The province of Québec alone accounts for 20% of Canada's forests and 2% of the world's resource; 750 300 km2 covered with trees, a territory equivalent to both Sweden and Norway. Unfortunately, the forest industry is of many economic and environmental concerns in Québec and does not compare with our Scandinavian counterparts.
The forest sector is playing a vital role in the socio-economic development of Québec and its regions; more than 250 municipalities depend primarily on the forests for their economic survival. But between spring 2005 and summer 2008, 195 wood-related factories have announced they would close, temporarily or permanentaly.
In fact, statistics regarding the evolution of the industry between 2000 and 2007 are showing a drop of more than 20% of the collected wood volume. Paradoxically, for the same period of time, there has been a drop of 33,33% of the reforestation.
All images copyright ©Mauve Drouin 2004-2005.
All rights reserved.