In Quebec, almost twice as many trees are cut down in 60 years

The Legalt government hopes to double the amount of timber harvested each year in 60 years in Quebec forests.

It was presented in the National Wood Production Strategy presented Wednesday by the Minister of Forests, Wildlife and Parks, Pierre Dufour.

The amount of timber harvested annually in Quebec will drop from 29 million cubic meters (average over the past five years) to 52.9 million cubic meters by the beginning of 2080. To do this, the government wants to be especially accessible to large areas of the forest.

Less exploited forests

Minister Dufour argued that Quebec forests were being exploited less and that the pressure on them had not been so low for almost 30 years, highlighting the conclusions of the Quebec Chief Forrester’s final report.

“In the short term, Quebec will have to deal with the declining quantity and quality of timber available in its forests, which has emerged in recent decades,” it noted in the strategy documents. Presented Wednesday.

To avoid this problem, the government, among other things, will increase $ 300 million over five years to $ 1.43 billion invested in silviculture.

Minister Dufour announced a “method of connecting timber to the structure” which will soon be explained to use all available additional volumes. However, the goal has not yet been set.

Social acceptability

The announcement comes a month after Action published a vital letter from Action Borlell and its co-president, singer-songwriter and filmmaker Richard Deszardins, alleging that Minister Dufour was only on the pay of civil servants. About providing timber companies.

In the absence of social acceptance around logging, Associate Forest Assistance Minister Alain Senachal believes their credentials can convince the population. In particular, he emphasized the interest in using wood over other materials to combat climate change, including the construction of houses.

“There’s an angle, we need to exploit more by giving more explanations and at this point, I can tell you that environmental groups are following us along that path. They’re ready and wild, once I cut it down, it will grow back,” he explained.

Highlight

• 855,174 housing units can be built with additional timber harvested annually from 2050.