Shortly after a new EU law was introduced to crack down on the import of unsustainable forest products that result in “forest degradation,” Canada went to work defining the term. Deforestation is widely understood as the razing of forests, largely tropical, to create farmland. However, forest degradation doesn’t have a universally agreed-upon definition. The EU’s new trade regulations define degradation in a way that could impact exports from Global North countries whose logging practices have often avoided scrutiny because they replant the trees rather than convert the harvested areas to farmland. Countries that export forest products, including Canada, are working behind the scenes to try to soften the trade regulations. …Natural Resources Canada said work to define the term forest degradation began in early 2023 but the department did not say when the definition will be released, just that “the Canadian Council of Forest Ministers will continue making progress on the issue throughout 2023.”