Canada has lost billions of trees, but we can still build the forests of the future
Canada has lost 7.35 billion trees between 2023 and 2025 due to wildfires, deforestation, and climate change, outpacing reforestation efforts. Despite the resilience of species like the jack pine, natural regeneration is no longer sufficient to offset losses. To restore forests and build climate resilience, experts urge large-scale reforestation and stronger conservation policies.
- ▪Canada lost 7.35 billion trees between 2023 and 2025, with nearly 31.5 million hectares burned by wildfires.
- ▪The federal 2 Billion Trees Program was cancelled, with only 228 million trees planted by June 2025.
- ▪Up to 1.25 billion seedlings could be planted on federal land, according to an analysis by Nature United.
- ▪Jack pine, a fire-adapted species, is being planted in clear-cut areas to aid forest regeneration.
- ▪Canada stewards 9% of the world’s forests and has 19.1 million hectares of former forest land suitable for restoration.
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On top of a Quebec mountain, a scraggly tree rises out of stone. Neither the mountain nor the tree seems to be in its proper place. The rock rises like a camel hump out of flat farmland at the edge of the St. Lawrence River; the tree usually flourishes farther north, in the sandy soil of the boreal forest.But nature defies expectations. At the 200-metre summit, the shady, mixed forest abruptly gives way to a Tolkienesque stand of jack pine, growing helter skelter across the rock face.On a May morning made ghostly by rainclouds, they’re sentries in the mist. Twisting trunks brace for an absent wind. Branches, grey and dead, or quilled with cones, crookedly claw the air. There are easier places for the jack pine to grow. And yet, here it endures.
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Excerpt limited to ~120 words for fair-use compliance. The full article is at The Globe and Mail.
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