood on forest land (Table 2.1a). Not surprisingly, these same ecozones also account for 86% of Canada's accessed forest land, that is, forest land featuring a transportation route (road, rail, or water) within the area used to compile the information. The amount of accessed forest land indicates forest that is most likely to be managed.

Table 2.1a Merchantable volume of wood (m3) by ecozone. (Source: CanFI 2001)
Ecozone Total Accessed Not accessed
Arctic Cordillera 176 215 0 176 215
Northern Arctic 3 546 903 21 949 3 524 954
Southern Arctic 20 848 286 641 913 20 206 373
Taiga Plains 1 365 387 827 388 920 053 976 467 774
Taiga Shield 697 093 781 54 376 500 642 717 281
Boreal Shield 10 871 994 351 6 476 712 955 4 395 281 396
Atlantic Maritime 1 445 796 376 1 426 791 645 19 004 731
Mixedwood Plains 338 721 851 337 301 450 1 420 401
Boreal Plains 3 390 490 518 2 415 256 706 975 233 812
Prairies 120 800 098 120 709 533 90 565
Taiga Cordillera 42 306 703 4 316 778 37 989 925
Boreal Cordillera 1 213 284 072 276 773 052 936 511 020
Pacific Maritime 3 598 960 598 2 390 553 113 1 208 407 485
Montane Cordillera 5 817 410 718 4 404 181 046 1 413 229 672
Hudson Plains 456 788 197 40 165 286 416 622 911
Canada 29 383 606 495 18 336 721 979 11 046 884 516

Canada's total merchantable volume of wood is over 29 billion m3, and its total potential harvest is approximately 239 million m3 per year, or 0.8% of the total merchantable volume of wood. Approximately 177.4 million m3, or 0.6% of the total merchantable volume of wood, were harvested in 2003, the most recent year for which figures are available (Natural Resources Canada 2006). Reforestation is mandatory on crown land in Canada to replenish the harvested volumes of wood. Most harvested crown lands will regenerate naturally (see Indicator 2.5), while others will be planted or seeded to ensure regeneration.

In addition to harvesting, potentially hundreds of millions of cubic metres of merchantable wood are lost to natural causes annually. Aconsiderable volume of wood is lost to fire each year, alhough accurate estimates are currently unavailable and there is considerable year-to-year variation depending on the severity of the fire season. Disease and insects also cause significant damage to Canada's forests. For example, a mountain pine beetle infestation in British Columbia is estimated to have killed as much as 330 million m3 of commercial timber by the end of 2004 (Indicator 2.3).

Because of the increasing interest in nontimber forest values, information on the available volume of nonmerchantable trees is becoming more important. However, this type of information has not traditionally been measured in forestry and currently only a few provinces and territories can provide volume data on nonmerchantable trees. Nova Scotia has identified 56 million m3 of softwood and 18 million m3 of hardwood species as nonmerchantable. Prince Edward Island reports 1.4 million m3, about one half of which is red maple and balsam fir. Yukon estimates a total nonmerchantable volume of 112 million m3 in the southern portion of the territory with white spruce, black spruce, and lodgepole pine comprising over 80% of this volume. Quebec cannot currently provide volume data, but the province has been collecting data on the number of stems and basal area for nonmerchantable trees from which future volume estimates may be made.

The information on the merchantable volume of wood presented here provides a baseline for future reports. Unfortunately, past trends in the merchantable volume of wood over time cannot be calculated due to differences in the methodologies used between the most recent forest inventory and previous inventories (see Indicator 1.1.1 for details).