Western Forest Products and Quatsino First Nation are embarking on important research into carbon data in the forests we manage. Working together as Quatern Limited Partnership, we are using LiDAR laser data alongside technology called Treeid to study the impact of fertilization on carbon uptake. This will allow us to predict tree growth while measuring carbon sequestration across large scales for the first time.

Fertilization is widely practiced to increase carbon sequestration in trees. Determining if the expected benefits of fertilization are being realized helps us to better manage the health of carbon-capturing forests in our care.

“This project is critical as it will allow us to quantify the rate that forests are sequestering carbon with and without fertilization, under different fertilization treatments, across different stand types, and for different tree species. This will enable us to better deploy fertilization treatments to ensure that the forests we manage are most actively fighting climate change,” said Jonathan Lok, General Manager, Quatern LP.

Western’s inventory and analysis team is supporting this valuable project as part of our ongoing investment in technology to measure and mitigate climate change. Western and Quatsino have invested significant time and money in recording detailed information about the species, size, age, condition, and location of trees in TFL 6 on northern Vancouver Island to support forest health.

Western and Quatsino are grateful to the B.C. Centre for Innovation and Clean Energy which is also supporting the research through its grant program which focuses on game-changing projects to advance decarbonization.