Ottawa, ON–The Sustainable Forestry Initiative (SFI) welcomes a major investment of $4.7M from Environment Climate Change Canada’s Nature Smart Climate Solutions Fund to advance Climate Smart Forestry in forest management across Canada. The overarching goal of the project is to identify, develop, and implement climate smart practices and strategies to make our forests more resilient. “Climate change represents a profound threat to the health and well-being of all Canadians, our forests, and our communities. That’s why SFI introduced new and progressive objectives related to climate smart forestry and fire resilience and awareness in the SFI Forest Management Standard. This is a game-changing opportunity for us to make a real contribution at a national scale by working with our diverse network of SFI-certified organizations across millions of hectares,” said Kathy Abusow, President and CEO of SFI.
…Through the 2 Billion Trees (2BT) program, the Government of Canada is doing its part to support communities. As of June 2024, the government has signed or was negotiating tree-planting agreements with 11 of 13 provinces and territories, 40 Indigenous partners, 32 municipalities, 86 non-governmental organizations and more, representing a commitment to plant 716 million trees — nearly tripling last year’s total. …The work done to plant millions of trees and sign agreements in 2023 has laid a strong foundation for tree-planting efforts to ramp up in the coming years, including the over 160 million new trees announced today. …2023 was the 2BT program’s most significant year yet. Work for years to come is well underway, starting with today’s announcement of over $200 million. Every new tree planted will benefit the environment as well as Canada’s economy and community well-being. 
The City of Nelson is piloting a new remote-controlled technology to reduce wildfire fuels west of Gyro Park. The area, which has been identified as a high-risk location for fuel mitigation, has a steep slope and is challenging to access. The pilot project is necessary because it would be unfeasible and inefficient to use larger conventional chipping equipment on the complex terrain at Gyro Park. Conventional pile-and-burn techniques were also deemed inappropriate in the majority of the area due to the potential for smoke generation in close proximity to Kootenay Lake Hospital. The small-scale forestry machine the city is piloting is capable of accessing steep terrain, chipping woody materials in place and transporting the chips out of the treatment area for disposal off site.
The Okanagan is increasingly threatened by wildfires due to rising temperatures and drier conditions caused by climate change. To address this growing crisis, the B.C. government has outlined a climate action strategy with several measures that, if tailored to the Okanagan, could effectively mitigate wildfire risks and enhance regional resilience. …The government’s pledge to conserve 30% of B.C.’s lands by 2030 can support wildfire management in regions like the Okanagan, which hosts diverse ecosystems that can serve as natural firebreaks. …Sustainable forestry practices along transportation routes and near communities could help create additional fire barriers. Expanded firefighting resources, such as water reservoirs and aerial capabilities, would improve the region’s response capacity. Protecting watersheds and old-growth forests in the Okanagan is essential, as these ecosystems can act as natural barriers that slow wildfire spread. …Facing heightened wildfire threats due to climate change, the Okanagan has an opportunity to lead with a coordinated, community-driven approach to resilience.
Barrie, Ontario – Since 2007, Forests Ontario has facilitated the planting of 46.5 million trees, enhancing 900,000 hectares of connected forest landscapes through over 8,000 restoration projects across 10 provinces. Now, Forests Ontario is becoming 
SEATTLE — As candidate for Commissioner of Public Lands, Republican Jaime Hererra-Beutler has consistently asserted that, according to “the science,” it’s necessary to log our legacy forests to keep them from “burning up.” She asserts that “too many of our forests have been undermanaged or outright neglected, and they’ve turned into crowded, diseased tinderboxes, just waiting for a spark.” They’ve “fallen into disrepair,” she says, and need “cleaning up.” But is it true? Is there really a scientific consensus saying so? And what type of forest is she talking about? Washington is a big state. Legacy forests are identified only on the west side of the state and then only below 3,500 feet. There, you have to differentiate between forests that are naturally regenerated (legacy forests) and those already converted to timber plantations (managed plantations).
More than a year and a half after coming to power on a promise to create a Great Koala National Park in the state’s north, new analysis suggests the NSW government’s own logging arm is trashing the forest inside the proposed park. It comes as the Minns government is quietly progressing a proposal to the federal government to earn carbon credits from its forests that could pave the way to end native forest logging across the state. …Logging inside the Great Koala National Park assessment area is four times more intense when measured by area than in nearby state forests outside the park, and environmentalists say the targeted areas are wreaking maximal environmental damage. …Debus, the state’s longest-serving environment minister and now chair of Wilderness Australia, said there was clear evidence that the state forestry corporation was “seriously attacking the ecological integrity” of the proposed national park.
A recent in-depth study, “Preliminary Evidence of Softwood Shortage and Hardwood Availability in EU Regions,” has shed light on significant supply imbalances within Europe’s forest-based bioeconomy. Researchers from Wageningen University, the European Commission’s Joint Research Centre, and other institutions analyzed data from the European Forest Industry Database (EUFID), revealing critical mismatches between wood resources and processing capacities across European countries. The 
Colombia hosted some 23,000 people at the UN biodiversity summit. Political leaders from nearly 200 countries were joined by representatives from Indigenous communities, youth groups, business leaders, NGOs and others. All came to halt Earth’s rampant biodiversity loss. Momentum going in seemed strong. At the last biodiversity conference in 2022, national leaders reached a historic agreement to protect 30% of the world’s land and water by 2030 and to mobilize billions of dollars for nature conservation. This year’s summit, COP16, offered a chance to put forth plans for achieving those goals. But while the “People’s COP” in Cali brought diverse voices to the table and highlighted growing urgency around the biodiversity crisis, progress on its core objectives came up short. Negotiators faced gridlock over key finance decisions and many countries showed lagging ambition. The summit ultimately ended before Parties could reach agreement on a range of issues — most importantly, how to finance conservation at the scale needed.
