Forest Health Assessment in Canada

Canada's forests cover more than 418 million hectares, 45% of our land area, and represent a diverse range of ecosystems including mixed hardwood stands in southeastern Canada, temperate rain forests of British Columbia and dwarf forests of the arctic tundra. The size and diversity of the forest presents interesting challenges to forest health assessment. The Canadian Forest Service (CFS) now recognizes that “forest health” encompasses more than the incidence and distribution of insect pests and diseasecausing organisms and that forests are perceived as healthy when ecological processes are maintained and pest populations are operating within natural ranges of variability. Different stakeholders are also seen as having varying definitions of forest “health.” For example, the forest industry may focus on health as it relates to timber productivity, whereas environmental advocates may focus on ecological integrity. The assessment and reporting of forest health in Canada is currently being accomplished through cooperation among federal and provincial governments, academia, and industry. An interagency program is being developed where broad-scale geographic coverage will be linked to national forest inventory plots, current pest conditions monitored by provincial agencies, research on specific disturbance agents carried out regionally, and an overall synthesis of national forest health undertaken by the Canadian Forest Service.