Ontario's Large-Scale Forest Carbon Project

The Kyoto Protocol makes Canada accountable for the emissions of greenhouse gases due to deforestation. However, Kyoto allows the option of using carbon storage in forests to offset greenhouse gases released through deforestation or manmade sources, primarily the burning of fossil fuels. Using forest management to produce carbon credits that can partially offset the requirement to reduce greenhouse gas emissions from human sources is capped at the equivalent of 12 megatonnes CO2 per year. If Canada opts to use forest management to create carbon sinks, then failing to maintain forest carbon would be treated like any other greenhouse gas emission. Since carbon released from forests due to natural disturbances such as fire or insect outbreaks must be accounted for, opting to use forest management to create carbon sinks carries risks. For these reasons, increasing carbon storage in managed forests and understanding how forest management affects the release or absorption of greenhouse gases is important to MNR and the province of Ontario.

In 2002, researchers at OFRI initiated a project to determine the current and future forest carbon balance of Ontario using provincial forest resources inventory (FRI) information and the planned forest management unit silvicultural activities set out in the Strategic Forest Management Model (SFMM), a forest management planning computer model. They are using FRI and SFMM to run forest carbon budget models that estimate carbon stored in forest biomass, litter, and forest soils. They are also working with federal scientists from the Canadian Forest Service and the USDA Forest Service to provide estimates using national forest carbon budget models. Their third, independent approach to modelling forest carbon ties more directly into Ontario's data sources and planning tools.

The objectives of this project are to:

• Generate forest carbon budgets at the forest management unit, regional, and provincial levels
• Determine how implementing Ontario's forest management plans will affect the forest carbon balance
• Contribute Ontario's forest carbon budget to the Canadian national risk analysis, a process that will be used to decide whether Canada will use forest management to help meet its Kyoto Protocol greenhouse gas reduction commitments

Results of this research will help resource managers to:

• Understand the carbon balance of forests and the effects of forest management on this balance
• Understand how forestry activities may affect carbon credits/debits

Research collaborators/partners:

Bowater (Thunder Bay)

USDA Forest Service

Canadian Forest Service (Pacific Forestry Centre)

For more information, contact:

• Steve Colombo, OFRI, (807)343-4020, steve.colombo@ontario.ca
• Michael Ter-Mikaelian, OFRI, (705)946-7432, michael.termikaelian@ontario.ca